Jeanne and Max Wasserman papers
name: label: Creator
content: Wasserman, Jeanne L.
label: Creator
content: Wasserman, Max, 1913-1986
label: Names
content: 180 Beacon Collection of Contemporary Art (Boston, Mass.)
label: Names
content: Fogg Art Museum
topic: label: Occupation
content: Artists -- United States
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Massachusetts -- Boston
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States
label: Topic
content: Outdoor Sculpture  -- Massachusetts
label: Topic
content: Art, American -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated 1995-1998 by Jeanne L. Wasserman. Additions are expected.
creator: label: Creator
content: Wasserman, Jeanne L.
label: Creator
content: Wasserman, Max, 1913-1986
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Art collectors; Boston, Mass. Jeanne (1915- ) was a curator; Max (1913-1986), a businessman. The 180 Beacon St. Collection of Contemporary Art was assembled in the 1960s by the Wassermans, with the advice of a committee consisting of Dorothy Miller of the Museum of Modern Art, H. Harvard Arnason of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, curator Sam Hunter, and Jeanne Wasserman, for the 17-storey apartment building built by the Wasserman Development Corporation. The committee's selections were primarily works by living artists done from the late fifties; slightly more than half were American. In 1975, the Development Corp. went bankrupt and the approximately 160 art objects were dispersed, chiefly at auctions. The Wasserman's personal art collection consisted of work by many of the same artists and included as well large-scale outdoor sculpture.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 9.1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: [ca. 1960-1975]
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.wassjean
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Correspondence, exhibition material, photographs, invoices, insurance records, and printed materials relating to the Wasserman's contemporary art collection and building at 180 Beacon St., Boston, Mass., and to the Wasserman family art collection. Reflected to a lesser degree are associations and financial contributions of the Wassermans to Boston area cultural institutions such as Brandeis University, the Fogg Art Museum, and MIT; and Max Wasserman's service on the MIT Art Committee which acquired major outdoor sculptures for the campus.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Among the nearly 140 artists represented in the 180 Beacon St. Collection are: Hannes Beckmann, Jim Dine, Friedel Dzubas, Robert Indiana, Ellsworth Kelly, Gyorgy Kepes, Kenneth Noland, Otto Piene, Larry Rivers, Varujan Boghosian, Louise Nevelson, George Rickey, Al Held, Lucas Samaras, Christo, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, and James Rosenquist.