Exhibition Details
In 1929, after years of advocating for modern art in New York, Bliss, together with Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and Mary Quinn Sullivan, founded The Museum of Modern Art.
Bliss’s remarkable contribution to the history of modern art in the United States remains under-recognized. While much of her story remains left to the imagination, Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern illuminates this pivotal figure through the works of art she loved most.
Bliss’s remarkable contribution to the history of modern art in the United States remains under-recognized. While much of her story remains left to the imagination, Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern illuminates this pivotal figure through the works of art she loved most.
Additional Details
Bliss was a fierce supporter of groundbreaking artists at a time when modern art was often met with suspicion or ridicule.
“They have something to say worth saying and claim for themselves only the freedom to express it in their own way,” she declared.
Her uniquely generous gift, which allowed for the sale of her works to fund new acquisitions—including Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night—provided the young museum with a means to develop its collection far into the future.
“They have something to say worth saying and claim for themselves only the freedom to express it in their own way,” she declared.
Her uniquely generous gift, which allowed for the sale of her works to fund new acquisitions—including Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night—provided the young museum with a means to develop its collection far into the future.
Location
MoMA
11 West 53 Street, Manhattan
New York, NY 10019
Image: Paul Cézanne. Still Life with Apples. 1895–98 / courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Lillie P. Bliss Collection