Richard Manoogian, Detroit Industrialist and American Art Collector, Dies at 90

Richard Manoogian, the Detroit industrialist who built one of the most significant private collections of American painting in the United States, died on Friday at 90. Masco Corporation, the company where he served as chairman emeritus, confirmed his death.

Masco was founded in 1929 by his Armenian immigrant parents, Alex and Marie Manoogian, and became famous for selling the single-handle Delta faucet. Manoogian appeared on ARTnews's Top 200 Collectors list six times, including its first edition in 1990.

"There are not enough words to adequately recognize the lifelong accomplishments, contributions and impact of Richard Manoogian," Jon Nudi, president and CEO of Masco Corporation, said in a statement. "Richard lived a long, successful life and leaves behind a legacy from his role at Masco and as a philanthropist, renowned art collector and community leader. His integrity, his commitment to excellence and respect and care for each person will forever be a part of Masco."

Manoogian began collecting in the mid-1970s, concentrating on American paintings. His most famous acquisition came in 1987, when he bought George Caleb Bingham's The Jolly Flatboatmen (1846) for $6 million — roughly $17.69 million today — from the Pell Family Trust. At the time, the price ranked among the highest sums ever paid for an American painting at auction or through private sale. The canvas had been on loan to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, since 1953, and Manoogian sat on the National Gallery's Trustee Council.

In June 1989, the National Gallery mounted "American Paintings From the Manoogian Collection," a show of 63 paintings featuring works by Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, and Mary Cassatt. J. Carter Brown, then the museum's director, told the Los Angeles Times that year that Manoogian was "more than a lender, more than an owner of art. He is a true collector. All you have to do is go to his house and be careful if you have to get into the bathroom or into any or the closets or the kitchen. It is full of art. He is a joy to know because of this irrepressible enthusiasm he has for American art. What you are seeing here is just the tip of the iceberg. It was an agonizing choice to squeeze this collection down."

Nicolai Cikovsky Jr., then curator of American art at the National Gallery, called the exhibition "a comprehensive survey of American painting, a remarkable one in capsule form." He added: "What I think is remarkable and distinctive about this collection is how it ranges widely from the canonic to the offbeat to the mainstream to the idiosyncratic, and I mean that as a compliment."

Manoogian framed his collecting as a mission to raise the standing of American artists. "I think one of the main motivations was just the feeling that American art generally was often underappreciated," he said in 1989. "Hopefully, one of the things that this exhibition will do is show the quality and diversity that exists in American art . . . and will encourage other people to build that appreciation."

He tied his philanthropy directly to his family's history. His parents immigrated to the United States in 1920, and Manoogian saw his collecting as a way of repaying the country's generosity. "Putting this collection together and sharing it is just a small way of expressing that appreciation for all the opportunities this country has presented for families such as ours," he said.

The exhibition traveled beyond Washington: "American Paintings from the Manoogian Collection" also went on view at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Manoogian's business activities extended into the gallery world. Through Masco, he owned Beacon Hill, a gallery at 980 Madison Avenue in New York, which he sold in 1998; its art collection went to auction at Sotheby's. The New York Times estimated that collection's worth at $10 million at the time, about $20.55 million today.

Manoogian's death closes a chapter in the institutional history of American art collecting — a collector whose stated aim, in his own words, was to "encourage other people to build that appreciation" for the country's painters.