Southern California entrepreneur Norton Simon (1907–1993) established The Norton Simon Foundation (NSF) in 1952 to administer his family’s philanthropic endeavors. As Simon’s interest in collecting art grew, so did NSF’s involvement, and in 1964 it made its first major purchase—the inventory of the prominent New York art dealer, the Duveen Brothers.
Today, The Norton Simon Foundation owns some of the most renowned artworks in the world, including Francisco de Zurbarán’s Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose, 1633; Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Boy, 1655–60; Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s The Pont des Arts, Paris, 1867–68; and Pablo Picasso’s Woman with a Book, 1932.
Since 1975, the majority of NSF’s collection has been on long-term loan to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California.