Ed King died Mar. 8, 1995, in Baltimore. Born in Baltimore Jan. 27, 1900, he prepared at Boys' Latin School there. His friend Alfred H. Barr Jr. '22, the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art in N.Y.C., also prepared there. At Barr's urging, Ed transferred to Princeton from Johns Hopkins. Ed majored in art and archeology. The support of the department's chairman, Prof. Charles Rufus Morey, together with Barr's enthusiasm, determined the direction of Ed's life work.
He received a master's in fine arts from Princeton in 1927, a Charlotte Elizabeth Procter Fellowship in 1928, and a Marquand Fellowship in 1929. He studied Far Eastern art at Harvard, taught art history for a year at Princeton, and taught at Bryn Mawr for four and a half years.
Ed moved to Baltimore in 1934 to become the first curator of paintings and Far Eastern art at the Walters Art Gallery. He was named administrator of the gallery in 1945 and was its director from 1951-66, when he retired. After retiring, he became an excellent Sunday painter.
His marriage to Princess Tatiano Galitzine in 1932 ended in divorce in 1961. Ed is survived by son Henry '55 and grandchildren Christopher and David '89.
The Class of 1922