Fritz Lohman Gay Art Collector Dies

Pioneering gay art patron Fritz Lohman, who together with his life partner, Charles Leslie, founded the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation in New York City, passed away December 31. He was 87 years old.

Leslie/Lohman, located in Soho, is one of the oldest groups dedicated to the collection, exhibition, and preservation of unambiguously gay art. Artists included in its permanent collection include Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Jean Cocteau.

Lohman is survived by Leslie, his partner of 48 years. According to the New York Post, had Lohman died one day later, in 2010, the couple may have avoided a likely $3 million "death tax" on his $10 million estate. Congress allowed the tax to lapse in the new year, although it may be reinstated.

Writer Alex Geana also published a remembrance of Lohman.