Norton Simon

Norton Winfred Simon ( born February 5, 1907 in Portland, Oregon, † June 1, 1993 in Beverly Hills ) was an American industrialist and art collector.

Simon was born the son of a rich business family.

With great skill and connoisseurship he built up a rich art collection. In order to compete in the increasingly competitive hot art market, he bought 1964 art dealer Duveen. Thus he not only had to keep access to a rich collection of art, but also to a huge archive, which enabled him to specifically look for interesting art works out. At the same time he came in so close contact with the working for Duveen as an art advisor Bernard Berenson, who not only advised him, but was also active as his art agent.

In the 70s, Simon decided to look for a suitable building to make his art collection accessible to the public as a museum. He earned the fallen into financial difficulties kind Institute of Contemporary Art in Pasadena and taught there named after him Norton Simon Museum a.

Norton Simon was married to actress Jennifer Jones since 1971.