A Century of Masterpieces Brought Together by One Passionate Collector 

I’ve always loved reading about wealthy US businessmen who, during the gilded age of American Capitalism, assembled massive collections of art and then bequeathed them for the world to enjoy after their death. I’m thinking of William Vanderbilt, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie (all in NYC), and William Walters (in Baltimore). I’m drawn to their stories because each one has two parts: how they amassed such large fortunes, and how they went about building their collections.

Joseph Hirshhorn 

Smithsonian Magazine recently published this piece about Joseph Hirshhorn, who came to America from Latvia, broke and barely speaking English, and became one of the preeminent financiers of his time.

His collection is housed at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, and the museum is presenting an exhibition (“Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860 to 1960”) of some of the best of his pieces. It includes 208 artworks in the museum’s permanent collection by 117 artists (Francis Bacon, Jean Dubuffet, Lee Krasner, Wifredo Lam, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock…) made during 100 turbulent and energetic years.

The show runs until April 20. I’m going to get up there and see it before it closes, even if that means going up there and back on the same day.

The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC