Eugene M. Schwartz, one of the nations leading art collectors and museum
benefactors, died of a heart attack at age 68 according to the New York
Times (9/7/95, p. B17).

"'Collecting is the only socially commendable form of greed,' he told an
interviewer in 1991. But for him it was also a form of generosity since
he gave away art with as much zeal as he purchased it. In contrast to
many collectors who donate art primarily to one museum in the hope of
seeing a gallery or a wing named after them, Mr. Schwartz gave away
hundreds of pieces to large and small institutions all around the
country, including the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art,
the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New School for Social Research,
the Brooklyn Museum and the Detroit Institute of Art, among others.

'The only important thing about art is the art itself -- not its
monetary value, not its social prestige, not its public-relations
leverage,' he wrote in a small booklet titled 'Confessions of a Poor
Collector.' He urged potential collectors to study, read catalogues and
train their eyes to 'search for the strongest painting, the most
beautiful painting, the most profound painting.'"

Gene Schwartz was a wonderful friend of artists who "purchased" Douglas
Davis piece on Artnetweb knowing full well that he would be sharing it
with the rest of the world on the web. He's one of the reasons I find
all this talk of "image theft" so rediculous.
_________________________________________
ROBBIN MURPHY
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