Seurat and Impressionism specialist; Robert Lehman Professor of Art, Yale University, 1974-1990. Herbert's parents were John Newman Herbert and Rosalia Harr (Herbert). His father operated a drawbridge. While at Wesleyan University, he developed an interest in the history of science. After graduation in 1951, he studied at the University of Paris until 1952. He returned to the U. S., marrying Eugenia W. Herbert in 1953 and pursued graduate work at Yale University. His M.A. was awarded in 1954.

Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1940-1955. Taylor was the son of Dr. William Johnson Taylor, an orthopedic surgeon and previous president of the College of Physicians and president of the Library Company in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia socialite Emily Buckley Newbold. He attended the Kent (preparatory) School before graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1924. Taylor traveled to France to teach English at the Lycée de Chartres 1924-1925.