Edward Mortimer Morris Warburg (June 5, 1908 – September 1992) was an American philanthropist and patron of the arts from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He taught Modern Art at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...

and he was vice director for public affairs of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. He was a co-founder of the

American Ballet The American Ballet was the first professional ballet company George Balanchine created in the United States. The company was founded with the help of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward Warburg, managed by Alexander Merovitch and populated by students ...

and the School of American Ballet. He collected many paintings and sculptures, and donated the bulk of them to museums, especially the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

Early life

Edward Warburg was born on June 5, 1908 in

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

, and grew up at the

Felix M. Warburg House The Felix M. Warburg House is a mansion located on 1109 Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The house was built from 1907 to 1908 for the German-American Jewish financier Felix M. Warburg and his ...

, a mansion on Fifth Avenue now home to the

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. List of Jewish museums Notable Jewish museums include: *Albania ** Solomon Museum, Berat *Australia ** Jewish Mu ...

on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

. He was a son of Frieda ( née Schiff) Warburg and Felix Moritz Warburg, a partner of the investment bank Kuhn, Loeb & Co. His maternal grandfather was

Jacob Schiff Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ja ...

. His paternal uncle,

Aby Warburg Aby Moritz Warburg, better known as Aby Warburg, (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg (Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, ...

, was a German art historian. Warburg was educated at the

Middlesex School Middlesex School is a coeducational, non-sectarian, day and boarding independent secondary school for grades 9-12 located in Concord, Massachusetts. It was founded as an all-boys school in 1901 by a Roxbury Latin School alumnus, Frederick Winsor, ...

, a boarding school in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the confl ...

. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1930. While at Harvard, he took courses with Edward W. Forbes and Paul J. Sachs, and co-founded the Harvard Society for Contemporary Art with Lincoln Kirstein and John Walker in 1928. The student organization exhibited the works

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Hopper created subdued drama ...

and

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

Career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Warburg served in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, France, with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He was a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal. Warburg taught Modern Art at

, a women's college in Pennsylvania. He served as vice director for public affairs of the

in New York City from 1971 to 1974. Warburg self-published a biography of Sydney S. Spivack in 1981, entitled ''Sydney S. Spivack (1907-1969)''.

Philanthropy and art collection

With his Harvard friend Lincoln Kirstein, Vladmir Dimitriew, and Russian choreographer George Balanchine, Warburg was a co-founder of the School of American Ballet in 1934. Two years later, in 1936, Warburg and Kirstein co-founded the

, a precursor to the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

. Warburg is credited with bringing George Balanchine to the United States. Warburg patronised Balanchine's early ballets in the United States. He also patronised the first

Stravinsky Festival New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fi ...

at the Metropolitan Opera House, "commissioning the score for Jeu de Cartes." Warburg joined the board of trustees of the

in 1933. He served on the board of trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1988 until his death in 1992. Over the years, Warburg collected many paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe and Edward Hopper, but also by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...

, and Joan Miró. He also collected sculptures by

Ernst Barlach Ernst Heinrich Barlach (2 January 1870 – 24 October 1938) was a German expressionist sculptor, medallist, printmaker and writer. Although he was a supporter of the war in the years leading to World War I, his participation in the war made hi ...

Gaston Lachaise Gaston Lachaise (March 19, 1882 – October 18, 1935) was a French-born sculptor, active in the early 20th century. A native of Paris, he was most noted for his female nudes such as '' Standing Woman''. Gaston Lachaise was taught the refinement o ...

, Constantin Brâncuși and

Alexander Milne Calder Alexander Milne Calder (August 23, 1846 – June 4, 1923) (MILL-nee) was a Scottish American sculptor best known for the architectural sculpture of Philadelphia City Hall. Both his son, Alexander Stirling Calder, and grandson, Alexander "San ...

. He donated many of his paintings and sculptures to the

in New York City. Additionally, Warburg donated to Jewish causes. He served as the Chair of the Art division of the

UJA-Federation of New York UJA-Federation of New York ( United Jewish Appeal⁣ – ⁣Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Inc.) is the largest local philanthropy in the world. Headquartered in New York City, the organization raises and allocates funds annuall ...

the 1930s. He made charitable contributions to the

Tel Aviv Museum of Art Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( he, מוזיאון תל אביב לאמנות ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art from Israel and aroun ...

and the

Habima Theatre The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

as early as the 1930s. In a 1933 article published by the '' Jewish Telegraphic Agency'', it was explained that he did not "view Palestine as a national homeland but as a university center in which the ideals and culture of the Jewish people may have an opportunity to flourish and spread throughout the whole world."

Personal life

In 1939, Warburg was married to Mary Whelan (née Prue) Currier (1908–2009), known as Mary Warburg. Mary was divorced from Boston artist Richard Currier, an heir to Currier & Ives fortune, with whom she had one son. They resided at 730 Park Avenue. He retired in

Wilton, Connecticut Wilton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 18,503. In 2017, it was the sixth-wealthiest town per capita in Connecticut, the wealthiest U.S. state per capita. Officially reco ...

. Together, they had a son and a daughter: * David Warburg * Daphne Warburg (b. 1949), who married Michael Ramon Langhorne Astor (b. 1946), eldest son of

Jakie Astor Major Sir John Jacob "Jakie" Astor VII, (29 August 1918 – 10 September 2000) was an English politician and sportsman. He was a member of the prominent Astor family. Early life John Jacob Astor VII (Jakie) was born 29 August 1918, the young ...

. Warburg died of heart failure in September 1992 at the

Norwalk Hospital Norwalk Hospital is a not-for-profit, acute care community teaching hospital in the Hospital Hill section of Norwalk, Connecticut. The hospital serves a population of 250,000 in lower Fairfield County, Connecticut. The 366-bed hospital has more ...

in Norwalk, Connecticut.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warburg, Edward 1908 births 1992 deaths People from White Plains, New York People from the Upper East Side People from Wilton, Connecticut Harvard University alumni Bryn Mawr College faculty United States Army personnel of World War II Jewish American philanthropists Jewish American art collectors American people of German-Jewish descent Schiff family Edward Middlesex School alumni Philanthropists from New York (state) 20th-century American Jews