Lincoln Kirstein

Lincoln Kirstein was a multifaceted American cultural figure, writer, impresario, and arts advocate, best known as the co-founder of the New York City Ballet alongside George Balanchine, which he helped establish in 1948. Beyond dance, Kirstein was a passionate champion of visual arts, co-founding the Harvard Society for Contemporary Art in 1928 and playing a pivotal role in the founding of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He was also a prolific writer on art, dance, and culture, and commissioned significant works from artists such as Elie Nadelman and Gaston Lachaise, leaving a lasting institutional legacy in American cultural life.