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the fifteen boats was equipped with its own work of art. He bought and sold without expecting to keep the works forever, allowing old favorites to be replaced by new enthusiasms. Cummings expected that everyone would share his passion for art: as well as giving away works of art as presents, he displayed parts of his collection in the offices of his companies for the enjoyment of the staff.
200:. Earlier, David's brother Isaac had immigrated to Saint John. Allegedly, Isaac had intended to go to New York but accidentally got off in New Brunswick. Upon leaving Russia, David joined Isaac in Canada. Shortly after arriving in Saint John, David met Bessie Howe, who had recently come to Canada from Lithuania, and soon married.
207:), who was born on 19 April 1898. Bessie became ill after the birth and on 4 February 1900 died at age 32. David soon remarried to Esther Miriam Saxe (1882–1966). David and Esther had five more children: Minnie (1903–1999), Benjamin (1904–1999), Ralph (1906–1970), Pauline (1911–1917), and Harold (1918–1998).
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and 20th-century master paintings. He enjoyed contemporary art and delighted in new discoveries. He often acquired whole series of works by artists he liked, later distributing the works to friends or scattering them around the workplace. At one time he owned a fishing fleet and ensured that each of
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Cummings' first wife was Ruth
Lillian Kellert, whom he married in 1919. She died in 1952. In 1959, he wed Joanne Toor; the marriage ended in divorce in 1976. Upon his death in 1985, Cummings was survived by three children from his first marriage, Beatrice Cummings Mayer of Chicago , Herbert Cummings
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There was little in Nathan
Cummings' background to suggest an affinity with art. Later in his life he liked to tell of his first tentative encounter with art: "An advertising man convinced me that I should have a painting made of the view from my window." Cummings liked it so much that he asked the
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of
Paradise Valley, Ariz., and Alan H. Cummings of Palm Beach; ; a sister, Mrs. Monroe Abbey, of Montreal; four brothers, Maxwell, Benjamin, Ralph, and Harold, one sister, Minnie, all of Montreal, and nine grandchildren. Cummings was related to MGM's legendary studio boss
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artist to paint the scene a second time - the view at night. His satisfaction with these works sparked an interest in collecting art that was to develop with the passion of the newly converted.
257:-based coffee, tea and sugar chain, C.D. Kenny Company. Cummings acquired the company in 1941. Its continued prosperity allowed him to expand his holdings to found a business empire.
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Starting in the 1950s
Cummings became a major donor to hospitals, universities, arts organizations, and Jewish causes. His endowment created the Nathan Cummings Arts Center at
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Cummings' collections were diverse, including French
Impressionist paintings, modern sculpture, ancient Peruvian ceramics, and works of living artists such as
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As
Cummings became increasingly affluent, he began to collect art. His first significant acquisition was made in Paris in 1945, immediately after
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In 1954 the company name was changed to
Consolidated Foods Corporation, which Cummings thought was 'less old-fashioned', and in 1985 the name
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By the mid-1930s he had invested in McCormicks, a biscuit and candy company in Canada. The success of that business, which he sold to
164:; 14 October 1896 – 19 February 1985) was a Jewish-Canadian-American businessman, investor and philanthropist. He was the founder of
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Cummings retired from the company in 1968, but remained honorary chairman and active in company affairs until his death in 1985.
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through marriage. Louis B. Mayer's older sister Ida was married to Louis
Komiensky, brother to Nate's father, David Komiensky.
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in New London. (Joanne Toor
Cummings was the second wife of Cummings; she died in 1995.) He made major contributions to the
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Over the next decade, Cummings invested within company after company. In 1945 he established his corporate headquarters in
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was adopted. Sara Lee was the name of one of the company's best known brands, which
Cummings had acquired in 1956.
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to David Louis Komiensky (1872–1940) and Elizabeth Beatrice "Bessie" Howe (1868–1900). David Komiensky was born in
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Cummings had established a shoe shop and factory of his own by 1924, but the business foundered during the
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Summer loan 1971: paintings from New York collections, July 1-Sept. 7: Nathan Cummings Collection
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As a collector, Cummings did not confine himself to the acquisition of blue-chip
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David and Bessie Komiensky, Jewish Lithuanian Immigrants: A Brief Family History
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Following Nathan's birth, David and Bessie had a second son, Maxwell Komiensky (
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Ancient Peruvian ceramics: the Nathan Cummings collection by Alan R. Sawyer
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and formed the Consolidated Grocers Corporation as a
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567:Nathan Cummings, the Donor and his Interests
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532:McQuiston, John T. (20 September 1995).
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491:. Blog at WordPress.com
449:"The Duke of Groceries"
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511:"ExLibris Rosetta"
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341:Henry Moore
310:Provo, Utah
89:Founder of
81:Businessman
588:Categories
419:References
244:bankruptcy
240:Depression
176:Early life
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45:1896-10-14
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162:Komiensky
373:Bob Hope
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194:May Laws
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