Norton Simon Museum - Pasadena, CA
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 34° 08.776 W 118° 09.539
11S E 393151 N 3778980
The famed Norton Simon Museum, began in 1922, and bore many names over the years until the acquisition of the large private collections of Norton Simon who became the director in 1974, and the museum was renamed in his honor.
Waymark Code: WM6YZ9
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 08/08/2009
Views: 10
From the museum web site:
Norton Winfred Simon was born on February 5, 1907 in Portland, Oregon. He graduated high school in San Francisco at the age of 16. Early on, Mr. Simon showed a strong proclivity for business and, in 1925, he moved to Los Angeles where he established a sheet metal distribution company.
Mr. Simon was a passionate businessman, with enthusiasm and a talent for negotiation. In 1929, at the start of the Great Depression, Norton Simon invested $7,000 in a floundering juice bottling company. He eventually turned his investment into the highly prosperous Hunt Foods, Inc.
Through strategy, mergers, and acquisitions, he built Norton Simon Inc., a multi-industry, multinational corporation that included Hunt-Wesson Foods, McCall’s Publishing, Saturday Review of Literature, Canada Dry Corporation, Max Factor cosmetics, and Avis Car Rental.
Norton Simon's accomplishments as an art collector equaled his extraordinary achievements in business. Over a period of less than 30 years, he amassed what is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest private art collections.
Norton Simon’s interest in art began in the 1950s with the works of Degas, Renoir, Gauguin and Cézanne. In the 1960s he shaped a major art collection of Old Masters, Impressionists and Modern works which expanded in the 1970s to include Indian and Southeast Asian art.
During this time, Mr. Simon became an influential force within the Southern California art community. As a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art, he encouraged the separation of the art and science activities, and was a catalyst in the formation of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Norton Simon’s marriage to actress Jennifer Jones in 1971 marked the turning point in the shaping of his collections. With the exception of a few Greek and Egyptian objects, his acquisitions until then were decidedly European. That summer, during the couple’s honeymoon trip to India, Mr. Simon began to explore Indian art. This led to his first purchase of Indian art, a Mughal ivory chess set and, more importantly, to an admiration for South Asian art, which occupied a large part of his collecting interest for the remainder of his life.
By early 1974, Mr. Simon had begun to seek a permanent home for his large collection. He welcomed an overture from the financially strapped Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, and ultimately assumed its leadership. Over the next year, as loan commitments to other museums ended, his artworks traveled to Pasadena. Norton Simon's vast "museum without walls" began to assemble within walls for the first time.
Year it was dedicated: founded 1922, - renamed 1974
Location of Coordinates: Entrance
Related Web address (if available): [Web Link]
Type of place/structure you are waymarking: Building
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