Description: "The first comprehensive study of New York art patron and collector Lillie P. Bliss (1864-1931), examining her influential work as an art collector, advocate, and museum founder (MoMA). Combining archival materials, art market analysis, and the evolution of New York's museum scene, the book reconstructs Bliss's career, highlighting her influence on markets and taste. It also reevaluates MoMA's origins, demonstrating how her visionary bequest significantly contributed to the institution's growth and authority during its formative years"--
Brief description: Kathryn Brown is Reader in Art Histories, Markets and Digital Heritage at Loughborough University, UK. Her books include Women Readers in French Painting 1870-1890 (2012), Matisse's Poets: Critical Performance in the Artist's Book (Bloomsbury, 2017) and Henri Matisse (2021). She is the series editor of Contextualizing Art Markets (Bloomsbury).
Review Quotes:
"The history of collecting achieves maturity with Irene Walsh's meticulous study of Lillie P. Bliss. Long known for being one of the three creators of MoMA (alongside Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and Mary Quinn Sullivan), this book confirms Bliss' role as an astute participant of the art market and a fervent advocate for modern art. Essential reading for those interested in the study of taste, collecting, art markets and personal ambitions." --Stephen J Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, Frick Art Research Library, New York
"Lillie P. Bliss's evolution as a passionate collector and resolute supporter of the nascent Museum of Modern Art is deftly interwoven with a richly documented account of America's emergence as a super-power of the artworld-an absorbing story told with admirable even-handedness." --Elizabeth Cowling, Professor Emerita, History of Art, University of Edinburgh, UK "Irene Walsh's extensive research provides, for the first time, a compelling account of Lillie P. Bliss's deeply serious commitment as a collector and patron of modern art, shedding important new light on one of the three founders of The Museum of Modern Art." --Ann Temkin, Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, USA