LILLIE P. BLISS - A NOBLE LEGACY


pablo picasso - les demoiselles d´avignon
acquired through the lillie p.bliss bequest

The heart of the Museum of Modern Art has long been its unrivaled collection of painting and sculpture. The collection's original core was the gift of one of the museum's founders, Lillie P. Bliss. When the Modern opened its temporary facility in Queens, it was a joy to find that three icons of the collection, Cezanne's Bather, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and van Gogh's The Starry Night, were on view. All were acquired directly or indirectly through the bequest of Lillie Bliss, one of the least-known collectors of her generation. In August 1930, nine months after the museum opened, Bliss executed her will, giving the cream of her holdings to the new museum. Her action, known only to her brother, affirmed her belief in an institution whose own foundations were not yet secure. The terms of her will were imaginative and generous: they allowed the museum to sell or exchange works from her collection to make other needed acquisitions; for example, Les Demoiselles was acquired in 1939 through the sale of a Degas oil for $18,000, plus an additional $10,000 in cash. (1) Her will set a standard for the future upon which others would build. When Bliss died less than a year later, in March 1931, her collection, which included masterpieces by Seurat, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso, in addition to one of the most important privately held groups of Cezannes in America at that time, guaranteed the museum's future. Indeed, Lillie Bliss did nothing less than ensure that a museum devoted to modern art would exist in New York. Bliss was one of a group of enlightened patrons whose vision revolutionized art collecting during the early 20th century. Several of them are known through 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, less known and many of them women, such 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 modern 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 modern era; and they combined a love of collecting, a passion for modern art and an interest in new 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 modern art. Now, in a time of intense curiosity about collections and collectors, it is remarkable that Bliss is mostly 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. But for more than two decades, from 1909 to 1931, art was her passion. She believed in the artists she befriended and supported them by buying their work; following their lead, she boldly collected work by other artists whom they brought to her attention, notably Cezanne and Seurat.

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