Museum of Living Art

1940s Tax Department Photograph An art museum owned by descendant of the chairman of New York University Source:

1940s Tax Department photographs, New York city Municipal Archives, https://nycrecords.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_e20232dd-75a5-4b4a-9bc7-cb38a313bea4/

Date: 1939-1941

"On the ground floor, right of 100 Washington Square East is the MUSEUM OF LIVING ART. Founded in 1927, the gallery contains works of Man Ray, Lachaise, Cézanne, Brancusi, Matisse, Picasso, and Juan Gris, owned by Albert E. Gallatin, a descendant of the New York University's first council chairman." (New York City Guide, p. 134)

Albert E. Gallatin, who is a descendant of the founder of New York University (NYU), owned Museum of Living Art. It was the only museum in the U.S. that continuously showed the latest international developments in modern art to the public. Therefore, people could probably easily access the famous artworks as it was significant in terms of modern art. The museum was on the ground floor of NYU, and the building was right next to Washington Square Park; thus, the public might have remembered the place due to these geographical advantages.

The museum was located in Greenwich Village, where it was well known as an American bohemian culture in the nineteenth century (Wikipedia, n.d.). At that time, there was an art movement which led artists to toward opposite directions from traditional or renaissance art (Gallery of Living Art, 1936). Overall, Museum of Living Art represented these contexts. Not only the location and timing of the emergence of Museum of Living Art but also the museum is significant as it displayed artworks of the prominent artists who may represent modern art in 1930s.