MCA History Through the Words of Key Supporter Stefan Edlis

Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson

On June 12, 2025, the MCA will celebrate Stefan Edlis Day in honor of the remarkable philanthropic leader and art lover Stefan Edlis, who made an indelible impact on both the MCA and Chicago at large.

Stefan, alongside his wife Gael Neeson, was a passionate and keen supporter of art and artists across nearly 40 years of MCA history. His extraordinary life led him to Chicago after escaping Vienna and then serving in the US Navy during World War II. He began collecting art after founding his own business in the city in the late 1960s, and, alongside Gael, quickly became an influential cultural force in Chicago and beyond. Stefan’s eye for visionary artists and ideas drove dozens of exhibitions and campaigns at the MCA, including the museum’s acquisition of some of its most significant works.

To mark what would have been his 100th birthday on June 12, 2025, the MCA will honor his life and impact on the arts through Stefan Edlis Day. At this day-long celebration, visitors can enjoy free screenings of The Price of Everything, the 2018 documentary on the art world for which Edlis was interviewed, and enjoy a viewing of a key work that he and Gael Neeson donated to the MCA Collection: A Death in the Family (1971), by the noted painter Malcolm Morley. Morley’s work is installed near the entrance to the museum’s spiral staircase through the summer.

In anticipation of Stefan Edlis Day, we’re sharing some of his most memorable quotes about the MCA and its history.

On the MCA mascot, Felix, by Maurizio Cattelan:

Edlis was the key instigator behind the museum’s acquisition of Felix, a 20-feet-high, 26-foot-long skeleton created for the MCA by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Cattelan’s work—involving distortions of scale and reality—probes issues of originality, popular culture, humor, and fear. Inspired by the public’s fascination with the origins of Sue, the popular Tyrannosaurus rex on view at the Field Museum, Cattelan created Felix as a commission for the MCA, driven by Edlis’s support through the Edlis/Neeson Art Acquisition Fund. “It was Sue that triggered it,” Edlis laughed nearly two decades later. “We were going to compete with Sue down at the Field.”

On the work of curators:

Over the course of four decades, Edlis was a keen supporter of curatorial vision. He reflected on the importance of the right team in 2017:

“Being a curator is also being an artist. Or perhaps an editor. Or a journalist. A reporter, because that’s what they do: they report art. And the museum—the strength of the museum, or shall we say the honor any museum would create for itself is the quality of the curatorial staff. I think we have an A+ curatorial staff.”

On the MCA’s iconic building:

Edlis, who became a Trustee of the museum in 1981, was an important supporter of the major project to construct the museum’s permanent home, which is synonymous with the arts in Chicago today. Designed by Josef Paul Kleihues, the building contains countless design flourishes that Edlis was happy to expand upon, as he did in 2017:

“First of all, it’s an homage to the square. That’s a classic position. And it was—he was reaching for a surface that would be both noble and unique. And he came up with cast aluminum. Initially it was going to be cast lead, which was way too heavy. And it was very difficult to get done, because he initially had the idea that you would cast the plates and leave the imperfections of the pour on the surfaces, which of course really didn’t work. We had many back-and-forths. Then he came up with the idea of having these little pyramid shapes. Architects also like to have a theme, and this was the fish shape, the lozenge shape that you see, even on the elevator doors, and you also see them on the base of the stairways. And, of course, the pond itself. And I respect that, and that needs to be respected.”

On selling a Warhol to fund the acquisition of new work:

The Edlis/Neeson Art Acquisition Fund has underwritten many of the museum’s most important centerpieces, including commissions such as Jenny Holzer’s iconic For Chicago (2007). But how it got its start involved a story that few knew until Edlis shared it on the record:

“When we sold the Warhol to start the acquisition, yes. It’s all public knowledge. We got—what did we get? We got $80 million for the picture. And it was—Larry Gagosian had been after me for many, many years. I said it’s not for sale. It’s not for sale, but it’s for trade. You find me something good enough, I’ll trade it, but I don’t need the money. There was back and forth, back and forth. Finally called me from Paris. Gael and I talked about— And so thought about it. I said $100 million. Okay. I’ll get back to you. Two days later, he came back to me and said they—client thinks it’s a little high. So I said, don’t say another word. I hung up. I went to the lawyer. I knew we had a deal, right? And we started the fund.”