The Hyde Collection board of trustees has hired
Erin B. Coe back as its new director, replacing
Charles Guerin, who served as director for the
last two years.
Coe was the chief curator of The Hyde until
she left in 2014 to complete her doctoral degree
in the history of art and architecture at Boston
University. She also served as the museum’s
interim co-director.
Coe assumes her new duties in July.
“We are absolutely delighted to have the opportunity
to bring Erin Coe back to The Hyde,”
said Tenee R. Casaccio, chairwoman of the boards.
“Erin’s energetic and passionate leadership, her
scholarship and knowledge of The Hyde, her
reputation in the art world and her strong relationships
with donors and collectors will help The
Hyde strengthen its ties to the community and its
reputation as one of the Northeast’s leading small
art museums.”
She said Coe earned a national reputation as
an American art historian and curator who spearheaded
The Hyde Collection’s widely acclaimed
Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition in 2013.
“Erin’s leadership on the Georgia O’Keeffe
exhibition was transformative for The Hyde,”
Casaccio said. “She has a rare gift both for understanding
the historical and cultural context
of art and making it very popular and accessible
for all audiences.”
“I am honored by this wonderful opportunity
to lead The Hyde and work with the talented staff
and dedicated board of trustees to advance and
strengthen the organization. Together, we will
focus on ways to invigorate The Hyde, connecting
to all visitors and inviting greater community
engagement,” Coe said. “I am excited to continue
the work of the museum’s founder, Charlotte Hyde,
who believed art can changes lives.”
Coe organized the first-of-its-kind O’Keeffe and
Lake George exhibition in association with the
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in 2013. The exhibition
brought together from public and private collections
58 paintings created by the artist between
1918 and 1934, the years when she summered at
Lake George with famed American photographer
Alfred Stieglitz and his family.
She co-authored the book “Modern Nature:
Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George,” which presented
groundbreaking scholarship that shed new
light on this iconic American artist.
The exhibition drew national media coverage,
rave reviews on social media sites, and recordbreaking
attendance at The Hyde. It traveled to
the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M.,
and the De Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of
San Francisco where it closed in 2014.
The O’Keeffe exhibition is one of Coe’s many accomplishments, the board said. During her
15-year tenure at The Hyde, she was responsible
for the care, research, interpretation, and growth
of the museum’s permanent collection of European
and American art. She has curated and/or
co-curated 38 exhibitions including “Picturing
Gentility: Portraits of Women in American Art;
Painting Lake George, 1774-1900; Adolph Gottlieb:
1956; An Enduring Legacy: American Impressionist
Landscape Paintings from the Thomas Clark
Collection,” and was instrumental in overseeing
“Andrew Wyeth: An American Legend and Degas
& Music,” two of the most popular exhibitions in
the museum’s history.
Coe also oversaw the interior restoration of
Hyde House, the former Italian Renaissance style
home of museum founders Louis and Charlotte
Hyde in 2004. She is the author and/or co-author of
over a dozen publications and has contributed articles
to several national art periodicals including
the American Art Review, The Magazine Antiques,
and the Catalogue of Antiques and Fine Art.
Coe serves on the advisory board of American
Women Artists and has served on the board of
several cultural organizations including the de
Blasiis Chamber Museum Series, the Marcella
Sembrich Memorial Association in Bolton, and
the Lake George Arts Project.
Coe, who grew up in Glen Ridge, N.J., earned
a bachelor of arts degree from the University of
New Mexico and a master of arts degree from the
University at Albany. She attended the Attingham
Summer School for the Study of Architecture,
Fine, and Decorative Arts in the United Kingdom,
and is in the final stage of completing her doctorate
from Boston University.
Photo Courtesy The Hyde