| Roy Neuberger |
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Neuberger was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut , and spent his childhood in New York . He was orphaned at the age of 12. He describes himself as having been interested during high school in tennis and "the ladies". He matriculated at New York University , originally to study journalism, but grew restless and dropped out without obtaining a degree to pursue business. His first job was working in a Manhattan department store called B. Altman's , through which he learned the ins and outs of business. Among the things he practiced selling were paintings, which nurtured his love of art. After his job with B. Altman's, he sailed to Europe at age 20 on an inheritance from his parents and went to live in Paris . He lived his Bohemian , Roaring Twenties existence there, where he visited the Louvre three times a week and met his lifelong friend Meyer Shapiro . He painted and studied art throughout his whole duration, until in 1928 he read Floret Fels ' biography of Vincent Van Gogh . Neuberger was startled when he learned how Van Gogh had only sold one painting, and was heartstricken to learn that Van Gogh, like so many other artists, lived in pain, poverty and misery. He moved back to the United States and entered 's ''Boy from the Plains''. He allowed Nelson Rockefeller , another avid art collector, to use ''Boy from the Plains'' in a travelling American art exhibition. Rockefeller's exhibition travelled to South America , and many people in both South and North America were now exposed to the art of Hurd. Among the other artists whose works Neuberger has collected are Jackson Pollock , Ben Shahn , William Baziotes , Alexander Calder , Stuart Davis , Louis Eilshemius , Edward Hopper , Jacob Lawrence , Jack Levine , David Smith and especially Milton Avery , of whose works Neuberger purchased dozens. The first Avery he ever purchased was ''Gaspé Landscape'', which he bought while it was snowing and wrapped neatly specially before going out during the snowstorm, determined to keep the painting intact to make the man famous. Neuberger still has ''Gaspé Landscape'' on the wall of his apartment. Neuberger also began donating works to institutions, among them the Metropolitan Museum Of Art , the Museum Of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum as well as many college and university museums. His friend Nelson Rockefeller later became governor of New York and set up the State University Of New York system. For his friend Neuberger, Rockefeller set up a museum as part of the new university where Neuberger could display the art he had acquired. With the help of architect Philip Johnson , the Neuberger Museum of Art was built on the SUNY Purchase College campus and opened in 1974. Neuberger was married for many years to the late Marie Salant Neuberger, also a distinguished patron of the arts, and together they had three children and many grandchildren. He is still alive at 102 years old. |
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