John Brailsford Elliott ’51

John died July 25, 1997, of heart failure. He was an outstanding collector of Asian art, assembling a collection of Chinese calligraphy and painting that has been described as one of the most important outside of Asia.

Works from his collection have been exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Yale U. Art Gallery. In 1984, 70 paintings were the subject of the exhibition "Images of the Mind," at the Princeton Art Museum, which is preparing a catalogue for a 1999 exhibition which later will travel to the West Coast and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

John graduated from Exeter in 1945, left Harvard after one semester, and went to Europe as a volunteer for the Society of Friends for two years. At Princeton he majored in medieval history. After Army service, he joined his father's NYSE investment firm.

John also actively supported various educational, American Indian, and conservation organizations.

He had friends from many walks of life. His homes in NYC and Princeton were sites of long hours of wide ranging discussions.

John is survived by brother David, uncle Robert, seven nephews, and five nieces. The class and the art world have lost a true Renaissance man.

The Class of 1951