Nanette L. Laitman

Nanette L. Laitman (born 1924, New York City - March 23, 2020) was an art collector and a philanthropist. She has been involved with the board of the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) and its precursors in New York City for over 25 years.[3] She became a member of the board in 1994 and board president in 2000.[4] She was one of the main benefactors supporting MAD's relocation to 2 Columbus Circle in 2002.[3] Laitman has also funded the Nanette Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art.[5][6]

Nanette L. Laitman
Born1924[1]
New York City, New York, USA
DiedMarch 23, 2020 [2]
OccupationPhilanthropist

Family

Nanette Lasdon was born in 1924 in New York City, to pharmaceutical executive William S. Lasdon and his wife Mildred D. (Silverman) Lasdon.[7][8] Nanette Lasdon grew up in Westchester County, N.Y.[4] where the Lasdon family owned what is now Lasdon Park and Arboretum. After the property was sold to Westchester County, she donated funds for the William and Mildred Lasdon Memorial Garden to the park.[9] Nanette Lasdon was married to Robert Alan Laitman (1921-1998).

Three-dimensional art

After attending an opening at what was then the American Craft Museum, Nan Laitman became a member of a collector's circle, visiting artists' studios in New York with a museum curator to see and learn about the artists' work.[3][5] She was interested in three-dimensional art formed of clay, fiber, glass, metal and wood, and was particularly attracted to ceramics. In addition to artworks from the American studio movement, she has collected artworks from Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. Her personal collection included works by Robert Arneson, Bennett Bean, Anthony Caro, Michele Oka Doner, Viola Frey, Sergei Isupov, Diane Itter, Anne Kraus, Linda MacNeil, Judy Kensley McKie, Marilyn Pappas, Grayson Perry, Adrian Saxe, and Terry Evans[10] among many others.[5]

"I can appreciate all the paintings that are on the walls of all the museums, but I am a much more tactile person. I like objects more than paintings on the walls," says Ms. Laitman. "And I was fascinated by the creativity of these artists and what they were doing.""–Nanette Laitman[3]

Museum of Arts and Design

The Museum of Arts and Design was first established in 1956 as the Museum of Contemporary Crafts on West 53rd Street. In 1986, it moved down the block and was renamed the American Craft Museum. In 2002, it moved to 2 Columbus Circle and became the Museum of Arts and Design, a transition that increased its attendance more than tenfold.[11]

Through the transition to Columbus Circle, Nanette Laitman was the board president, and served on the building committee.[5] She personally donated $5 million, and offered to match an additional $4 million in donations.[12] This funded all four floors of exhibition space at the museum, which were named The Nanette L. Laitman Galleries.[5] Other major donors included Jerome Chazen and Barbara Tober.[12]

Nanette Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America

Through gifts to the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, Laitman funded the Nanette Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. The project was planned around the collection of oral histories from 100 artists working with clay, fiber, glass, metal and wood.[6][13][5] The Smithsonian has also collected archives of personal papers and gallery records as part of the project.[14][15][16][17]

"These are the records of American artists who were overlooked and written out of the textbook history of American art. My dream was to reunite them with their colleagues in other disciplines as compatriots and equals."–Nanette Laitman, 2009[5]

Laitman's "magnificent gift" has been described as "nothing short of transformative for the study of American craft",[14] creating "a priceless record of the founders and builders of the American studio movement".[5] Her work and the establishment of the museum have "given great credibility to the artists that were considered second tier up until now."[3]

Other organizations

Laitman has supported other arts and culture organizations including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Public Library.[6]

She has also supported initiatives in medical research. She funded the creation of the Nanette Laitman Clinical Scholars Program in Public Health at Weill Medical College, Cornell University in 2006. The first of the Laitman Clinical Scholars was Dr. Shari R. Midoneck.[18][19] Laitman has also supported the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University.[5]

References
  1. Riedel, Mija (May 29, 2009). "Oral history interview with Nanette Laitman, 2009 May 29". Archives of American Art. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  2. Legacy https://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/nytimes/nanette-laitman-condolences/195770524?cid=full. Retrieved 25 June 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. West, Melanie Grayce (August 25, 2011). "Crafts Museum Gets Benefactor". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  4. Beatty, Sally (21 Sep 2007). "Supporting Design". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  5. McFadden, David Revere (2011). "LIVING WITH ART: COLLECTOR AND VISIONARY, NAN LAITMAN". Archives of American Art Journal. 50 (3/4): 4–9. doi:10.1086/aaa.50.3_4.23355883.
  6. "Nanette Laitman". American Craft. 68 (3): 50. 2008.
  7. "Deaths LASDON, MILDRED D." The New York Times. March 17, 1997. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  8. Pace, Eric (December 10, 1984). "W.S. LASDON, PHILANTHROPIST AND A DRUG EXECUTIVE, DIES". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  9. "A visitor's map of Lasdon Park" (PDF). Lasdon Park. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  10. "About Terry Evans". Terry Evans Wood Art. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  11. Pogrebin, Robin (September 4, 2013). "A Critic of a Design Museum Will Lead It". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  12. Cloepfil, Brad (2002). "Museum of Arts and Design Opens New Home at Columbus Circle Designed". Art Daily. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  13. "The Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts In America". Archives of American Art. February 27, 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  14. Kirwin, Liza (2011). "FROM THE DIRECTOR". Archives of American Art Journal. 50 (3/4): 1. doi:10.1086/aaa.50.3_4.23355881.
  15. Riedel, Mija (2003). "The Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America (Regional Reports)". Journal of the Archives of American Art. 43 (1/2): 53–56. doi:10.1086/aaa.43.1_2.1557750.
  16. Ehrlich, Susan; Kirwin, Liza; Larsen, Susan C.; Lord, Joan; Riedel, Mija (2004). "Recent Acquisitions". Archives of American Art Journal. 44 (3/4): 38–51. doi:10.1086/aaa.44.3_4.25435095.
  17. Tell, Darcy (2011). "INTRODUCTION: Developments in Postwar American Craft". Archives of American Art Journal. 50 (3/4): 16–17. doi:10.1086/aaa.50.3_4.23355885. JSTOR 23355885.
  18. "Cornell's Weill Medical College to Receive $4 Million for Public Health Scholars". Philanthropy News Digest. January 21, 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  19. "Nanette Laitman Scholarship Program". Weill Medical College. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
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