Page 46 - ART GIANTS issue of World of Art (WOA) Contemporary Art Magazine

Armory Show, an exhibition largely organized by Arthur B.
WORLD-CLASS ART LILLIE P. BLISS AND THE BIRTH audiences. Alongside fellow collector John Quinn, Bliss
Davies that introduced European modernism to American

championed the inclusion of modern art in traditional
OF THE MODERN
institutions such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the early 20th century, modern art faced widespread
skepticism, dismissed by both the general public and art
institutions as eccentric or even radical. Yet Bliss remained
The Museum of Modern Art proudly presents Lillie P. Bliss and
a steadfast supporter of artists like Odilon Redon and Paul
the Birth of the Modern, an exhibition celebrating the collection
Gauguin, believing that their work held profound meaning
and legacy of Lillie P. Bliss, one of MoMA’s three founders and
and deserved the freedom of personal expression.
an early champion of modern art in the United States. The
exhibition marks the 90th anniversary of Bliss’s transformative
bequest to MoMA. Featuring approximately 40 works alongside Paul Cézanne. The Bather. c. 1885. Oil on canvas. 50 x 38 1/" (127 x 96.8
archival materials, the showcase includes masterpieces such as cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Lillie P. Bliss Collection, 1934.
Conservation was made possible by the Bank of America Art Conservation
Paul Cézanne’s The Bather (c. 1885) and Amedeo Modigliani’s Project. Photo: John Wronn
Anna Zborowska (1917). Through these works, the exhibition
highlights Bliss’s essential role in shaping the reception of
modern art in the U.S. and her pivotal contributions to MoMA’s
founding.
Curated by Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis
Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, and Romy Silver-Kohn,
co-editor of Inventing the Modern: Untold Stories of the Women
Who Shaped The Museum of Modern Art, alongside Rachel
Remick, Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Painting and
Sculpture, Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern offers a
deep dive into Bliss’s remarkable vision.

Installation view of Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern, on view at The
Museum of Modern Art, New York from November 17, 2024, through March
29, 2025. Photo: Emile Askey.
CREATING A HOME FOR MODERN ART
Throughout the 1920s, Bliss expanded her collection, beginning
CHAMPIONING MODERN ART the decade with a focus on Paul Cézanne and later turning her
Bliss began collecting artworks in 1909 at the age of 45, attention to the drawings of Georges-Pierre Seurat.
building a portfolio of paintings, drawings, and prints By 1929, her conviction that modern art needed a dedicated
by both European and American modern artists. Her institution in New York led her to cofound MoMA alongside
passion soon translated into advocacy, and in 1913, she Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and Mary Quinn Sullivan. Bliss served
provided crucial financial backing to the groundbreaking as the Museum’s first vice president.

46 WORLD of ART