Marion Koogler Mcnay

Place: Minerva

Born: 1883

Death: 1950

Biography:

Marion Koogler McNay was an American painter, art collector, and art teacher. She was born on February 7, 1883, in Minerva, Ohio, and inherited a substantial oil fortune upon the death of her parents. She later used her wealth to establish San Antonio's first museum of modern art, which today bears her name. Inspired by Modern, Impressionistic, and American art, she used her background to cultivate her eclectic art collection. McNay was able to design her San Antonio home after moving there in 1926, and began buying and commissioning art pieces to showcase in her home. The Spanish styled house was able to showcase a diverse amount of paintings, including both American and European styled art. McNay favored art made in the Southwestern American style. The fortune she inherited funded her art collection that included over seven hundred works by 1950, the year of her death. McNay's home, art collection, property, and an endowment were left to the city of San Antonio after her death. McNay's goal was to provide the people of San Antonio 'a place of beauty with the comforts and warmth of a home.' She died on April 13, 1950.