Curator, Romy Silver-Kohn: Women, in particular, are still taught in small ways, not to trust their gut, and so I admire Bliss for the ways in which she learned over time to trust her intuition.
Curator, Ann Temkin: At the end of the 1920s, the concept of making an institution for art that was new had very few precedents. The people who participated, they were really just making it up as they went along.
Bliss’s Niece, Elizabeth Bliss Parkinson Cobb: They really decided to do this because they wanted a place where their pictures would be seen. The sad thing was that she died in ‘31—she had cancer—and they only started the Museum in ‘29, so she really never saw it. It was just a dream.
Writer, Kate Walbert: When she was going in for surgery in 1930, she wrote a letter to her brother, which said, "My dear, you are not to grieve if things go wrong. I have had a life full of happiness and growing old and helpless is nothing to be desired."
That's a brave note to write. Also, what was equally brave, I think, was to hold steady in her commitment and write that will to form the nucleus of the museum.
Romy Silver-Kohn: She didn't just think, "Oh, wouldn't it be great if New York has a Museum of Modern Art?" She made it happen.
Kate Walbert: Bliss was obscured by history in the way a lot of important women have been obscured by history. Her story should be known. It's long overdue, but that's thankfully changing because history isn't static.