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On Mr. Lehman’s death in 1969, his entire collection, one of the most extraordinary and wide-ranging in the world, was bequeathed to the Foundation, on which responsibility devolved for carrying out Mr. Lehman’s wish that the collection be exhibited intact and in perpetuity in a manner evoking the ambiance of his ancestral home rather than that of an institutional collection.

Early History of the Collection: 1911–1920

When Philip began forming his collection in the early twentieth century, he was among an esteemed group of American collectors, including Isabella Stewart Gardner, Henry Clay Frick, and J.P. Morgan. His very first purchases dating to 1911, reflect his early interests in Old Master paintings, especially portraits of the Dutch, Spanish, and Italian schools, including works by Goya and a fifteenth-century Bolognese master.