Seymour H. Knox II | |
|---|---|
 Seymour Knox III, II, and IV in front of Portrait of Seymour H. Knox | |
| Chancellor of theUniversity of Buffalo Acting | |
| In office July 1 – August 31, 1954 | |
| Preceded by | T.R. McConnell |
| Succeeded by | Clifford Furnas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1898-09-01)September 1, 1898 |
| Died | September 27, 1990(1990-09-27) (aged 92) |
| Spouse | Helen Northrup |
| Children | |
| Parents |
|
| Education | |
| Alma mater | Yale University (1920) |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Awards | National Medal of Arts (1986) |
Seymour Horace Knox II (September 1, 1898 – September 27, 1990) was aBuffalo, New York, philanthropist and polo player. The son of wealthy businessmanSeymour H. Knox, he owned a palatial home designed byC. P. H. Gilbert.[1]
He was born on September 1, 1898, to Grace Millard Knox andSeymour H. Knox I, who merged his chain offive-and-dime stores with those of his first cousins,Frank Winfield Woolworth and Charles Woolworth, to form theF. W. Woolworth Company in 1912.[2] Knox was one of three surviving children born to Seymour and Grace. His elder sisters were Dorothy Virginia Knox and Marjorie Millard Knox.[3]Knox attendedNichols School in Buffalo and theHotchkiss School in Connecticut. In 1917, as a passenger, he was in a crash landing in Buffalo of a seaplane piloted by a friend, and suffered a fractured skull, but he fully recovered. He was a 1920 graduate ofYale University. At Yale he was a member ofDelta Kappa Epsilon.
In 1921, upon graduation from Yale, Knox became aMarine Midland Bank director. In 1926, he became vice-president, followed by chairman in 1943 until 1970. He joined theF. W. Woolworth board in 1926 and was chairman from 1943 until reaching the mandatory retirement age forty-five years later in 1971. He became Chairman of TheUniversity at Buffalo's governing Council from 1950-69.[4] Knox served on the board of directors ofMarine Midland Bank,F. W. Woolworth Company,New York Central Railroad,Penn Central Railroad, and theAmerican Steamship Company.[4]
In 1926, he joined the board ofAlbright Art Gallery. From the beginning, he was a leader in themodernism movement and in modern cultural life in Buffalo.[5] He spent 60 years working with theBuffalo Fine Arts Academy and by 1939, he was President of the Academy. He bolstered the ContemporaryAbstractionism collection during his tenure. He is best known for his 1962 addition to the Albright Art Gallery, designed bySkidmore, Owings & Merrill. After the completion of the addition, the Gallery was renamed the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in his honor. He donated more than 160 works for the new wing, and over 700 pieces over his lifetime.[4] He is said to be in part responsible for the popularity ofJackson Pollock. Under his direction, the Gallery became the first museum to purchase aClyfford Still, one of the first to purchase aHenry Moore, and as leading champions of Abstractionism, they acquired selections from almost every major abstractionist.[6] In 1965 he was appointed to a commission to choose modern art works for theGovernor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection in Albany, NY.[7]
In 1923, he married Helen Northrup, who had attended the Albright Art School. They lived in a mansion at 57 Oakland Place in Buffalo, designed byC. P. H. Gilbert. Construction on the home began in 1924 and was a gift to the couple from Knox's mother, who lived nearby at800 Delaware Avenue.[1] Together, they had two sons:
Both sons were the original principal owners of theBuffalo SabresNHL team. Knox was the subject of the 1985Andy Warhol painting "Portrait of Seymour H. Knox". He also donated significant funds to theYale University Art Gallery, inNew Haven, Connecticut, which both the Seymour H. Knox Jr., Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and Seymour H. Knox Jr., Curator of European and Contemporary Art positions bear his name. He was an avid polo player and led his Aurora team to the United States Championship in 1932, later touring South America, and winning a tournament in Europe.
Knox died on September 27, 1990, and waseulogized in Congress byU.S. RepresentativeBill Paxon.[8]
In 1986, he was awarded theNational Medal of Arts[9] by PresidentRonald Reagan for his contributions to the arts in Buffalo and the nation.[4]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
