Columbia University anthropologist who wrote an early text on indigenous art forms. Boas was the son of Meier Boas and Sophie Meyer (Boas). He attended Bonn, Heidelberg, and Kiel universities studying physics, mathematics, and geography, the latter under the distinguished Theobald Fischer. Boas obtained his doctorate in physics at the University of Kiel in 1881. A non-religious Jew, he was fascinated by the theories of geographical determinism in Europe at the time.

Museum curator and historian of African, Native American, and Oceanic art. Newton was born to English parents on a rubber plantation in Malaysia. Before moving into museum work in the United States in 1956, he worked for the BBC as a journalist and editor. As a curator for the Museum of Primitive Art, Newton designed over sixty-four exhibitions for the museum. His ability to create innovative exhibition designs while remaining sensitive to the problems of displaying non-Western art attracted praise from both art historians and the public.