James Pearson Duffy (Detroit Portrait series)
Artist
Kurt Novak
(American)
Date2003 - 2005
MediumArchival pigment print on cotton rag paper
Dimensions41 3/4 × 60 3/4 in. (106 × 154.3 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Object numberUAC6120
DescriptionJames Pearson Duffy (1923 - 2009)Champion of the Detroit art scene, collector extraordinaire, and supporter of Detroit institutions, the name James Pearson Duffy can be found throughout the Detroit area on everything from small art purchases to the Department of Contemporary Art in the Detroit Institute of Arts. Interested in the arts since his youth, Duffy began his career in collecting in the 1950s, helping his parents acquire American and English paintings and decorative arts from the 19th century. As his interest in the contemporary arts grew, Duffy wanted to be more than just a collector – he wanted to help and support the up-and-coming artists of the scene he knew was a critical component of Detroit’s artistic culture: the Cass Corridor in the 1960s and ’70s. Duffy commissioned and purchased works from the Cass Corridor artists, and amassed a collection of thousands of works of Cass Corridor art. Duffy’s patronage has helped preserve the cultural legacy of Detroit artists, and provided a visual context that can be discovered and enjoyed by all. He has donated significant gifts of artwork and funding to institutions such as the Detroit Institute of Arts as well as Wayne State University, which in recognition named one of its academic departments the James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History.
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