Page 297 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

In 1964, Bob, alongside prominent local
collectors including Joseph Randall Shapiro
and Edwin Bergman, met to consider how
to better present Contemporary art in the
city. Three years later, the fedgling Museum
of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)
opened, housed in a single-story space
formerly occupied by a bakery and the
photography studios of Playboy magazine.
As a founding trustee and treasurer of the
board, Bob was instrumental to the success
of the MCA in its formative years. Among
the museum’s inaugural exhibitions were
artists greatly respected by the Mayers,
including Oldenburg and Dan Flavin, whose
1967 show Pink and Gold was the artist’s
frst solo museum exhibition. In 1968, the
depth and breadth of the Mayers’ private
collection was given a spectacular public
debut, when the MCA presented Selections
from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B.
Mayer. The eighty works on loan—including
major pieces by Dubufet, Rosenquist and
Thiebaud, and others—represented “an
embarrassment of riches,” in the words of
MCA Director Jan van de Marck.

The Robert B. and Beatrice C. Mayer Family
Collection is a monumental achievement in
American collecting. With true integrity of
purpose, Bob and Buddy created a lasting
legacy in fne art: in their patronage of
emerging artists, they helped secure the
success of some of the twentieth century’s
most important fgures; in seeking to
share their collection with others, they
inspired successive generations to think,
act, and give with creativity and resolve.
“It is nourishment to my soul to feel that
perhaps I can make a small contribution to
society for all that society has done for me,”
Bob explained in 1965. “If I am successful
in putting together a group of paintings and
sculpture for my family, friends, the public,
and future generations to see and enjoy,
then I have added meaning to my own life”.
It was a philosophy that the Mayers shared
with the many artists and creative minds
that informed their lives—a commitment to
creation and enduring beauty, and a legacy
for generations to come.

293