Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Born	Patricia Phelps Caracas, Venezuela
Nationality	Venezuelan
Other names	Patty Cisneros
Alma mater	Wheaton College
Occupation	Art Collector Philanthropist
Years active	1970s-present
Organization	Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC)
Spouse(s)	Gustavo Cisneros
Children	3
Parent(s)	Miriam Louise Parker William Walther Phelps
Relatives	William Henry Phelps (grandfather)
Website	ColecciónCisneros.org

Patricia "Patty" Phelps de Cisneros is a Venezuelan art collector and philanthropist who focuses on Latin American modernist and contemporary art from Brazil, Venezuela, and the Río de la Plata region of Argentina and Uruguay.^[1][2] Since the 1970s Cisneros has supported education and the arts, with a particular focus on Latin America. Along with her husband, Gustavo A. Cisneros, she founded the New York City and Caracas-based Fundación Cisneros. In the 1990s the Fundación’s primary art-related program became the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.^[3] In 2016, Cisneros donated 102 modern and contemporary artworks from the 1940s to 1990s to the Museum of Modern Art, establishing the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Research Institute for the Study of Art from Latin America at MoMA.^[2]

Early life

Cisneros was born in Venezuela to mother, Miriam Louise Parker, and father, William Walther Phelps, a businessman. Her paternal great-grandfather was a noted businessman and ornithologist, William Henry Phelps. In 1953, William Henry Phelps and his son William Henry Phelps, Jr. started the first radio station in Venezuela, Radio Caracas Televisión Internacional (RCTV Internacional).^[4]

Cisneros received a BA in Philosophy from Wheaton College, Massachusetts, where she studied the educational philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead.

In 2003, Cisneros was awarded an honorary degree, an Honoris Causa degree in Fine Arts, from Wheaton College.^[5]

She was an MA candidate at NYU’s Gallatin School, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2015.

Career

In her twenties, Cisneros became the founder and director of the language department of the Simon Bolívar University, Caracas. There, she developed an innovative audio-visual approach to teaching foreign languages. She also worked with Accion International and was a founding contributor of AVEPANE (Asociación Venezolana de Padres y Amigos de Niños Excepcionales).^[3]

Through the Fundación Cisneros, Patricia and Gustavo Cisneros launched a number of education initiatives: in Venezuela, a literacy program called ACUDE benefited over 300,000 citizens, and the Centro Mozarteum provided scholarships to young people to study classical music. The Fundación Cisneros also created Cl@se, an educational television channel that reached over two million homes from Argentina to Mexico; AME, an international professional development program for teachers conducted through distance-learning; and Piensa en Arte, a methodological model for teaching critical thinking skills.^[3]

Currently, the Fundación Cisneros provides professional development in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic with the online platform called Tu Clase, tu país.^[6]

Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC)

In the 1970s, during her travels across Latin America with her husband, Cisneros spent her time visiting artists in their studios and seeing art in local galleries and museums, and began actively purchasing and collecting artwork.^[7] Primarily collecting indigenous work during frequent expeditions through Venezuela, especially around the Orinoco in the Amazon River Basin.^[3]

As her collection grew, Cisneros saw that Latin American art was under-represented in the international art community, so the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) was formed in the 1990s, with a goal of bringing visibility and impact to the way Latin American art history is viewed and appreciated. That effort has included a four-pronged approach: An ambitious approach to lending artworks around the world, working with scholars and academics to learn more about the artists and their works, the creation of a publications program to provide supporting information about the artists and their work, and building an online forum for the artwork.^[1]

The CPPC is best-known for its collection of Modernist geometric abstraction from Latin America and also comprises holdings of Latin American landscapes by traveler artists to Latin America in the 17th to 19th centuries; furniture and art from Latin America’s colonial period; contemporary art from Latin America; and an important group of art and artifacts from indigenous peoples of Venezuela’s Amazonas region, the Orinoco Collection. The mission of the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros is to enhance appreciation of the diversity, sophistication, and range of art from Latin America.^[3]

