David and Hannah Lewis have spent four decades carefully and painstakingly amassing one of the most important collections of Old Master and 19th-century paintings in the world, and one of the largest private collections in the United Kingdom. With their first purchase in 1967, the Lewises were not art experts, first beginning their collection for the sole purpose of finding art to hang on the walls of their new home in North London. What would transpire would become a passion that would consume their lives for decades to come, and forever transform the galleries of museums all over the world.
Today, the Schorr Collection, named for the family of Hannah Lewis, numbers more than 500 works, ranging from tender 15th-century devotional images through to 19th-century French impressionist landscapes and 20th-century Modern Masters. Rather than sequester the treasures of their collection away in private galleries, the Lewis family shares works from the Schorr Collection, one of the largest private collections in the United Kingdom, with public museums on a long-term basis.
A recipient of long-term loans from the Schorr Collection in 2013, Phoenix Art Museum will now welcome an additional 30 paintings. This significant group will include a full-length 17-century portrait by Anthony van Dyck from his Genoa period and the great Death of Seneca (c. 1625), by Gerrit van Honthorst. The new works will also include three series by Francisco Goya: Los Caprichos, Disasters of War, and Los Proverbios (19th century).