Rarely has a city witnessed the importation of as much art. And culture as New York. In the first few decades of 20th century in particular, millionaires like Hearsts, the Gettys, the Rockefellers and the Guggenheims sought to outdo each other, collecting an apparently unlimited number of works of art., especially those from the 19th and 20th centuries. The public foundations that ensued were responsible, thanks to many generous dotations, for the building of museums that sometimes had a truly futuristic appearance. The collections these museums housed meant that their founders became famous in every cornr of the world and New York's museums established the city as a major international art. Center.