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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
Art in America, Nov, 2003 by Rona Roob
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.
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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.
A woman of privilege who never married, Lillie Bliss cherished her privacy. She was rarely photographed, but we know she was of medium height, slightly plump, with a fair complexion and crystal-clear blue eyes. She dressed conservatively, wore little makeup and was unpretentious. She did not care about the latest couture fashions and preferred antique jewelry. She was not a strong physical presence and did not stand out in a crowd. Among friends, she was outgoing, pleasant and full of enthusiasm for what she was doing. A close friend described her:
In manner she was quiet, somewhat unimpressive, yet always alert and at moments of which she was unconscious one caught the vision of a radiant spirit. Apparently the gentlest, and certainly the most modest of women, she was absolutely independent in her taste and courageous as to her method of doing things. Having an instinctive love 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 very few records in her own hand, either about personal relationships or her collecting activities. She wrote prolifically only to friends who were away or when she was out of town, and she requested that her papers be destroyed upon her death. However, it is possible to know and understand her as a person and as a collector through the letters that remain, through her involvement in events of her time and through other people's observations.
One 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, burned 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 very close to Lillie and spoke of her aunt warmly as a patient and loving person who adored her and her brothers. The closeness of the Bliss family was central to Lillie's stable "life full of happiness," as she wrote to her brother the year before she died.
