Moody Currier (1806-1898) created an extraordinary legacy. Not only was he a man of many talents during his long life, Currier was a Republican who served as New Hampshire governor from 1885 to 1887. That would have made him nearly 80 years old when he began serving his one term in the state's highest office.
He was 92 when he died in 1898, and among his political accomplishments, he had been a lawyer, a banker, a high school headmaster, a newspaper editor and teacher.
 MOODY CURRIER |
Currier was elected to the State Senate in 1856 and served as president of the Senate in 1857. He also served as a banker at several banks in the Queen City, including the former Amoskeag Savings Bank. He was a member of the Governor's Council.
He was married three times, and it was after the death of his third wife, Hannah, in 1915 that the wishes in his will were carried out: A board of trustees was appointed to establish an art museum in Manchester, "for the benefit and advancement of humanity."
Currier was a generous patron of art and literature, but he was not an art collector. He did write poetry, and several samples of his work can be found in collections from the 19th century.
In George Franklin Willey's "Semi-Centennial Book of Manchester, 1846-1896," published in 1896, Willey said that many of Currier's public writings were religious in tone with a moral sentiment, but he bestowed upon him the compliment: "His state papers and public speeches deserve to rank as classics."
Currier's bequest for the museum included a generous endowment for purchasing art, and the first staff of the then-Currier Gallery of Art put his money to good use. They were able to buy high-quality works from around the world for the Currier's collection. Their success, in turn, attracted generous donations from private collectors.
The Currier Gallery of Art opened to the public Oct. 9, 1929, right on the eve of the Great Depression (Black Monday occurred three weeks later), on the site of Gov. Currier's former stately Victorian home.
The building did not rise without controversy. After rejecting two Boston architecture firms, the trustees chose the New York firm of Tilton and Githens, who had recently completed the Manchester Public Library.
The design of the original museum features an Italian palazzo faced with Indiana limestone. The most recent additions were new pavilions in 1982, designed by the New York firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer.
Over the years, the Currier's collections have grown to include European and American art from the Renaissance to the present, including painting, sculpture, furniture, silver, glass, and textiles.
As the museum has grown over the years, its mission has remained true to the Curriers' vision. Exhibitions and programs are designed, as Moody Currier specified, "to elevate the quality of life in New Hampshire."
The museum officially changed its name from the Currier Gallery of Art to the Currier Museum of Art in 2002. Director Susan Strickler at the time said the name change was to help "clarify the mission of the museum" so that people would not mistakenly believe that the museum is a commercial gallery that sells pieces of art.
The museum is reopening just a few weeks shy of Currier's 202nd birthday (April 22). His portrait painted by Edward L. Custer in 1871 hangs in the Silver Gallery at the museum. When Currier became governor, his portrait was painted by Robert Vonnoh. That portrait hangs on the second floor of the State House, together with portraits of other New Hampshire governors.