Gradually, Cisneros began acquiring geometric abstract artwork that had been under-appreciated. It gradually grew into a significant holding of 20th century Latin American abstract art.^[3] She has appeared on “top collector lists every year since 1998.^[8] Cisneros has been lending her collections to international exhibitions and institutions since 1999.^[9]

Cisneros credits her understanding of the importance of stewardship as a collector to her great-grandfather, William H Phelps, who meticulously cataloged his ornithological collection. She has said that her aesthetic developed as a result of having grown up in the modernist society of Caracas in the 1950s and 1960s.^[10]

Cisneros has had a long-term relationship with the Museum of Modern Art in New York.^[11] The 2016 donation of 102 modern and contemporary Latin American artworks from the 1940s to 1990s to the Museum of Modern Art, which establishes the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Research Institute for the Study of Art from Latin America at MoMA, join the previous donation by Colección Cisneros of over 40 other previously donated works.^[2] The gift is meant to be transformative and impactful on how Latin American art is valued and recognized globally. The gift includes works by Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape, Jesús Rafael Soto, Alejandro Otero, and Tomás Maldonado. Additional highlights are works by Willys de Castro, Hélio Oiticica, Juan Mele, Mira Schendel, Jesús Rafael Soto, and Gego.^[2]

Selected exhibitions

Since 1999, CPPC has loaned and curated over 60 Latin American exhibitions globally.^[12]

• 2007: "The Geometry of Hope: Latin American Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection." Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin (February 20–April 22, 2007) and Grey Art Gallery at New York University (September 13–December 8, 2007)^[13]
• 2013: "La Invención Concreta: Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros." Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (January 23–September 16, 2013)^[14]
• 2014: "Radical Geometry: Modern Art of South America from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection." Royal Academy of Arts, London, England (July 5–September 28, 2014)^[15]
• 2015-2016: "Boundless Reality: Traveler Artists' Landscapes of Latin America from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection." Hunter College and the Americas Society, New York, New York (October 30, 2015 – January 23, 2016)^[16]
• 2017-2018: "Making Art Concrete: Works from Argentina and Brazil in the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros." Getty Center, Los Angeles, California (August 29, 2017 – February 11, 2018)

Boards and memberships

Current work

• 2016–present: Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo Art Biennial (São Paulo, Brasil). Founding International Advisory Board member
• 2015–present: Círculo Internacional de la Escuela de Música Reina Sofía, Museo Reina Sofía, (Madrid, Spain). International Patron
• 2015–present: The Feuerle Collection (Berlin, Germany). Founding member, International Ambassadors^[17]
• 2014–present: Fundación Museo Reina Sofía, Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain). 2014–present: Founding Patron; 2015–present: Nominating and Governance Committee^[18]
• 2011–present: Museum Berggruen (Berlin, Germany). International Council
• 2009–present: International Committee of International Council of Museums (ICOM) for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (CIMAM). Founding Member
• 2007–present: Patronato Internacional del Museo del Prado, Museo del Prado (Madrid, Spain). Founding International Trustee
• 2004–present: Aspen Institute (Aspen, Colorado). 2004–present: Art Advisory Committee; 2004-2010: Society of Fellows, Presidential level^[19]
• 2001–present: Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Committee to Visit the Harvard University Art Museums^[20]
• 1992–present: Museum of Modern Art (New York, New York). Trustee; 2006: Founder and Chair, MoMA’s Latin American and Caribbean Fund; Member of other MoMA Committees
• 1986–present: Americas Society (New York, New York). The Americas Society was known as the Center for Inter-American Relations until October 16, 1986. 1981–present: Board of Directors;^[21] 1985–present: Chairman’s International Council; 1986–present: Cultural Council Committee

