Thomas Baer Hess was an American art editor, critic, and curator who played a significant role in championing Abstract Expressionism. He served as the executive editor of ARTnews for over twenty years (1949–1972), where he penned influential articles on artists like Willem de Kooning and Barnett Newman. Hess graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1942 and served as a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force during World War II. He worked at the Museum of Modern Art before his tenure at ARTnews. In his final year, he was appointed chief curator of 20th-century art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art but died shortly after his appointment. He authored several books on modern art and co-edited works on erotic art and sexual politics.[1,2]
