Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Guggenheim, Olga Hirsch, 1877-1970 print view role Collector Patron dates 1877–1970 city New York state NY other cities Denver, CO sex F historical notes Olga Helen Hirsch Guggenheim was an art collector, patron, and philanthropist. Together with her husband Simon Guggenheim, she formed a collection of Italian art from the 14th, 15th, and 16th, and Flemish and French 17th art. Their collection included work by, among others, Filippino Lippi, Carlo Braccesco, Bonifacio Bembo, Jacopo Tintoretto, Lorenzo di Bicci, Taddeo di Bartolo, Jacopo del Casentino, Master of San Pietro in Sylvis, Sandro Botticelli, Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, Carlo Crivelli, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Pieter Bout, Anthony van Dyck, and Phillipe de Champagne. Olga Guggenheim helped form the Museum of Modern Art, served as a Trustee and Trustee Emeritus of the museum. She gave MoMA $1.5 million and created the Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund for the museum to acquire masterpieces, including works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Rodin, Braque, and Maillol. She donated a Gothic room replete with furniture and paintings to the Denver Art Museum. Her gifts to the Denver Art Museum are credited with “the Simon Guggenheim Memorial Collection.” She gave the New York Public Library her collection of 19th and 20th-century books, letters, and documents, including manuscripts and first editions. Among other charities, Mrs. Guggenheim was a benefactor of the Memorial Center of Cancer and Allied Diseases, the Roosevelt Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. She married her husband, Simon Guggenheim, in 1898, and they had two sons: John Simon (1905-1922) and George Denver (1907-1939). They formed the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1925 as a memorial to their son. decades of activity 1910-1920 1920-1930 1930-1940 1940-1950 1950-1960 1960-1970 website https://www.gf.org/ updated 02/14/2025 10:12:30 bibliographic search Search Frick Art Reference Library Catalog Search Photoarchive Search Worldcat Archives/Repository Collection Title Collection Details Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives Solomon R Guggenheim Museum Collection on the Guggenheim family, 1929-1992 (bulk 1967-1987) A0057 see details... «  back