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Seymour H. Knox II

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This article is about the Buffalo philanthropist and art exponent. For other people with the same name, see Seymour Knox (disambiguation).
Seymour H. Knox II
Seymour Knox III, II, and IV in front of Portrait of Seymour H. Knox
Chancellor of the University of Buffalo
Acting
In office
July 1 – August 31, 1954
Preceded byT.R. McConnell
Succeeded byClifford Furnas
Personal details
Born(1898-09-01)September 1, 1898
Buffalo, New York
DiedSeptember 27, 1990(1990-09-27) (aged 92)
SpouseHelen Northrup
Children
Parents
Education
Alma materYale University (1920)
OccupationBanker
AwardsNational Medal of Arts (1986)

Seymour Horace Knox II (September 1, 1898 – September 27, 1990) was a Buffalo, New York, philanthropist and polo player. The son of wealthy businessman Seymour H. Knox, he owned a palatial home designed by C. P. H. Gilbert.[1]

Early life

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He was born on September 1, 1898, to Grace Millard Knox (1862–1936) and Seymour H. Knox I (1861–1915), who merged his chain of five-and-dime stores with those of his first cousins, Frank Winfield Woolworth and Charles Woolworth, to form the F. 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][4] Knox attended Nichols School in Buffalo and the Hotchkiss 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 of Yale University. At Yale he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon.

Career

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In 1921, upon graduation from Yale, Knox became a Marine Midland Bank director. In 1926, he became vice-president, followed by chairman in 1943 until 1970. He joined the F. 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 The University at Buffalo's governing Council from 1950-69.[5] Knox served on the board of directors of Marine Midland Bank, F. W. Woolworth Company, New York Central Railroad, Penn Central Railroad, and the American Steamship Company.[5]

Art

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In 1926, he joined the board of Albright Art Gallery. From the beginning, he was a leader in the modernism movement and in modern cultural life in Buffalo.[6] He spent 60 years working with the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and by 1939, he was President of the Academy. He bolstered the Contemporary Abstractionism collection during his tenure. He is best known for his 1962 addition to the Albright Art Gallery, designed by Skidmore, 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.[5] He is said to be in part responsible for the popularity of Jackson Pollock. Under his direction, the Gallery became the first museum to purchase a Clyfford Still, one of the first to purchase a Henry Moore, and as leading champions of Abstractionism, they acquired selections from almost every major abstractionist.[7] In 1965 he was appointed to a commission to choose modern art works for the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection in Albany, NY.[8]

Personal life

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In 1923, he married Helen Northrup (1902-1971),[9] who had attended the Albright Art School. They lived in a mansion at 57 Oakland Place in Buffalo, designed by C. P. H. Gilbert. Construction on the home began in 1924 and was a gift to the couple from Knox's mother, who lived nearby at 800 Delaware Avenue.[1] Together, they had two sons:

Both sons were the original principal owners of the Buffalo Sabres NHL team. Knox was the subject of the 1985 Andy Warhol painting "Portrait of Seymour H. Knox". He also donated significant funds to the Yale University Art Gallery, in New 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 was eulogized in Congress by U.S. Representative Bill Paxon.[10]

Honors

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In 1986, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts[11] by President Ronald Reagan for his contributions to the arts in Buffalo and the nation.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Seymour H. Knox, Jr. House excerpt from Oakland Place: Gracious Living in Buffalo by Martin Wachadlo Buffalo Heritage Unlimited (publisher)
  2. ^ "Seymour Horace Knox". Archived from the original on March 24, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2007.
  3. ^ "Joseph Hazard Campbell". www.findagrave.com. Find A Grave Memorial. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  4. ^ Ross, Donna (September 26, 2008). "The East Aurora Hunt: Gone But Not Forgotten". The Chronicle of the Horse. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d Glueck, Grace (September 28, 1990). "Seymour H. Knox Is Dead at 92; Buffalo Banker Was Art Patron". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  6. ^ Goldman, p. 105
  7. ^ "Shorty's Triumph". Time Magazine. January 12, 1962. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
  8. ^ The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection and Plaza Memorials. Rizzoli International Publications. May 3, 2002. p. 11. ISBN 0847824551.
  9. ^ "Helen Northrup Knox". www.findagrave.com. Find A Grave Memorial. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  10. ^ Paxon, Bill (October 1, 1990). "SEYMOUR H. KNOX, JR., AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN -- HON. BILL PAXON (Extension of Remarks - October 01, 1990)". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
  11. ^ "Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts". National Endowment For the Arts. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2009.
  • Goldman, Mark, "City on The Edge: Buffalo, New York," Prometheus Books, 2007.
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