Frances Lasker Brody

The LA Times memorializes influential Southern California collector and arts benefactress, Frances Lasker Brody:

Known for her fierce intellect, strong opinions freely shared and unflagging sense of style, Brody, the daughter of advertising titan Albert Lasker, used her life of privilege to bring art to Southern California.

She was the catalyst for a major Matisse retrospective at UCLA in 1966 that, with its unprecedented loans from the Matisse family, was what Los Angeles Times critic Henry J. Seldis called “one of the most ambitious exhibitions ever organized locally.”

With her late husband, Sidney, she played a major role in the launch of LACMA, which opened in 1965, and for many years was a force on the UCLA Art Council, which she helped found and served as president. Under her leadership, the council mounted an important exhibition on the works of Pablo Picasso for his 80th birthday in 1961.

For the last 20 years, Brody was a member of the Huntington’s board of overseers and played a crucial early role in the development of its Chinese garden, which opened to rave reviews last year. “I can very safely say there wouldn’t be a Chinese garden without Francie Brody,” said Huntington President Steven S. Koblik.