Exhibitions, Museums, Artists, Patrons,
Art Collectors Philanthropists Through History
PATRONS – COLLECTORS
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay
Founder of The National Museum
of Women in the Arts
The idea for the National Museum of Women in the Arts grew from a simple, obvious, but rarely asked question: Where are all the women artists?
By 1980, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay began to devote her energies and resources to creating a museum that would showcase women artists, and the Holladay Collection became the core of the institution’s permanent collection… read more
PATRONS – COLLECTORS
Madeleine Rast
A major gift of $9 million to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Rast’s bequest will bolster the endowment, strengthening in perpetuity the museum’s mission to bring recognition to the achievements of women artists…read more
ART DEALERS
Galka Scheyer:
Maven of Modernism in California
The enterprising dealer responsible for the art phenomenon the “Blue Four”—Lyonel Feininger, Alexei Jawlensky, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky.
In California, through the troubling decades of the Great Depression and the Second World War, German born Scheyer (1889–1945) single-handedly cultivated a taste for their brand of European modernism by arranging exhibitions, lectures and publications on their work, and negotiating sales on their behalf… read more
ARTISTS – GALLERIES
The Estate of Ruth Asawa is now exclusively represented by David Zwirner Gallery
David Zwirner said: “Intricate, dynamic, and sinuous, these remarkable works, begun in the late 1940s, continue to challenge conventional notions of sculpture through their emphasis on lightness and transparency.
“The gallery is proud to be entrusted with the extraordinary legacy of Ruth Asawa”.” I think her story, if properly told, should afford her a place amongst the great artists of the twentieth century”… read more
PATRONS, COLLECTORS
Duncan and Marjorie Phillips
Founders of The Phillips Collection opened to the public in 1921 in Washington’s vibrant Dupont Circle neighborhood. Paintings by Renoir and Rothko, Bonnard and O’Keeffe, van Gogh and Diebenkorn are among the many stunning impressionist and modern works that fill the museum. The collection continues to develop with selective new acquisitions, many by contemporary artists…read more
PATRON, COLLECTOR
Jean Paul Getty
Getty had a genuine desire to share his art with the public and, thus, part of his Ranch House in Malibu (Pacific Palisades, California) was converted into The Villa Museum in 1974. On December 16, 1997, The Getty Center was opened to the public and also includes the Getty Research Institute (GRI), the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, and the J. Paul Getty Trust. The J. Paul Getty Trust is the world’s wealthiest art institution…read more
PATRON, COLLECTOR
Joseph Early Widener, founder of the National Gallery of Art
In 1939, Joseph Early Widener had donated a vast part of his collection for the opening ceremony of the Gallery and, later, in 1942, he donated the rest of his collection with more than 2,000 works including paintings, sculptures, art objects and porcelain… more
PATRON, COLLECTOR
Samuel Henry Kress, founder of the National Gallery of Art
In 1920, Kress started collecting paintings and sculptures.The Kress Collection went growing until it contained over 2,800 works of art. Considered as a collection of incalculable value, in 1941, Kress made the first of his many relevant donations to the National Gallery of Art for its opening, which included 375 paintings and 18 sculptures… more
PATRON, COLLECTOR, PHILANTHROPIST
Andrew W. Mellon, founder of the National Gallery of Art
Collector and philanthropist, in 1936, Mellon wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to offer him his magnificent art collection as well as his own funds to the construction of a museum. With the support of the President, the Congress accepted Mellon’s gift which included a substantial endowment and established the National Gallery of Art in March 1937… more
PHILANTHROPIST
Oprah Winfrey, one of the most important philanthropits
Forbes magazine, for its 30th Anniversary, issued a special number on billionaires and philanthropists. Oprah appears in the cover photo with the two most relevant philanthropists in the world: Bill Gates and Warren Buffett… more
PATRON, COLLECTOR
Lessing Julius Rosenwald, founder of the National Gallery of Art
In 1943 Rosenwald offered his outstanding collection to the National Gallery of Art. His collection was considered one of the most important private collections of the time. He bestowed to the Institution over 22,000 works including 350 xylographies of the 15th century, the largest group of pieces outside Europe… more
MARCHAND, COLLECTOR
Daniel-Henry Kanweiler, great champion of Cubism
In the 1910s and 1920s. He enhanced the Cubist art movement with the help of the poet critics Apollinaire and Max Jacob. Together with other great merchants such as Alfred Flechtheim, Paul Cassirer, Daniel Wildenstein, Léonce Rosenberg, Paul Rosenberg, Aimé Maeght and Leo Castelli, Kahnweiler became one of the most influential art dealers during the 20th century… more
PATRON, COLLECTOR
Chester Dale, founder of the National Gallery of Art
His private collection of French paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries was considered a museum. From the opening of the National Gallery of Art in 1941 and until his death, Chester Dale donated a total of 270 paintings, 7 sculptures, 22 graphic works, 1,200 catalogs and more than 1,500 books… more
MUSEUM
Museo del Diseño de Barcelona shows exceptional objects
Five collections whose excellence and singularity make this museum a world reference. The museum comprises more than 70,000 objects and is the result of including collections of Decorative arts, Ceramics, Textiles and Clothing, Graphic arts and Product design … more
EXHIBITION
BEN URI Gallery and Museum: 100 years in London
Ben Uri Gallery and Museum collection mainly shows the work, life and contribution made by British and European Jewish descent artists. It is the only Art Museum in Europe addressing universal issues of identity and migration through visual arts… more