Ryerson, Martin Antoine

Ryerson, Martin Antoine (1856–1932) businessman, collector; born in Grand Rapids, Mich. His family moved to Chicago and he was educated in Paris and Switzerland, then graduated from Harvard Law School (1878). He took over his father's lumber business, was a director of many other companies, and retired from business in the 1890s. He devoted himself to collecting French Impressionist paintings, and to philanthropic activities for the Chicago Institute of Arts, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the University of Chicago. He presented his collection to the Chicago Institute of Art (1901), and endowed their art library.