A. Hyatt Mayor

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Hyatt Mayor (Waintrob-Budd Studio Courtesy of The Waintrob Project for the Visual Arts)

A. Hyatt Mayor was an influential art historian, particularly in the subjects of prints and engravings.

Alpheus Hyatt Mayor (1901—1980) was born in Gloucester, Mass., the grandson of famous biologist Alpheus Hyatt (1838-1902), in the house that later became part of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; another grandfather was the founder of the Hispanic Society of America. Mayor received B.A. degrees from Princeton (1922) and Oxford (1926). After starting a career as a young literary critic, out of desperation he accepted a position in the prints department at the Metropolitan Museum at the height of the Depression; twelve years later he became Curator. During his tenure he enriched the prints collection considerably, notably with the famous collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein. After succeeding his uncle as president of the Hispanic Society (1955-1966), he wrote several books on prints and engraving.