Vivian Potamkin, 87; Philanthropist and Collector of U.S. Art
Vivian Orleans Potamkin, 87, a philanthropist who held one of the country’s most important collections of American art, died of breast cancer Nov. 24 in Philadelphia.
In 2000, she and her husband, mortgage banker Meyer “Pat” Potamkin, gave the Philadelphia Museum of Art seven oil paintings and one watercolor by major figures in American art known as The Eight: William Glackens, Robert Henri, George Luks, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson and Maurice Prendergast.
The Potamkins also donated works to the National Gallery of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the White House, the National Portrait Gallery, Dickinson College and La Salle University.
In addition, the Vivian and Meyer P. Potamkin Foundation helped establish an annual award for breast cancer research in 1999.
A native of Philadelphia, she began collecting art with her husband shortly after they wed in 1940. He died last year.
She also served on the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
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