Search results
Samuel Henry Kress (July 23, 1863 – September 22, 1955) was a businessman, philanthropist, and founder of the S. H. Kress & Co. five and ten cent store chain. With his fortune, Kress amassed one of the most significant collections of Italian Renaissance and European artwork assembled in the 20th century.
Between 1929 and 1961, Samuel Kress and the Kress Foundation (with the participation of his brothers Claude and Rush) assembled and distributed across the United States the 20th century’s foremost collection of Old Master paintings and other European works of art.
Sep 18, 2024 · S.H. Kress (born July 23, 1863, Cherryville, Pa., U.S.—died Sept. 22, 1955, New York, N.Y.) was an American merchant and art collector who used the wealth from his chain of five-and-ten-cent stores to donate artwork to more than 40 U.S. museums.
Samuel Henry Kress (July 23, 1863 – September 22, 1955) was a businessman, philanthropist, and founder of the S. H. Kress & Co. five and dime store chain. With his fortune, Kress amassed one of the most significant collections of Italian Renaissance and European artwork assembled in the 20th century.
The Samuel H. Kress Foundation devotes its resources to advancing the history, conservation, and enjoyment of the vast heritage of European art, architecture, and archaeology from antiquity to the early 19th century.
Descended from early German-Lutheran settlers in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, Samuel Henry Kress was named for an uncle fallen at Gettysburg three weeks before his birth in 1863.
1896–1924. Industry: Retail. Era: pre-1900. Kress built a discount chain store based on an economies of scale model. He started offering fewer items than traditional 5- and 10- cent stores, in order to offer bargain prices to a lower-income clientele.
