A lifetime of discovery: the collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis

More than fifty years ago, Patricia G. Ross Weis and Robert F. Weis began a quiet but deeply committed journey that would shape one of the most thoughtful private collections of 20th century art in the United States. Fuelled by a passion for discovery, the couple’s patient and informed collecting style would trace the trajectory of modernism across place and time, bringing together outstanding examples of work by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró, Mark Rothko and many more.

This November, Christie’s will offer the couple’s superlative collection of more than 80 lots including paintings, sculptures, works on paper and ceramics. Eighteen lots will be offered as a dedicated single-owner sale — The Collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis — with subsequent works in sales throughout the marquee week.

The collection comes to Christie’s from the Pennsylvania and New York homes of Patricia and Robert Weis. Passionate collectors, generous philanthropists and loving parents, over decades they thoughtfully assembled a deeply personal collection bridging continents and eras.

A life built on looking

Patricia and Robert Weis imbued their collection with an intellectual and intuitive sensibility. They acquired works across decades with a thoughtful, hands-on approach that reflected their rich and varied interests. Robert was the chairman of Weis Markets Inc., a family-operated food company founded in 1912 in rural Pennsylvania, where the couple lived. He worked in nearly every aspect of the company, from distribution to store design, and was the principal figure in the growth and success of the business.

Robert’s business prowess was also coupled with a powerful creativity that informed every aspect of his life. Rarely seen without a book in his hand, he was a strong proponent of lifelong learning and was deeply knowledgeable about art and literature. He brought a serious intellectual rigour to his collecting habits, and while he often sought out the counsel of gallerists and dealers, he always maintained that there was “no substitute for looking.” He meticulously researched the art world, reading auction catalogs and visiting galleries and museums in New York City on weekends and in the UK and France on vacations to determine—in an age of no social media or internet support—what he and his wife wanted to collect and live with in their home. This approach is reflected in the depth and breadth of the Weis collection, which includes works dating from the pinnacle of nearly every represented artist’s career.

His wife of 57 years, Patricia, was born in New York City and nurtured a lifelong appreciation for art, architecture and design, influenced perhaps by an uncle who produced men’s clothing. Her eye was only enhanced over time, and it was her own particular passion that played a central role in the couple’s acquisition of modern ceramics. After encountering the work of Lucie Rie and Hans Coper during a trip to London, she began collecting their pieces in earnest, drawn to their innovative firing techniques and distinctive glazes. Those ceramics will be on view at Christie’s during November’s 20/21 Marquee Week and offered in a dedicated Design sale in December 2025.

Though their public presence was intentionally modest, Patricia and Robert—equal partners in the collecting process—were generous philanthropists, supporting an array of educational, cultural, civic and medical organisations. Patricia sat on the board of trustees of Bard College and Franklin & Marshall College, and Robert was a Sterling Fellow at Yale University and served on the University’s Committee on Buildings and Grounds. They were also avid supporters of numerous Jewish causes, as well as the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation of Boston, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Metropolitan Opera and many others.

Bridging centuries through a singular vision

The Weises developed a collection that encompassed the most significant movements of the 20th century and sought to relate works across genres, geography and history. One of the earliest paintings in the collection, Braque’s Fauvist landscape La Ciotat (1907), typifies their intelligent and visual approach. In addition to its seductive use of colour, the canvas is also groundbreaking in its compositional style, employing a flat expressive quality that challenged the traditional use of perspective.

This radical trajectory continues with paintings by Picasso, Miró and Matisse and can be seen in later works by Piet Mondrian and Max Ernst that grapple with conflict in Europe. There are also superb representations of Surrealism, a movement that, in many ways, physically tied together the artistic traditions of Europe and America.  

These visible layers of history that run through the Weis collection speak to their talents as collectors. They enjoyed relationships with artists such as Tom Wesselmann and Wolf Kahn, but they were also dedicated to deepening their understanding of context within each artist's oeuvre by seeing works in museums and galleries.

Arshile Gorky’s works on paper, like the exquisite 1946 example in this collection, acted as a bridge between European Surrealism and American Abstraction. Meanwhile, Gorky’s former apprentice and mentee, Mark Rothko, ultimately broke the shackles of European figuration with his emotive fields of colour. His epic 1958 painting No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) is a triumph of American abstraction.

Across these varied works, the collection also traces the changing nuclei of the art world, from 1930s Paris — when titans of modernism were entering new phases of creativity — to post-war New York, which saw all precedence redefined.

These visible layers of history that run through the Weis collection speak to their talents as collectors. They would acquire only the best works, placing them in dialogue with other objects displayed throughout their homes, continuously welcoming new forms and colours into their surroundings. And, as the couple were intensely private, many of these treasures have not been seen publicly for decades. 

Theirs was a lifetime of learning and looking, and their collection tells the story not only of modern art, but also of a couple who lived with intention and sensitivity to the creative spirit. The Collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis represents a passion for building a collection that reflected both the intellectual and artistic endeavours of one of the most exciting periods of western art history. Their choice of works demonstrates both the couple’s natural inquisitiveness and their highly refined eye, leaving a legacy of devotion to art, to ideas and to family.