Past work

• 2011-2014: Association Centre Pompidou América Latina, Centre Georges Pompidou (París, France). Founding Member
• 2011-2014: American Friends of the Fondation Beyeler, Beyeler Foundation (Basel, Switzerland). Member
• 2004-2006: UBS (New York, New York). Art Advisory Board
• 2003-2014: Tate (London, England). 2003-2014: Founding member of Latin American Acquisitions Committee; 2003-2008: International Council
• 1998-2012: Casita Maria (New York, New York). 1998-2008: Board member; 2008-2012: Chairman’s Council^[22]
• 1997-2003: Programa Andes Tropicales (Mérida, Venezuela). Founding member, Board of Directors
• 1997-2000: Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas). Latin American Advisory Group
• 1994-2011: Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts). 1994: Founding board member; 1998-2011: Advisory Committee, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies^[20]
• 1992-1996: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York). Chairman’s Council
• 1991: Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, Museo Reina Sofía. Founding Patron^[23]
• 1987-1990: Sinfonietta Caracas (Caracas, Venezuela). Advisory Board
• 1985-1993: New York Botanical Garden (New York, New York). Board member
• 1980-1983: Just One Break (JOB) (New York, New York). Board Member
• 1970-1980: Museo de Bellas Artes (Caracas, Venezuela). Board member and member of the Friends of the Museo de Bellas Artes

Honors and awards

• 2015: Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters Degree − Graduate Center of the City University of New York (New York, New York)
• 2015: Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes − Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte de España (Spain)
• 2013: The Gran Cruz de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio − Monarchy of Spain (Spain)^[24]
• 2013: Distinguished Service in the Arts award − ArtTable (New York, New York).^[25]
• 2010: The Iris Foundation Award − Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture (New York, New York).^[26]
• 2008: The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Award for Outstanding Patronage of the Arts − Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (New York, New York).
• 2008: Americas Society’s Gold Medal − Americas Society (New York, New York).^[27]
• 2005: Recipient, medals of Honor, Ministry of Culture, Colombia, for work in promoting education and culture in Latin America (2 medals: Senado de la República, Orden del Congreso de Colombia en el grado de Cemendados; and Camara de la Democracia Simón Bolivar en el grado cruz de comendador)
• 2003: Honorary degrees in Fine Arts − Wheaton College, (Norton, Massachusetts)^[28]
• 2002: Cross of Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur − Republic of France
• 2000: Leone d’Oro di San Marco, awarded to the Colección Orinoco program area of the Fundación Cisneros^[29]
• 1999: Order of Simón Bolívar, Venezuela
• 1991: Order of Francisco de Miranda (Caracas, Venezuela) − Venezuelan government. Granted to citizens who have exemplified outstanding merits (logros excepcionales como ciudadano)
• 1986: Order of Good Citizen (Caracas, Venezuela) − City Council of Caracas. Granted for community leadership.
• 1986: Order of Andrés Bello (Caracas, Venezuela) − Venezuelan government. Granted in recognition of her contribution to the cultural development of the country (en reconocimiento a su contribución al desarollo cultural de país), Band of Honor, first class

Personal life

Cisneros has been married to Gustavo Cisneros since 1970.^[1] They have three children, Guillermo Cisneros, Carolina Cisneros de Rodríguez, and Adriana Cisneros, who is CEO and Vice Chairman of Cisneros Group.^[4]

Works and publications

• Cisneros, Patricia Phelps de (2016). "Reinvention: Collector as Custodian". In Holo, Selma; Alvarez, Mari-Tere. Remix: Changing Conversations in Museums of the Americas. Oakland, California: University of California Press. pp. 200–203. ISBN 978-0-52-028452-4. OCLC 921821810. 

See also

• Cisneros Group
• Gustavo Cisneros
• Adriana Cisneros
• William H. Phelps, Sr.
• William H. Phelps, Jr.

References

Further reading

• Phelps de Cisneros, Patricia, and Edward Sullivan. "A Conversation with Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, moderated by Edward Sullivan." Frick Collection. Symposium: "The Americas Revealed, Collecting Colonial and Modern Latin American Art in the United States." Organized by the Center for the History of Collecting at The Frick Collection. May 17, 2014. Video.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.

• Colección Cisneros on Twitter
• ColecciónCisneros.org
• FundaciónCisneros.org