Norman-Wilcox, Gregor, 1905-1969

Gregor Norman-Wilcox was a curator of decorative arts at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from 1931 until his death in 1969. Norman-Wilcox was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1905 and attended school there, eventually graduating from the Cleveland School of Art. In 1934, he married Grace Agusta Stern. In the 1940s, 50s, and 60s he wrote extensively on various aspects of the decorative arts, making many contributions to the magazine Antiques and other journals. He had a syndicated series on antiques for the Los Angeles Times from 1949 to 1959 that was also nationally syndicated from 1958 to 1969. He was also a creative writer in his spare time

In 1957, Norman-Wilcox took a year’s leave of absence from his job in Los Angeles to be in charge of furnishing Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina. He was also responsible for restoring and refurnishing the Hugo Reid Adobe in Los Angeles. He was a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, numerous historical societies, collectors clubs, and preservation groups in the United States and England, as well as being an honorary member of the American Institute of Interior Designers.

Norman-Wilcox had many interests in the field of decorative arts, including early American glass, specifically glass attributed to the Amelung Glass Manufactory. Norman-Wilcox became acquainted with Dwight P. Lanmon, former curator at and director of the Corning Museum of Glass, in the 1960s, which perhaps explains how some of Norman-Wilcox's correspondence was acquired by The Corning Museum of Glass.

Gregor Norman-Wilcox died on April 26, 1969, at the age of 63, after having retired the previous September. He and his wife had no children. After his death, his wife established a memorial scholarship fund in his name at Winterthur Museum, which is used to support fellows in the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. Grace Norman-Wilcox died around 1995.