The Museum of Modern Art presents Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern from November 17, 2024, through March 29, 2025.
MoMA would not be what it is today without Lillie Plummer Bliss. In 1929, after years of advocating for modern art in New York, Bliss, together with Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and Mary Quinn Sullivan, founded The Museum of Modern Art. When she died, at 66, just two years later, Bliss left a large part of her art collection to the museum—a visionary act that fundamentally changed MoMA’s trajectory.
Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern brings together 40 works from Bliss’s collection, including paintings and works on paper by Paul Cézanne, Odilon Redon, Georges-Pierre Seurat, and Pablo Picasso. Bliss was a fierce supporter of these groundbreaking artists at a time when modern art was often met with suspicion or ridicule. “They have something to say worth saying and claim for themselves only the freedom to express it in their own way,” she declared. Her uniquely generous gift, which allowed for the sale of her works to fund new acquisitions—including Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night—provided the young museum with a means to develop its collection far into the future.
Bliss’s remarkable contribution to the history of modern art in the United States remains under-recognized. This is partly due to her wish to stay out of the spotlight; at the end of her life, Bliss requested that her personal papers be burned. While much of her story remains left to the imagination, Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern illuminates this pivotal figure through the works of art she loved most.
The Museum of Modern Art is at 11 West 53rd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, New York, NY.
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS Projects: Marlon Mullen DECEMBER 14, 2024 – APRIL 20, 2025 (12/14/24-4/20/25)
MoMA and Cinecittà Present Marcello and Chiara Mastroianni, A Family Affair DECEMBER 12, 2024 – JANUARY 5, 2025 (12/12/24-1/5/25)
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS Light: Rafaël Rozendaal NOVEMBER 16, 2024 – SPRING 2025 (11/16/24-4/16/25)
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS Matisse’s Cut-Outs: A Celebration NOVEMBER 9, 2024 – JANUARY 20, 2025 (11/9/24-1/20/25)
MoMA Joins Forces with New York Road Runners for Inaugural "Beyond the Finish Line" Program NOVEMBER 4, 2024 (11/4/24-11/4/24)
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS Vital Signs: Artists and the Body NOVEMBER 3, 2024 – FEBRUARY 22, 2025 (11/3/24-2/22/25)
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS The Contenders 2024 NOVEMBER 1, 2024 – JANUARY 8, 2025 (11/1/24-1/8/25)
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS Nour Mobarak: Dafne Phono OCTOBER 26TH – JANUARY 12TH (10/26/24-1/12/25)
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS The Ongoing Revolution of Portuguese Cinema OCTOBER 17TH – NOVEMBER 19TH (10/17/24-11/19/24)
The Museum of Modern Art presents Preoccupations: A Jamie Nares Retrospective MAY 23 TO JUNE 2 (5/23/24-6/2/24)
Videos
Rejects Anonymous
Caveat (12/30 - 12/30) COMEDY | ||
Piano Panties: A Cheeky Cabaret Show
Sid Gold’s Request Room (7/2 - 12/30) | ||
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS Vital Signs: Artists and the Body NOVEMBER 3, 2024 – FEBRUARY 22, 2025
The Museum of Modern Art (11/3 - 2/22) | ||
The Whisper of the Waves
SoHo Playhouse (1/24 - 2/2) | ||
Margherita Giacobbi Takes on Role as First Executive Director of Players' Ring Theatre
Margherita Giacobbi Takes on Role as First Executive Director of Players' Ring Theatre (10/13 - 10/16) | ||
Gloaming, Nowhere
SoHo Playhouse (3/12 - 4/5) | ||
Almost Hot
Caveat (2/11 - 2/11) | ||
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS Otobong Nkanga: Cadence OCTOBER 10TH – JUNE 8TH
Museum of Modern Art (10/10 - 6/8) | ||
Mario the Maker Magician
SoHo Playhouse (11/16 - 12/29) | ||
VIEW SHOWS ADD A SHOW |
Recommended For You