Brown worked as a librarian.[3] She lived in Massachusetts.[3] Her home in Tyringham, MA, became a meeting place for Fluxus artists.[3] The Shaker Seed, as it was called, was an 1845 Shaker house.[3][1]
Brown's father was a rare-book dealer in Brooklyn.[2] Her husband, Leonard Brown, worked as an insurance agent.[2]
Collection
Brown collected art with her husband Leonard Brown (1909–1970).[4] They began collecting Abstract Expressionism, but turned to Dada and Surrealism when AbEx became too expensive.[4] Brown collected 6,000 artworks by Fluxus, beginning in the 1970s.[3]
Brown's collecting developed in parallel to her friendships with artists.[4] Duchamp visited the Browns at their home.[4] She cultivated a lifelong friendship with George Maciunas, from whom she purchased Fluxus artworks.[3] Brown commissioned Maciunas to design a room in her house to house her Fluxus collection.[3]
In addition to Fluxus, Brown collected Surrealism, Dada, and post-war art.[3] Brown's collection was the first collection of contemporary art by the Getty.[4] It was acquired for its strengths in Dada and Surrealism; the Fluxus materials and artists' books were an unexpected acquisition.[5]
