Melva Bucksbaum

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Melva Bucksbaum
Born
Melva Venezky

(1933-04-05)April 5, 1933
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedAugust 16, 2015(2015-08-16) (aged 82)
Aspen, Colorado, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Maryland
OccupationPhilanthropist, patron of the arts
Spouse(s)Martin Bucksbaum
Robert I. Goldman
Raymond J. Learsy
Children2 sons, 1 daughter
RelativesMatthew Bucksbaum (brother-in-law)

Melva Jane Bucksbaum (née Venezky; April 5, 1933 – August 16, 2015) was an American art collector, curator, and patron of the arts.

Early life[]

Bucksbaum was born in Washington, D.C. on April 5, 1933, to William Venezky and Millie Ruth Venezky (née Bronstein), two Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States. Bucksbaum attended the University of Maryland.[1]

Philanthropy and art collection[]

Bucksbaum served as the president of the Des Moines Art Center board. In 1996, Bucksbaum and her family endowed the Martin Bucksbaum Professorship in Urban Planning and Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in memory of her late husband.[2] Additionally, she established the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series in Des Moines, Iowa at Drake University.[3]

Bucksbaum began serving on the Whitney Museum of American Art's board of trustees in 1996 and eventually became its vice chairwoman. In 2000 she and her family inaugurated the Melva Bucksbaum Prize with an award of $100,000 to an individual contemporary artist and an exhibition of the artist's work at the Whitney.[4]

Bucksbaum served on additional boards such as the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., the American Friends of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Aspen Institute, the Drawing Center in New York, the Jewish Museum in New York, and the International Committee of the Tate Gallery in London.[5]

Bucksbaum collected over four hundred contemporary, impressionist, modernist and post-impressionist works, including pieces by Vanessa Beecroft, Gregory Crewdson, Nan Goldin, Robert Mapplethorpe, David Salle, Richard Serra, Terry Winters, Henri Matisse, Su-en Wong, and works by Peter Paul Rubens. In 2004–2005 Francesco Clemente painted a portrait of the couple.[6]

Personal life and death[]

Bucksbaum married Martin Bucksbaum in 1967. They had two sons, Gene and Glenn, and a daughter, Mary.[7] He predeceased her in 1995,[7] and she married Robert I. Goldman in 1998.[1][2] In 2001 she married a third time to fellow Whitney trustee, Raymond J. Learsy.[8]

Bucksbaum died at her home in Aspen, Colorado from bladder cancer on August 16, 2015 at the age of 82.[9] She is survived by her third husband as well as her sons, Gene and Glenn Bucksbaum; her daughter, Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan; her stepchildren, Bill and Peter Lese and Olexa Mandelbaum; seven grandchildren; and six step-grandchildren.

References[]

  1. ^ "New York Times obituary". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  2. ^ "Melva Bucksbaum Obituary - Des Moines, IA | Des Moines Register". legacy.com. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  3. ^ "Melva Bucksbaum". The Aspen Institute. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  4. ^ "Melva Bucksbaum (1933–2015) - artforum.com / news". artforum.com. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  5. ^ Roberts, Sam (2015-08-18). "Melva Bucksbaum, Art Collector and Curator, Dies at 82". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  6. ^ "Mary Boone Gallery - Francesco Clemente, Portrait of Ray Learsy and Melva Bucksbaum". maryboonegallery.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-25. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Strom, Stephanie (July 10, 1995). "Martin Bucksbaum, 74, Pioneer In Shopping Center Development". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  8. ^ "Influential art patron Melva Bucksbaum dies at 82 - Business Record". businessrecord.com. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  9. ^ "Beloved Collector Melva Bucksbaum Has Died—artnet News". news.artnet.com. Retrieved 2015-09-21.

External links[]

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