A Life of Collecting: Victor and Sally Ganz

by Michael C. Fitzgerald

Over the course of more than 45 years, the late Victor and Sally Ganz created one of the finest and most personal collections of 20th-century art ever assembled. In A Life of Collecting, leading curators, art dealers, and art historians analyze the Ganzes' unique vision and examine their profound commitment to contemporary art.From the moment they purchased Picasso's The Dream in 1941, the Ganzes pursued their belief that modem culture is defined by the achievements of only a few great artists. For 20 years, they collected Picasso's work exclusively. Then, realizing that Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and Eva Hesse were Picasso's true heirs, the Ganzes began to buy their works and developed deep relationships with them.

The essays are by John Richardson, Leo Steinberg, Maya Picasso, David Sylvester, Judith Goldman, and others. Superb color reproductions of the works are supplemented by photographs of Victor and Sally Ganz in their art-filled New York City apartment, with their family, friends, and the artists they helped to establish -- and whom we now hail as masters of 20th-century art.

Genres: Art

239 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997