Skip to main contentBiographyLEE LENZ, PHD – brief bio
Professor of Botany Emeritus, Claremont Graduate University | Director Emeritus, RSABG | Research Scientist Emeritus, RSABG
Lee Lenz was born and grew up in Bozeman, Montana. After completing his Ph.D. at Washington University, St. Louis, and the Missouri Botanical Garden under Edgar Anderson, Professor Lenz came to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in 1948, and in 1960 was named executive director, a position he held until his retirement in 1983. He was appointed associate professor (later professor) at the Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University) in 1952 and chaired the department from ca. 1956 to 1981. His early research centered around cytogenetics and taxonomy, especially in Iridaceae and in plants now treated as Themidaceae. He has also had an interest in the origin of cultivated plants and has carried out horticultural breeding programs at the Garden utilizing native western taxa. In recent years he has devoted much of his time to studies of the genus Yucca (Agavaceae).
Lee Lenz – History with NMWA, Collector’s Statement, and Bio
Adam Duncan Harris
Lee Lenz first called me in 2009, after searching for links to the sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti on the internet. The Museum’s website came up in his search. He was around 94 years old at the time.
After a few phone calls and emails, he donated three bronzes to the Museum: Rembrandt Bugatti, Two Friends (Les Deux Amis); Guido Righetti, Sacred Hamadryas Baboon, and Guido Righetti, Cormorants. This helped expand our collection of the highly influential Antwerp school of animal sculptors. We featured all the works from Lenz’s donation, along with additions from our own in a 2010-2011 exhibit called, Collection Spotlight: Rembrandt Bugatti and the Antwerp School.
After that, we would communicate once a year or so, often with him suggesting something he was interested in donating. Most of his suggestions were spot on. After his initial donation, he made promised gifts of Alberic Collin’s African Crowned Eagles and Ken Bunn’s Two Cougars.
In 2012, he gave us funds to purchase Gwynn Murrill’s Tiger 2 (installed in Sullivan Hall) and, in 2015, Geoffrey Dashwood’s Monumental Barn Owl (installed on Sculpture Trail). Also in 2015, he made outright donations of three toucan prints from the early 1800s by Edward Lear. In 2016, he donated a beautiful Picasso ceramic platter featuring an owl.
In terms of personal interactions, he came to Jackson to visit in 2012. He stayed at the Rusty Parrot and came up here for lunch. He was fairly energetic for a 97 year old, but our time together was brief. He loved the Museum and enjoyed seeing his Bugatti out on view.
The next time I saw him was in 2013 when the George Catlin exhibit I curated for the Smithsonian American Art Museum was showing in Palm Springs. I flew into LAX and, en route to the desert, visited him for an hour or so at his home in Claremont, CA. Other than that, we emailed almost exclusively. Our last exchange (2017) ended somewhat tersely and I worried I had angered him. We were trying to figure out a way to get some of Gwynn Murrill’s deer for the Sculpture Trail and my negotiating skills in that instance did not work out. After that, I did not hear from him, but sent an email every once in a while to see if he was okay.
Lee passed away October 2019 at age 104. The assistant to his trust executor told me the visit to Claremont and a book showing installation shots of the Barn Owl I sent him really made a difference. He told me once there would be some additional funds coming with the promised gifts, but he did not elaborate any further. I was stunned when I learned that we are the sole beneficiary of his remainder trust, which should come in at over $500,000.
Collector’s statement by Lee Lenz:
“I have been involved with animals, especially birds, for as long as I can remember and at one time had an extensive collection of tropical species. Being a conservationist, I have been especially concerned with the captive breeding of endangered species and have had some success. I have also had a long-standing interest in three-dimensional art and some years ago it occurred to me to combine my interests and to collect works of animalier art.
“My first animal sculpture was by Kenneth Bunn, the well-known western artist. Being a research scientist, I began studying the work of other artists; I soon learned that the Italian, Rembrandt Bugatti, was widely regarded by many as the most outstanding of the animalier artists, one who has had a significant influence on later artists, especially Alberic Collin. A Bugatti came onto the market in Canada and I was able to add it to my collection. More recently, I was able to obtain a work by Collin.
“When I became acquainted with the people at a London Gallery that specialized in animalier art, I learned about the eccentric Italian artist Guido Righetti, who is little known to American collectors. In 1976, I loaned my first Righetti, the baboon, for a show in Paris celebrating 200 years of animalier art. I have always placed quality over quantity and my personal collection has remained small. Some time ago I made the decision to no longer add to my collection but rather to make the works available for the pleasure and education of all people, hopefully for many years to come.”
Dr. Lee W. Lenz
(American, 1915-2019)
Professor of Botany Emeritus, Claremont Graduate University | Director Emeritus, RSABG | Research Scientist Emeritus, RSABG
Lee Lenz was born and grew up in Bozeman, Montana. After completing his Ph.D. at Washington University, St. Louis, and the Missouri Botanical Garden under Edgar Anderson, Professor Lenz came to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in 1948, and in 1960 was named executive director, a position he held until his retirement in 1983. He was appointed associate professor (later professor) at the Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University) in 1952 and chaired the department from ca. 1956 to 1981. His early research centered around cytogenetics and taxonomy, especially in Iridaceae and in plants now treated as Themidaceae. He has also had an interest in the origin of cultivated plants and has carried out horticultural breeding programs at the Garden utilizing native western taxa. In recent years he has devoted much of his time to studies of the genus Yucca (Agavaceae).
Lee Lenz – History with NMWA, Collector’s Statement, and Bio
Adam Duncan Harris
Lee Lenz first called me in 2009, after searching for links to the sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti on the internet. The Museum’s website came up in his search. He was around 94 years old at the time.
After a few phone calls and emails, he donated three bronzes to the Museum: Rembrandt Bugatti, Two Friends (Les Deux Amis); Guido Righetti, Sacred Hamadryas Baboon, and Guido Righetti, Cormorants. This helped expand our collection of the highly influential Antwerp school of animal sculptors. We featured all the works from Lenz’s donation, along with additions from our own in a 2010-2011 exhibit called, Collection Spotlight: Rembrandt Bugatti and the Antwerp School.
After that, we would communicate once a year or so, often with him suggesting something he was interested in donating. Most of his suggestions were spot on. After his initial donation, he made promised gifts of Alberic Collin’s African Crowned Eagles and Ken Bunn’s Two Cougars.
In 2012, he gave us funds to purchase Gwynn Murrill’s Tiger 2 (installed in Sullivan Hall) and, in 2015, Geoffrey Dashwood’s Monumental Barn Owl (installed on Sculpture Trail). Also in 2015, he made outright donations of three toucan prints from the early 1800s by Edward Lear. In 2016, he donated a beautiful Picasso ceramic platter featuring an owl.
In terms of personal interactions, he came to Jackson to visit in 2012. He stayed at the Rusty Parrot and came up here for lunch. He was fairly energetic for a 97 year old, but our time together was brief. He loved the Museum and enjoyed seeing his Bugatti out on view.
The next time I saw him was in 2013 when the George Catlin exhibit I curated for the Smithsonian American Art Museum was showing in Palm Springs. I flew into LAX and, en route to the desert, visited him for an hour or so at his home in Claremont, CA. Other than that, we emailed almost exclusively. Our last exchange (2017) ended somewhat tersely and I worried I had angered him. We were trying to figure out a way to get some of Gwynn Murrill’s deer for the Sculpture Trail and my negotiating skills in that instance did not work out. After that, I did not hear from him, but sent an email every once in a while to see if he was okay.
Lee passed away October 2019 at age 104. The assistant to his trust executor told me the visit to Claremont and a book showing installation shots of the Barn Owl I sent him really made a difference. He told me once there would be some additional funds coming with the promised gifts, but he did not elaborate any further. I was stunned when I learned that we are the sole beneficiary of his remainder trust, which should come in at over $500,000.
Collector’s statement by Lee Lenz:
“I have been involved with animals, especially birds, for as long as I can remember and at one time had an extensive collection of tropical species. Being a conservationist, I have been especially concerned with the captive breeding of endangered species and have had some success. I have also had a long-standing interest in three-dimensional art and some years ago it occurred to me to combine my interests and to collect works of animalier art.
“My first animal sculpture was by Kenneth Bunn, the well-known western artist. Being a research scientist, I began studying the work of other artists; I soon learned that the Italian, Rembrandt Bugatti, was widely regarded by many as the most outstanding of the animalier artists, one who has had a significant influence on later artists, especially Alberic Collin. A Bugatti came onto the market in Canada and I was able to add it to my collection. More recently, I was able to obtain a work by Collin.
“When I became acquainted with the people at a London Gallery that specialized in animalier art, I learned about the eccentric Italian artist Guido Righetti, who is little known to American collectors. In 1976, I loaned my first Righetti, the baboon, for a show in Paris celebrating 200 years of animalier art. I have always placed quality over quantity and my personal collection has remained small. Some time ago I made the decision to no longer add to my collection but rather to make the works available for the pleasure and education of all people, hopefully for many years to come.”
Person TypeIndividual