Lee, Sherman Emery

▪ 2009

      American museum director

born April 19, 1918, Seattle, Wash.

died July 9, 2008, Chapel Hill, N.C.

elevated the Cleveland Museum of Art from a relatively obscure institution to an internationally renowned art museum by expanding its collection to include exquisite Asian artifacts and prized artworks by El Greco, Goya, and Velázquez, along with such valuable pieces as Nicolas Poussin's Holy Family on the Steps. Lee earned a Ph.D. (1941) in art history from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) while working as an assistant in the oriental art department of the Cleveland Museum of Art. After serving in World War II, he worked in Tokyo (1946–48) as a civilian adviser on Japanese art preservation for the staff of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Shortly thereafter Lee served as associate director of the Seattle Art Museum and as curator of Far Eastern art at the Detroit Institute of Art. In 1952 he joined the staff of the Cleveland Museum of Art as curator of Oriental art, and he was soon promoted to director (1958–83). Lee penned the authoritative A History of Far Eastern Art (1964).

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