The New York Times has a prominent obituary for William H. Pierson, Jr. a prominent art historian at Williams College who trained a generation of curators:
A painter and art historian by training, Mr. Pierson was recruited to Williams by S. Lane Faison in 1940. There, with Mr. Faison and Whitney Stoddard, he formed one third of the durable art-historical team joking referred to as the Holy Trinity. After creating a studio-art program at the college, Mr. Pierson began teaching the history of art and architecture, delivering his lectures in a sonorous baritone that reflected his training as an opera singer. At the end of every class he tore up his notes in a dramatic demonstration that he never gave the same lecture twice.
Mr. Pierson’s students included James N. Wood, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust; Thomas Krens, who stepped down this year as director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; and Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery in Washington.
William H. Pierson Jr., 97, Art Historian, Dies (New York Times)
