| Bruce, Ailsa Mellon, 1901-1969 | |||||||||||||
| type | Collector Patron | ||||||||||||
| dates | 1901-1969 | ||||||||||||
| city | Washington | ||||||||||||
| state | DC | ||||||||||||
| sex | F | ||||||||||||
| history |
Collector and daughter of Andrew Mellon, she acted as her father's hostess in Washington and when he was ambassador to Great Britain. In 1926 she married David K. E. Bruce, who became a distinguished diplomat and also served as the National Gallery's president (1939-1945). Ailsa and David divorced in 1945. Mrs. Mellon Bruce established the Avalon Foundation in 1940, which, among other things, funded the Gallery's Andrew W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts. In 1946 she designated funds for the Gallery's purchase of American art and later made possible the acquisition of many Old Masters, such as Ginevra de' Benci, the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci that is outside Europe. Along with her brother Paul, she contributed the large initial gift to finance the new East Building, but she did not live to see its groundbreaking. Mrs. Mellon Bruce's bequest to the Gallery included an endowment fund and her own collection of paintings by French impressionists. |
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| decades | 1920-1930 1930-1940 1940-1950 1950-1960 1960-1970 |
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| updated | 03/22/2024 12:09:29 | ||||||||||||
| research links |
Search FRESCO (Frick Research Catalog Online) Search Worldcat Search Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) Search Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) Search Wikidata Entry | ||||||||||||
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