Mary Griggs Burke
Mary (Livingston) Griggs Burke | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 20, 1916 |
| Died | December 8, 2012 (aged 96) |
| Resting place | Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA |
| Education | Sarah Lawrence College (BA) Columbia University (MA) |
| Occupation(s) | President of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation |
| Organization(s) | Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation |
| Title | The Mother of Japanese Art in America |
| Spouse | Jackson Burke |
| Parents |
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| Awards | Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star |
| Website | http://burkecollection.org/ |
Mary Griggs Burke (June 20, 1916 – December 8, 2012) was an American art collector. Over fifty years, Burke acquired the largest private collection of Japanese art outside Japan. Her collection grew so large that she housed it in a separate apartment adjacent to her own on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. In 1985, portions of her collection were exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum, becoming the first Western collection of Japanese art to be displayed at the museum. Mary Griggs Burke was a Trustee, (1976-1995) and Trustee Emeritus (1995-2012) to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also inherited Forest Lodge, a family lake-side property on Lake Namakagon near Cable, Wisconsin which she loved dearly; that property was left to Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, along with a $10-million endowment to create the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation.