Anne Bass, art philanthropist, remembered for love, support of Fort Worth culture
Anne Bass, the former wife of oil tycoon Sid Bass, garnered a reputation as an avid art collector, a financial backer of numerous Fort Worth cultural institutions and — in her later years — a member of the New York City elite with a pristine Fifth Avenue apartment.
But Cornelia Blake, of Fort Worth, remembers her less as a headline-grabbing socialite than as a neighborhood friend and fellow mom.
Bass, who died Wednesday at the age of 78 following a long illness, became an overnight celebrity when she married the billionaire Sid Bass in 1965 and the pair settled into a minimalistic and modern-looking Fort Worth home hailed an architectural and artistic feat. Blake had met her in Italy, where her husband, a painter, had been capturing landscapes on canvas. They continued their friendship after Bass had her lavish Texas wedding.
Blake, who was in her late 20s at the time, had a son who was younger than her two girls at Fort Worth Country Day Private School, so they would split carpool duty in the mornings and afternoons. She recalls visiting her often at her home, which was a testament to her various passions.
Art hung all over the walls, including a few original Andy Warhol paintings. She had a scenic outdoor garden.
It was her passion for art and artistic expression that led her to put money into establishments like the Museum of Modern Art and New York Botanical Garden in New York City. In Fort Worth, she supported the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Symphony and The Cliburn, which hosts the historic Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
She helped save the Fort Worth Ballet from bankruptcy in the early 1980s and ushered it into its second life as the Texas Ballet Theater. She directed a documentary in 2010 about a Cambodian dancer called “Dancing Across Borders.”
“She was always interested in things and became very involved in anything that she became interested in, whether it was gardening, or architecture, or literature, or ballet,” Blake said over the phone on Saturday. “She became passionate about things she was interested in.”
Born in Indianapolis, Bass was defined by her Midwestern sense of hard work even as she rose through the world of high society and became a New York City fashion icon, according to an obituary in Vogue. When she and Sid Bass went through their high-profile split in 1986, Vogue noted, she pushed for what was then said to be the largest settlement ever in Texas.
She continued to establish herself as a philanthropic supporter of the arts after they went their separate ways, paving her own path.
In Fort Worth, she’s being remembered for the impact she had on institutions that continue to inspire artistic creation.
‘Passionate until the very end’
Marla Price, the director of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, said Bass provided the largest donation to the organization’s sleek current building on Darnell Street that opened in 2002. She continued to maintain an advisory role with the museum, Price said.
“After she moved to New York, she continued to be a very generous upper level member of the museum,” Price said on Saturday. “She has supported the museum very generously for many, many years.”
Price remembers sitting down in 1986 with both Bass and Blake, who were museum board members, when Price interviewed to become the curator.
She said she always liked Bass, who had a fun personality and a wonderful taste in artwork. One time, Bass invited Price up to her apartment on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park and showed her original Monet and Rothko paintings.
She was also inspired by her varying interests.
“She really was passionately devoted to the ballet ... And she was a dancer herself — I don’t know if she was still taking daily ballet classes, but she certainly was until recently,” Price said. “So she was a really, really interesting and generous, wonderful person.”
The former Fort Worth Ballet became known as “Anne Bass’ company” due to her financial support of the organization, according to Star-Telegram archives.
And in 2010, Bass returned to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to screen her documentary “Dancing Across Borders” as part of the Lone Star International Film Festival, according to the archives. She told the Star-Telegram she originally wanted to be a producer on the film, handing off directing to someone else. But she decided she had to share the child’s story.
“I think that when friends started talking to me about it, they were surprised how much I was involved in the film,” Bass told the Star-Telegram in 2010. “But I was completely involved in all aspects of it.”
Despite all of the attention Bass received, Blake, her Fort Worth neighborhood friend, said Bass was as “normal” and down-to-earth as anybody else.
It’s hard for her to remember too many memories going back to the 1960s and 70s, Blake said. When asked her age on Saturday, she said with a laugh, “I more than qualify for being a senior citizen.”
Blake kept up with Bass before Bass’ death, however, and Blake remembers the last time she saw Bass last year during a visit to New York City.
Bass was “feeling good” and “looked wonderful, like she always did,” Blake said.
Bass was continuing with an active life, excited as ever about all of her interests.
“I imagine she continued being passionate about the things that she liked until the very end,” Blake said.
This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 6:06 PM.
