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historical notes
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Beatrice Gersh was a philanthropist and pioneering force in the Los Angeles contemporary art community for more than a half-century and the wife of Gersh agency founder Phil Gersh. The couple began collecting in the 1950s, focusing largely on modern and contemporary art, including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Piet Mondrian, Arshile Gorky, and Alberto Giacometti. Gersh was part of a small group that in 1979 began the crusade to build the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Gersh remained an ardent supporter of MOCA throughout her life; she received the museum’s first Distinguished Women in the Arts award in 1994 and was a Life Trustee of the museum. In 1989, MOCA presented “Selections From the Beatrice and Phillip Gersh Collection,” an exhibition displaying pieces gifted to the museum by the couple as well as selections from their private collection. |
