Norton Simon
Encyclopedia
Norton Winfred Simon in the United States
was a millionaire industrialist and philanthropist based in California
. A significant art collector, he is the namesake of the Norton Simon Museum
in Pasadena, California
.
, he attended high school in San Francisco, graduating in 1924. At his father's insistence, in 1925 he enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley
, but left his pre-law studies within the first six weeks to found a sheet metal distribution company. He enjoyed early success and invested $7000 in 1927 in an orange juice bottling plant in Fullerton, California
which was insolvent and renamed it Val Vita Food Products Company. He soon added other fruit and vegetables to the product lines and purchased canning equipment.
, Simon focused on product visibility. Uncharacteristically for a food company at the time, he acquired full page advertisements in Vogue
and Life
magazines with full-color photos of Hunt's ketchup bottles and tomato sauce cans. His aggressive advertising ensured the company's slogan "Hunt for the best" was prominent. His marketing strategy worked, and by 1945 Hunt Foods became a household name and one of the largest food processing businesses on the West Coast. Hunt's is now part of ConAgra Foods, Inc..
With the growing profits from Hunt Foods, he began buying stock in other undervalued companies with growth potential, many of which were still undervalued following the loss of confidence in equities after the Great Depression. He diversified through acquisition into well known businesses such as McCall's Publishing
, the Saturday Review of Literature, Canada Dry
Corporation, Max Factor
cosmetics, the television production company Talent Associates
, and Avis Car Rental
, through his holding company Norton Simon Inc. Many of these businesses had extensive interests outside the United States. Norton Simon Inc. was later acquired by Esmark in 1983, which merged with Beatrice Foods
the next year. Beatrice was sold to ConAgra in 1990.
and supported the development of the LA County Museum of Art
. Simon initially lent most of his art collection to that Museum although as it expanded he pioneered the "museum without walls" concept by actively lending his collection to different museums around the world.
Simon's collection holds three autograph Rembrandt paintings, considered highly important works of Rembrandt in Southern California
.
In 1972 Norton Simon bought a tenth-century South Indian bronze Nataraja, or dancing Shiva, from New York dealer Ben Heller for $900,000. The Indian government declared that the statue had been stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu and smuggled abroad. Although Simon was quoted (New York Times, 12 May 1973) as saying that he had knowingly bought smuggled art (“Hell yes, it was smuggled. I spent between $15 and $16 million in the last two years on Asian art, and most of it was smuggled”) he vehemently denied the quote (Los Angeles Times, 13 May 1973), declaring that the work had been legally imported into the United States. In the same Los Angeles Times article, he stated, “As a collector deeply and emotionally involved in art, I deplore the rape of art treasures of any country.” In 1976 Simon reached an amicable agreement with the Union of India whereby he agreed to return the Nataraja to India. In exchange, the Indian government agreed that Simon could keep and display the bronze in his museum for nine years before its return.
Seeking a permanent home for his collection of over 4,000 objects, in 1972 he welcomed an overture from the financially troubled Pasadena Museum of Modern Art. He ultimately assumed control and naming rights, and in 1974 it was renamed the Norton Simon Museum
.
, the Los Angeles Music Center, the California School of Professional Psychology
at Alliant International University
, and the Institute for Advanced Study.
In 1970, Simon opposed U.S. Senator George Murphy
's bid for a second term in the Republican
primary
. Murphy won renomination rather handily but then lost the seat in the general election
to the Democrat
John V. Tunney
, even as Ronald W. Reagan was winning a second term as governor
.
He was diagnosed in 1984 with the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome
, although he remained active in the Norton Simon Museum
until his death in Beverly Hills.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was a millionaire industrialist and philanthropist based in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. A significant art collector, he is the namesake of the Norton Simon Museum
Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
.
Early life
Born into a successful Jewish family in Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, he attended high school in San Francisco, graduating in 1924. At his father's insistence, in 1925 he enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, but left his pre-law studies within the first six weeks to found a sheet metal distribution company. He enjoyed early success and invested $7000 in 1927 in an orange juice bottling plant in Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
which was insolvent and renamed it Val Vita Food Products Company. He soon added other fruit and vegetables to the product lines and purchased canning equipment.
Business career
As one of the first of his significant corporate moves, Simon sold Val Vita to Hunt's Foods in return for a controlling interest in the combined business. By 1943 he changed the company's name to Hunt's Foods and ran it with strict cost-controls and an unorthodox approach to marketing. During and after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Simon focused on product visibility. Uncharacteristically for a food company at the time, he acquired full page advertisements in Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
and Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazines with full-color photos of Hunt's ketchup bottles and tomato sauce cans. His aggressive advertising ensured the company's slogan "Hunt for the best" was prominent. His marketing strategy worked, and by 1945 Hunt Foods became a household name and one of the largest food processing businesses on the West Coast. Hunt's is now part of ConAgra Foods, Inc..
With the growing profits from Hunt Foods, he began buying stock in other undervalued companies with growth potential, many of which were still undervalued following the loss of confidence in equities after the Great Depression. He diversified through acquisition into well known businesses such as McCall's Publishing
McCall Corporation
McCall Corporation was an American publishing company that produced some popular magazines. These included Redbook for women, Bluebook for men, McCall's, the Saturday Review, and Popular Mechanics...
