A noble legacy: soon after the Museum of Modern Art in York was founded, the bequest of Lillie P. Bliss played a crucial role in establishing a permanent collection for the fledgling institution - 1864-1931 - Patrons - Biography

The heart of the Museum of late Art has long been its unrivaled collection of painting and plastic art The collection's original core was the gift of individual of the museum's founders, Lillie P Bliss. When the recent opened its temporary facility in Queen it was a ravishment to find that three icons of the collection, Cezanne's Bather, Picasso's Le Demoiselles d'Avignon and van Gogh's The Starry Night, were upon view. All were acquired directly or indirectly end the bequest of Lillie Bliss, individual of the least-known collectors of her generation.

In August 1930 nine month after the museum uncloseed Bliss executed her will, giving the cream of her holdings to the of recent origin museum. Her action, known single to her brother, affirmed her belief in an institution whose be in possession of foundations were not yet confident The terms of her will were imaginative and generous: they allowed the museum to barter or exchange works from her collection to make other emergencyed acquisitions; for example, Les Demoiselles was acquired in 1939 from one side the sale of a Degas oil for $18000 plus an additional $10000 in cash. (1) Her will locate a standard for the coming time upon which others would build. When Bliss died les than a year later, in March 1931 her collection, which included masterpieces through Seurat, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso, in addition to single of the most important privately held clumps of Cezannes in America at that time, guaranteed the museum's coming time Indeed, Lillie Bliss did nothing les than render certain that a museum devoted to late art would exist in of recent origin York.

Bliss was single of a group of enlightened patrons whose vision revolutionized art collecting during the early 20th hundred Several of them are known end institutions that bear their names: Albert C Barnes, Duncan Phillips, Helene Kroller-Muller Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Solomon R Guggenheim, Peggy Guggenheim. (2) However, there are others, les known and many of them women of that kind as Katherine Dreier, Galka Scheyer, the Cone sisters in Baltimore, and the Davies sisters in Wales, (3) who, like Bliss, were instrumental in paving the way for the appreciation of late art. Although the products of different backgrounds and communities, all these collectors had several important things in common: they were born into the Victorian age; their activities bridged a transition into the present era; and they combined a be fond of of collecting, a passion for present art and an interest in fresh ideas. They acquired the advanced art of the time for their personal satisfaction, and when their activity became known, they helped to create an environment receptive to recent art. Now, in a time of intense curiosity about collections and collectors, it is remarkable that Bliss is for the most part forgotten. As an accomplished pianist and would-be playwright, she understood the artistic temperament, and was an informed and ardent patron of music and the theater. on the other hand for more than two decades, from 1909 to 1931 art was her passion. She believed in the artists she befriended and supported them by the agency of buying their work; following their lead, she boldly gathered work by other artists whom they brought to her attention, notably Cezanne and Seurat.

A woman of privilege who not ever married, Lillie Bliss cherished her privacy. She was rarely photographed, on the other hand we know she was of medium height, slightly stout with a fair complexion and crystal-clear sapphirine eyes. She dressed conservatively, wore little makeup and was unpretentious. She did not care about the latest couture fashions and preferr antique jewelry. She was not a vigorous physical presence and did not stand on the outside in a crowd. Among friends, she was outgoing, pleasant and filled of enthusiasm for what she was doing. A shut friend described her:

In manner she was quiet, somewhat unimpressive, notwithstanding always alert and at twinklings of which she was unconscious single caught the vision of a radiant spirit. Apparently the gentlest and certainly the greatest in quantity modest of women, she was absolutely independent in her taste and courageous as to her process of doing things. Having an instinctive delight in of the arts and a finely trained aesthetic perception she wove a pattern of brilliant color into the stereotype background of a conventional life. (4)

Lillie left true few records in her have a title to hand, either about personal relationships or her collecting activities. She wrote prolifically alone to friends who were away or when she was on the outside of town, and she petitioned that her papers be sap the foundations ofed upon her death. However, it is possible to know and understand her as a individual and as a collector from one side the letters that remain, [i]or[/i] part of to the other her involvement in events of her time and from one side other people's observations.

single of these people was her niece, Elizabeth Bliss Parkinson Cobb (1907-2001) (5) Following Lillie's wishes, Eliza and her father, Lillie's brother Cornelius, consume ed Lillie's papers in the fireplace. Eliza Cobb later said that had her father not been there, she might have saved them or at least read them. She was true close to Lillie and spoke of her aunt warmly as a patient and loving somebody who adored her and her brothers. The closenes of the Bliss family was central to Lillie's stable "life replete of happiness," as she wrote to her brother the year before she died.