Emily Joy Spiegel (; December 21, 1928 – February 16, 2009) and Jerome E. Spiegel (July 4, 1925 – November 3, 2009) were American real estate developers and art collectors based in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York.

Early life

Jerome E. "Jerry" Spiegel was born in Brooklyn, New York City on July 4, 1925. His father died when he was three years old. Much of his childhood was spent on his uncle's 115-acre potato farm in Smithtown, Long Island, New York. Emily Joy Rosenblatt was born on December 21, 1928, and died on February 16, 2009. She was the daughter of Jacob H. Rosenblatt and Carrie Skloot Rosenblatt, who was an interior designer, and died on November 22, 2000, aged 94.

Career

In 1945, Jerome started his first company in Hicksville, building suburban housing for soldiers coming home from the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and by 1950 was building one home per day. In 1952, he built the Nassau Farmers Market, Long Island's first indoor shopping center, and by 1971 was the largest individual owner of commercial and industrial real estate on Long Island. He died on November 3, 2009.

Art collectors

They collected post-war American and German painting and sculpture, and photography. They were "early champions " of artists including

Sigmar Polke Sigmar Polke (13 February 1941 – 10 June 2010) was a German painter and photographer. Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matters and materials. In the 1970s, he concentrated on photography, returning to paint in the 1980s ...

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German ...

Christopher Wool Christopher Wool (born 1955) is an American artist. Since the 1980s, Wool's art has incorporated issues surrounding post-conceptual ideas. He lives and works in New York City and Marfa, Texas, together with his wife and fellow painter Charline v ...

and

Anselm Kiefer Anselm Kiefer (born 8 March 1945) is a German painter and sculptor. He studied with Peter Dreher and Horst Antes at the end of the 1960s. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The poems of Paul Celan hav ...

. They also collected works by photographers including

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...

Paul Outerbridge Paul Outerbridge, Jr. (August 15, 1896 – October 17, 1958) was an American photographer prominent for his early use and experiments in color photography. Outerbridge was a fashion and commercial photographer, an early pioneer and teacher of ...

Paul Strand Paul Strand (October 16, 1890 – March 31, 1976) was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century. ...

and

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; née Nemerov; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
" The New York ...

. Each daughter received roughly half (by value) of their parents' collection and in May 2017 held rival sales, Pamela with

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

, Lise with

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

. Lise only auctioned one work,

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

's 1982 ''

Untitled Untitled or (Untitled) may refer to: Artworks * ''Untitled (2004)'', by Banksy * ''Untitled'' (1982 painting), by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat * ''Untitled'' (Devil), a 1982 painting by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat * ''Untitled' ...

'', which her parents had bought for $19,000 in 1984; it sold for $110.5 million to Japanese billionaire entrepreneur and art collector

Yusaku Maezawa is a Japanese billionaire entrepreneur and art collector. He founded Start Today in 1998 and launched the online fashion retail website Zozotown in 2004, now Japan's largest. Most recently, Maezawa introduced a custom-fit apparel brand ZOZO and ...

Personal life

In 1954, Emily Rosenblatt married Jerome Spiegel in Queens, New York City. They had two daughters, Pamela Sanders and Lise Spiegel Wilks, who have "a long-standing feud of unknown origin", and do not speak to each other. Both sisters graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and are both married to men who are in real estate. Emily and Jerry Spiegel lived at 10 Broadlawn Avenue in Kings Point, Long Island, New York. They both died in 2009.

Legacy

In 1953, they founded the Jerry and Emily Spiegel Family Foundation, which funded charitable, community and educational projects across Long Island. The Foundation is responsible for the Jerry and Emily Spiegel Theater at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

, and a wing at

Long Island Jewish Medical Center Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC or LIJ) is a clinical and academic hospital within the Northwell Health system. It is a 807-bed, non-profit tertiary care teaching hospital serving the greater New York metropolitan area. The campus is e ...

. In 2001, they gifted

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

's 1963 ''Silver Double Elvis'' to the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

. The gift was in honor of

Kirk Varnedoe John Kirk Train Varnedoe (January 18, 1946 – August 14, 2003) was an American art historian, the Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art from 1988 to 2001, Professor of the History of Art at the Institute for Advance ...

, friend to the Spiegels and chief curator of painting and sculpture there from 1988 to 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiegel, Emily and Jerry American art collectors 2009 deaths People from Kings Point, New York American real estate businesspeople Philanthropists from New York (state) Married couples