, the Saturday Review of Literature, Canada Dry
Canada Dry
Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks owned since 2008 by the Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group. For over a century Canada Dry has been known for its ginger ale, though the company also manufactures a number of other soft drinks and mixers...
Corporation, Max Factor
Max Factor
Max Factor & Company is a cosmetics company, founded during 1909 by Maksymilian Faktorowicz , Max Factor, a Polish-Jewish cosmetician. Max Factor & Company was a related, two-family, multi-generational international cosmetics company before its sale in 1973 for $500 million dollars...
cosmetics, the television production company Talent Associates
Talent Associates
Talent Associates, Ltd. , was a production company headed by David Susskind, later joined by Daniel Melnick, Leonard Stern and Ron Gilbert.-Origins:...
, and Avis Car Rental
Avis Rent A Car System
Avis Rent a Car System, LLC is a car rental company headquartered in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, New Jersey, United States. Avis, Budget Rent a Car and Budget Truck Rental are all units of Avis Budget Group....
, through his holding company Norton Simon Inc. Many of these businesses had extensive interests outside the United States. Norton Simon Inc. was later acquired by Esmark in 1983, which merged with Beatrice Foods
Beatrice Foods
Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company. In 1987, its smaller international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis, a corporate attorney creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of its domestic brands and assets were acquired by Kohlberg,...
the next year. Beatrice was sold to ConAgra in 1990.
Art collection
Simon also accumulated one of the world's most significant private art collections which included works of the Impressionists, Old Masters and modern and native art. He served as a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and ArtNatural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County opened in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA in 1913 as the Museum of History, Science, and Art. The moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910. Its distinctive main building, with fitted marble walls and domed and...
and supported the development of the LA County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
. Simon initially lent most of his art collection to that Museum although as it expanded he pioneered the "museum without walls" concept by actively lending his collection to different museums around the world.
Simon's collection holds three autograph Rembrandt paintings, considered highly important works of Rembrandt in Southern California
Rembrandt in Southern California
Rembrandt in Southern California is a virtual exhibition of paintings by Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn on view in the "greater museum of Southern California." This collaboration was launched online in November 2008 by the Hammer Museum, the J...
.
In 1972 Norton Simon bought a tenth-century South Indian bronze Nataraja, or dancing Shiva, from New York dealer Ben Heller for $900,000. The Indian government declared that the statue had been stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu and smuggled abroad. Although Simon was quoted (New York Times, 12 May 1973) as saying that he had knowingly bought smuggled art (“Hell yes, it was smuggled. I spent between $15 and $16 million in the last two years on Asian art, and most of it was smuggled”) he vehemently denied the quote (Los Angeles Times, 13 May 1973), declaring that the work had been legally imported into the United States. In the same Los Angeles Times article, he stated, “As a collector deeply and emotionally involved in art, I deplore the rape of art treasures of any country.” In 1976 Simon reached an amicable agreement with the Union of India whereby he agreed to return the Nataraja to India. In exchange, the Indian government agreed that Simon could keep and display the bronze in his museum for nine years before its return.
Seeking a permanent home for his collection of over 4,000 objects, in 1972 he welcomed an overture from the financially troubled Pasadena Museum of Modern Art. He ultimately assumed control and naming rights, and in 1974 it was renamed the Norton Simon Museum
Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
.
Later life
In 1969, his son Robert Simon committed suicide. The following year, he and his wife Lucille Ellis were divorced. He married actress Jennifer Jones in 1971. He also retired from active involvement in his business in 1969. He accepted appointments to the University of California Board of Regents, the Carnegie Commission on the Future of Higher Education, the boards of Reed CollegeReed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, the Los Angeles Music Center, the California School of Professional Psychology
California School of Professional Psychology
The California School of Professional Psychology , was founded by the California Psychological Association in 1969. It is part of Alliant International University.The school has trained approximately half of the licensed psychologists in California...
at Alliant International University
Alliant International University
Alliant International University is a private, non-profit higher education institution based in San Diego, California. It offers programs in six California cities and four locations outside the United States...
, and the Institute for Advanced Study.
In 1970, Simon opposed U.S. Senator George Murphy
George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy was an American dancer, actor, and politician.-Life and career:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and Nora Long. He was educated at Peddie School, Trinity-Pawling School, and...
's bid for a second term in the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
. Murphy won renomination rather handily but then lost the seat in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
to the Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
John V. Tunney
John V. Tunney
John Varick Tunney , is a former Democratic Party United States Senator and Representative.-Biography:He is the son of the famous heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney and Connecticut socialite Polly Lauder Tunney....
, even as Ronald W. Reagan was winning a second term as governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
.
He was diagnosed in 1984 with the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome
Guillain-Barré syndrome
Guillain–Barré syndrome , sometimes called Landry's paralysis, is an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy , a disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system. Ascending paralysis, weakness beginning in the feet and hands and migrating towards the trunk, is the most typical symptom...
, although he remained active in the Norton Simon Museum
Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
until his death in Beverly Hills.