Roy Neuberger, receiving National Medal of Arts from President Bush in 2007
Roy Neuberger, who greatly enriched major museums with works from his pioneering American contemporary art collection, died yesterday at the age of 107. In 1974 he inaugurated the Neuberger Museum at Purchase College, New York, with a donation of 108 works and a mandate to support the work of contemporary artists.
Here’s his official bio, released by the his eponymous museum:
In 1928…Mr. Neuberger seized upon his guiding principle: to support living artists by purchasing their works. He got a job on Wall Street and started collecting in 1939, the same year he founded Neuberger Berman. He purchased works from artists early in their careers, including: Milton Avery, Willem de Kooning, Edward Hopper, Lee Krasner, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, and Max Weber.
Barbara Haskell, curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art (WMAA) said:
His collection was actually very risky. He purchased work that was not well recognized by the establishment or even among members of the art world. Now, they’re assured masters in the canon of American Art.
In addition to his collecting, Mr. Neuberger started a trend: He bought art to hang in his company’s offices, which helped pioneer what became a common practice–corporate art collections.
Starting in the mid forties, Neuberger donated hundreds of paintings to museums and colleges across the country, including: the Whitney, Metropolitan Museum, and Museum of Modern Art. In 1969, at the request of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, he donated a significant portion of his collection to New York State to establish the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College. The NMA now has over 7,000 works of modern, contemporary and African art. To provide support for the NMA, Mr. Neuberger founded the Friends of the NMA in 1972, which now raises more than 60% of the Museum’s annual expenses….
In addition, Mr. Neuberger was a tireless advocate of the visual arts. He devoted many years to the American Federation of Arts (AFA)….[and] became president in 1958 [to 1967]….Neuberger was awarded the 2007 National Medal of Arts….
Mr. Neuberger served as a Whitney trustee (1961-1968) and was named trustee emeritus in 1969. He was elected an honorary trustee for Life at the Met in 1968….
Philippe de Montebello, former director of the Met, summarized his impact:
Few living persons have served the Met–indeed the entire world of art and art museums–longer, or with more distinction than Roy Neuberger. A man of taste, passion, persistence, and generosity, he has shared much of his private collection with the public, and for generations has supported activities that bring people to museums, and motivate them to return again and again.
UPDATE: Katherine Burton of Bloomberg has published a flavorful obit on Neuberger. Edward Wyatt‘s NY Times obit is here.