He was a sugar merchant and banker who was born in
Jamaica. History of the New Orleans Museum of Art
The institution now known as the New Orleans Museum of art began in 1910 when local businessman Isaac Delgado offered $150,000 to the City Park Commission for the purpose of creating a "temple of art for rich and poor alike." One hundred years later, Delgado's temple has become the premier art museum in the Gulf South and ranks in the top 100 art museums nationally.
Delgado's selfless act remains shrouded in mystery. A Jamaican immigrant who became a millionaire sugar broker in New Orleans, he was not as a patron of the arts prior to his donation. Speculation remains that the childless Delgado offered to build the museum because he worried about the fate of the art collection amassed by his late but beloved aunt, Virginia McRae Delgado. Indeed, many of her collected treasures were displayed in the museum for years. But when asked about the donation, Delgado merely replied, "The gift speaks for itself and further than that I have no inclination to say anything."
For all his desire, Delgado had no land for a museum. He approached the governing body of City Park, a 2,000-acre tract open to the New Orleans public. An agreement was made, and the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art opened in 1911.
The neoclassical building was designed by Chicago architect Samuel Marx, selected in a national competition. The setting was at the end of a tree-lined avenue surrounded by lagoons and majestic oaks. The young architect planned a building "inspired by the Greek, but sufficiently modified to give a subtropical appearance."
Delgado, unfortunately, was too ill to attend the December, 16 1911, opening of the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art. But how proud he must have been when on December 10, 1911, the city newspaper Times Democrat declared "Delgado Museum Superb: The City's Splendid Possession."
He started a boys trade school which grew into the Delgado Community College. Isaac Delgado died in 1912, leaving Albania Plantation and the rest of his estate to the City of New
Orleans.
Jamaica. History of the New Orleans Museum of Art
The institution now known as the New Orleans Museum of art began in 1910 when local businessman Isaac Delgado offered $150,000 to the City Park Commission for the purpose of creating a "temple of art for rich and poor alike." One hundred years later, Delgado's temple has become the premier art museum in the Gulf South and ranks in the top 100 art museums nationally.
Delgado's selfless act remains shrouded in mystery. A Jamaican immigrant who became a millionaire sugar broker in New Orleans, he was not as a patron of the arts prior to his donation. Speculation remains that the childless Delgado offered to build the museum because he worried about the fate of the art collection amassed by his late but beloved aunt, Virginia McRae Delgado. Indeed, many of her collected treasures were displayed in the museum for years. But when asked about the donation, Delgado merely replied, "The gift speaks for itself and further than that I have no inclination to say anything."
For all his desire, Delgado had no land for a museum. He approached the governing body of City Park, a 2,000-acre tract open to the New Orleans public. An agreement was made, and the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art opened in 1911.
The neoclassical building was designed by Chicago architect Samuel Marx, selected in a national competition. The setting was at the end of a tree-lined avenue surrounded by lagoons and majestic oaks. The young architect planned a building "inspired by the Greek, but sufficiently modified to give a subtropical appearance."
Delgado, unfortunately, was too ill to attend the December, 16 1911, opening of the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art. But how proud he must have been when on December 10, 1911, the city newspaper Times Democrat declared "Delgado Museum Superb: The City's Splendid Possession."
He started a boys trade school which grew into the Delgado Community College. Isaac Delgado died in 1912, leaving Albania Plantation and the rest of his estate to the City of New
Orleans.
He was a sugar merchant and banker who was born in
Jamaica. History of the New Orleans Museum of Art
The institution now known as the New Orleans Museum of art began in 1910 when local businessman Isaac Delgado offered $150,000 to the City Park Commission for the purpose of creating a "temple of art for rich and poor alike." One hundred years later, Delgado's temple has become the premier art museum in the Gulf South and ranks in the top 100 art museums nationally.
Delgado's selfless act remains shrouded in mystery. A Jamaican immigrant who became a millionaire sugar broker in New Orleans, he was not as a patron of the arts prior to his donation. Speculation remains that the childless Delgado offered to build the museum because he worried about the fate of the art collection amassed by his late but beloved aunt, Virginia McRae Delgado. Indeed, many of her collected treasures were displayed in the museum for years. But when asked about the donation, Delgado merely replied, "The gift speaks for itself and further than that I have no inclination to say anything."
For all his desire, Delgado had no land for a museum. He approached the governing body of City Park, a 2,000-acre tract open to the New Orleans public. An agreement was made, and the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art opened in 1911.
The neoclassical building was designed by Chicago architect Samuel Marx, selected in a national competition. The setting was at the end of a tree-lined avenue surrounded by lagoons and majestic oaks. The young architect planned a building "inspired by the Greek, but sufficiently modified to give a subtropical appearance."
Delgado, unfortunately, was too ill to attend the December, 16 1911, opening of the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art. But how proud he must have been when on December 10, 1911, the city newspaper Times Democrat declared "Delgado Museum Superb: The City's Splendid Possession."
He started a boys trade school which grew into the Delgado Community College. Isaac Delgado died in 1912, leaving Albania Plantation and the rest of his estate to the City of New
Orleans.
Jamaica. History of the New Orleans Museum of Art
The institution now known as the New Orleans Museum of art began in 1910 when local businessman Isaac Delgado offered $150,000 to the City Park Commission for the purpose of creating a "temple of art for rich and poor alike." One hundred years later, Delgado's temple has become the premier art museum in the Gulf South and ranks in the top 100 art museums nationally.
Delgado's selfless act remains shrouded in mystery. A Jamaican immigrant who became a millionaire sugar broker in New Orleans, he was not as a patron of the arts prior to his donation. Speculation remains that the childless Delgado offered to build the museum because he worried about the fate of the art collection amassed by his late but beloved aunt, Virginia McRae Delgado. Indeed, many of her collected treasures were displayed in the museum for years. But when asked about the donation, Delgado merely replied, "The gift speaks for itself and further than that I have no inclination to say anything."
For all his desire, Delgado had no land for a museum. He approached the governing body of City Park, a 2,000-acre tract open to the New Orleans public. An agreement was made, and the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art opened in 1911.
The neoclassical building was designed by Chicago architect Samuel Marx, selected in a national competition. The setting was at the end of a tree-lined avenue surrounded by lagoons and majestic oaks. The young architect planned a building "inspired by the Greek, but sufficiently modified to give a subtropical appearance."
Delgado, unfortunately, was too ill to attend the December, 16 1911, opening of the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art. But how proud he must have been when on December 10, 1911, the city newspaper Times Democrat declared "Delgado Museum Superb: The City's Splendid Possession."
He started a boys trade school which grew into the Delgado Community College. Isaac Delgado died in 1912, leaving Albania Plantation and the rest of his estate to the City of New
Orleans.
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