Peck, William H.
October 2, 1931 -
Place of Birth:
Place of Principle Residence:
Biography
William H. Peck was born to Mildred and William Peck in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Ohio State University and Wayne State University, graduated from the latter in 1961 with a Master’s Degree. Employed by the Detroit Institute of the Arts in 1960, Peck started as a curator in the education department and began a lifelong study on art and Egyptian history. Over the years, Peck has composed articles for journals, books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias, in addition to authoring his own books on Ancient Egypt and the history of the Detroit Institute of the Arts. The duration of his research has also led him to work as a field archaeologist with New York University and the Brooklyn Museum at Egypt excavations, and to give lectures across the United States. Peck now works as the senior curator for the Detroit Institute of the Arts and lives with his wife, Mildred, in Detroit and has four children: Alice An, Sarah, Louise, and William.
Selected Works:
- Splendors of Ancient Egypt (1997)
- Fann al-rasm ‘inda qudama’al-Misriyin (1987)
- Drawings from Ancient Egypt (1978)
Awards:
- 1962 Ford Motor Co. of England - Travel Grant
- 1971 American Research Center in Egypt Fellowship
- 1975 Smithsonian Instution Travel Grant
- 1985 Wayne State U. Award in the Arts for Distinguished Alumnus
Critical Reception
For Drawings from Ancient Egypt:
“The attractive book under review with its sixteen colour plates and 132 monochrome illustrations of drawings on ostraka, papyri, walls, and ceramics is likely to appeal to art-lovers who find it hard to come to terms with the impersonality of monumental Egyptian art. A brief introduction by Cyril Aldred explains the context of these scattered works, and William Peck provides a survey and informative commentaries of the illustrations. Here one’s only regret might be that the indications of measurements—so relevant in many cases—are relegated to the list of plates at the end of the book.”
- The Gombrich Archive
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Peck has been employed at the Detroit Institute of the Arts since 1960. Besides using his experience there to study, write, and educate, he has also authored a book on the history of the Detroit Institute of the Arts.