Abram ‘Al’ Lerner, 94; first director of the Hirshhorn Museum

Abram “Al” Lerner, 94, the first director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., died Oct. 31 at an assisted-living facility in Canaan, Conn., following a recent heart attack, according to the museum.

Lerner was a longtime art advisor to the museum’s founder, Joseph Hirshhorn, a Latvian immigrant who made his fortunes on Wall Street and as an owner of uranium mines. Hirshhorn opened the doughnut-shaped museum on the National Mall in 1974 with more than 6,000 modern sculptures and paintings.

As museum director, Lerner helped transform the private art collection into a national gallery of modern art that became among the most popular in the nation. The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Lerner was a native of New York City and a graduate of New York University. He was an apprentice muralist for the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal agency to help artists and writers during the Depression.

Lerner studied art in Europe in the mid-1950s and, after serving as Hirshhorn’s private curator, was placed in charge of the planned museum and sculpture garden. He retired in 1984.