Marilynn Alsdorf

Marilynn Alsdorf (1925 - August 1, 2019) was a Chicago art collector, philanthropist and museum trustee.

Early life

Marilynn Alsdorf, née Bruder, was born in 1925 and grew up in the Rogers Park area on the Far North Side of Chicago. After high school at the St. Scholastica Academy, she graduated from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.{{Cite news |first= Graydon |last= Megan |date= 2019-08-24 |title= Marilynn Alsdorf, arts patron and collector who gave generously to the Art Institute, dies at 94 |newspaper= Chicago Tribune |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-marilynn-alsdorf-obituary-20190823-gbldpeibxzemljztaqfyl3obgm-story.html |access-date= 2025-04-06 }}

In 1953 she married James Alsdorf.{{Cite web |title=The Collection of James and Marilynn Alsdorf |url=https://www.christies.com/en/stories/the-collection-of-james-and-marilynn-alsdorf-6f4dbe2c437c43688c1af7b9ffc2a340 |website=christies.com}} Together, they operated Alsdorf International Ltd., an export and investment business.{{Cite web |title=The Collection of James and Marilynn |url=https://www.christies.com/about-us/press-archive/details?PressReleaseID=9482 |website=christies.com}} James died in 1990.{{Cite news |date=1990-04-24 |title=James Alsdorf, 76, Chicago Executive And Patron of Arts |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/24/obituaries/james-alsdorf-76-chicago-executive-and-patron-of-arts.html |access-date=2023-11-08 }}

Art collector and philanthropist

Alsdorf collected art with her husband. Their collection included 20th century European paintings, antiquities, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian art.{{cite web |title= Archives Directory for the History of Collecting: Alsdorf, Marilynn, 1926- |publisher= Frick Collection |url= https://research.frick.org/directory/detail/1442 |access-date= 2025-04-06 |language=en }} In September 1997, Alsdorf gave 400 works of Asian art to the Art Institute of Chicago, of which she was a trustee.{{Cite news |date=1997-09-24 |title=Chicago Art Institute Gets 400 Asian Works |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/24/arts/chicago-art-institute-gets-400-asian-works.html |access-date=2023-11-08 }}{{Cite book |last1=Pal |first1=Pratapaditya |last2=Little |first2=Stephen |author3=Art Institute of Chicago |date=1997 |title=A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection |location= New York |publisher= Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0500974544 |s2cid=126639691 }} She was both a founding board member and trustee for over 50 years,{{citeweb |title= In Recognition of 50 Years: Marilynn B. Alsdorf |website= mcachicago.org |publisher= Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago |url= https://mcachicago.org/about/in-recognition-of-50-years-marilynn-b-alsdorf |access-date= 2025-04-06 }} as well as a donor to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.{{Cite web |title= Marilynn B. Alsdorf, 1925–2019 |website= mcachicago.org |publisher= Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago |url= https://mcachicago.org/about/who-we-are/people/marilyn-b-alsdorf |access-date= 2025-04-06 }} She also donated to the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art.

Looted art controversies

In 2004 the FBI seized from Alsdorf a painting by Pablo Picasso, Femme en Blanc, that had been owned by Carlotta Landsberg and that was suspected of having been looted or sold under duress during the Nazi era.{{Cite news |last= Vogel |first= Carol |date=2004-10-27 |title=National Briefing {{!}} Midwest: Illinois: F.B.I. Seizes Picasso Linked To Nazi Looting |language=en-US |newspaper= The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/us/national-briefing-midwest-illinois-fbi-seizes-picasso-linked-to-nazi.html |access-date=2023-11-08 }} A settlement was reached in 2005 after years of litigation.{{Cite web |last=Egelko |first=Bob |date=2005-08-09 |title=$6.5M settlement in suit over stolen Picasso painting |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/6-5m-settlement-in-suit-over-stolen-picasso-2649305.php |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=SFGATE |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=United States v. One Oil Painting Entitled 'Femme en Blanc' by Pablo Picasso, 362 F. Supp. 2d 1175 {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/us-v-oil-painting-entitled-femme-en-blanc |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=casetext.com}}

Over the years concerns have been raised about the origins of antiquities in the Alsdorf collection, notably concerning artworks from Nepal.{{Cite news |last= Sijapati |first= Alisha |date= 2021-06-13 |title= How Nepali antiquities got to Chicago museum |newspaper= Nepali Times |url= https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-nepali-antiquities-got-to-chicago-museum |access-date= 2025-04-06 }}{{Cite news |first= Hannah |last= Edgar |date= March 22, 2023 |title= Some of the Art Institute's prominent antiquities from Nepal likely looted, investigation says |newspaper= Chicago Tribune |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/03/22/some-of-the-art-institutes-prominent-antiquities-from-nepal-likely-looted-investigation-says/ |access-date= 2025-04-06}}{{Cite web |title= A Rare Buddha's Head Statue Once Looted by the Nazis Goes up for Auction in New York |publisher= The Value |website= TheValue.com |url= https://en.thevalue.com/articles/nazi-looted-art-china-buddha-head-christies-auction-eskenazi |access-date= 2025-04-06 |language= en-US }}{{ cite news |author1= Elyssa Cherney |author2= ((Crain's Chicago Business)) |author3= Steve Mills |date= March 27, 2023 |title= A Rare Statue of Buddha Fails to Sell at Auction as Questions Swirl Around a Renowned Art Collection |publisher= ProPublica |url= https://www.propublica.org/article/rare-buddha-didnt-sell-questions-grow-around-alsdorf-art-collection-chicago }} In 2023, Crain’s Chicago Business and ProPublica reported that nine objects from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf collection had been returned by the museum to their countries of origin since the late 1980s.{{Cite web |last1=Mills |first1=Steve |first2= Elyssa |last2= Cherney |date=2023-03-20 |title=Questions Shadow These Items From a Renowned Art Collection |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-art-institute-alsdorf-repatriation-origins |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=ProPublica |language=en}} In 2025, arrangements were made to return additional works to Nepal.{{cite web |first= Steve |last= Mills |date= 2025-04-01 |title= The Art Institute of Chicago Returned a Sculpture to Nepal But Obscured Its Connection to a Wealthy Donor |url= https://www.propublica.org/article/art-institute-chicago-returned-buddha-statue-nepal-marilynn-alsdorf |website= ProPublica |language= en }}

Legacy

Alsdorf died in 2019 at the age of 94.{{Cite web |title= Marilynn Bruder Alsdorf (BS46) |work= Medill Alumni Magazine |publisher= Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University |url= https://magazine.medill.northwestern.edu/2020/marilynn-bruder-alsdorf-bs46/ |access-date= 2025-04-06 |language= en-US}} In 2020 Christie's auctioned 60 objects from the Alsdorf home in Chicago.{{Cite web |title= Ancient Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection |website= onlineonly.christies.com |publisher= Christie's |url= https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/ancient-art-james-marilynn-alsdorf-collection/overview/1759?sc_lang=en |access-date= 2023-11-10 }}{{Cite news |title= Sacred and Imperial: The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection |department= Asian Art Week |date= September 2020 |publisher= artdaily.com |url= https://artdaily.com/news/127661/-Sacred-and-Imperial--The-James-and-Marilynn-Alsdorf-Collection--headlines-Asian-Art-Week-September-2020 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20240920181340/https://artdaily.com/news/127661/-Sacred-and-Imperial--The-James-and-Marilynn-Alsdorf-Collection--headlines-Asian-Art-Week-September-2020 |archivedate= 2024-09-20 }}