Loretta Hines Howard Explained

Loretta Hines Howard (1904 — April 2, 1982) was an American artist and collector.^{[1] [2]} Howard was a collector of Neapolitan crèche figures from the 18th-century. In 1957, Howard began what would become a forty-year tradition of decorating the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Christmas tree with items from her créche collection, integrating the Roman Catholic practice of creating nativity scenes with the European protestant tradition of tree decoration.^[3] In the early 1960s, she donated her collection to the museum.^{[4] [5]}

Howard's work as a painter is included in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.^[6] Her papers, 1926–1941, are held by the Smithsonian.^[7]

Her funeral was held at St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church, Manhattan before burial in Valley, Wyoming.^[2]

Notes and References

1. News: 3 April 1982 . Loretta Hines Howard, Artist . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190408070015/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/03/obituaries/loretta-hines-howard-artist.html . 8 April 2019 . 8 April 2019 . . 18 . en.
2. Book: McNairy . American Women Modernists: The Legacy of Robert Henri, 1910-1945 . . 2005 . 978-0-8135-3684-2 . Wardle . Marian . New Bunswick, NJ . 204 . en . Artist Biographies . 57557328 . 4496824W . Google Books.
3. Book: Gunn . The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States . . 2010 . 978-0-19-020878-3 . Davis . Derek H. . 289 . en . Religious Symbols and Religious Expression in the Public Square . 461895952 . 18548483W . Google Books.
4. Book: Christmas at the New Yorker: Stories, Poems, Humor, and Art . . 2003 . 978-1-4000-6341-3 . New York . 240 . en . Tree . 52257914 . 3685042M . Google Books.
5. News: Dunlap . David W. . David W. Dunlap . 23 December 2014 . Family Protests After Its Tradition of Installing Crèche at the Met Is Halted . subscription . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190408070013/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/24/nyregion/a-familys-tradition-helping-decorate-the-met-christmas-tree-has-come-to-an-end.html . 8 April 2019 . 8 April 2019 . . A.16 . 24 December 2014 . .
6. Web site: Artist: Loretta Howard . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190408070015/https://www.whitney.org/artists/2817 . 8 April 2019 . 8 April 2019 . Whitney Museum.
7. Web site: Loretta Hines Howard papers, 1926-1941 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180614042137/https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/loretta-hines-howard-papers-7809 . 14 June 2018 . 9 April 2019 . . . en.