Description

From literary polymath Suzanne Loebl (the author of ten books, most recently the acclaimed America’s Art Museums) comes the captivating, first-of-its kind exploration into the philanthropic and cultural legacy of one of America’s wealthiest and most influential families: The Rockefellers. Fueled by John D. Rockefeller’s vast petroleum fortune, the entire family’s terrific passion for the arts transformed the artistic infrastructure of twentieth century America. Funding museums like the MoMA, the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of the Oriental Art at the University of Chicago, and commissioning major architectural projects like Rockefeller Center, Riverside Church, and Lincoln Center, the Rockefellers’ achievements forever changed the cultural landscape of the Western world. Loebl’s penetrating biography is the first book to deeply explore the family’s critical role as collectors and patrons of the arts.