Elizabeth R. Shaw, Museum Of Modern Art Official, 82

[DGH]

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Elizabeth (Roberts) Shaw, a freelance writer and former director of
public relations for New York City's Museum of Modern Art who later
handled public relations at Christie's Auction House, died Tuesday,
February 4, 2003, of congestive heart failure at a Wareham nursing
home, at the age of 82.

Mrs. Shaw was also the grandmother of Hollywood actors Ben and Casey
Affleck.

Mrs. Shaw raised the bar when it came to handling public relations,
according to her family, by sending out detailed pictures and
descriptions of upcoming exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art to local
media outlets.

Before such practices became commonplace, "she got to know all the
people in the newspapers, the galleries, and other museums, and it was
a brand-new game," her husband, Samuel, said, noting the
comprehensiveness and meticulousness of the informational packets she
put together. "That wasn't done in those days."

After earning a bachelor's degree from Smith College in the early
1940s, Mrs. Shaw, a New York City native, returned to the Big Apple
and worked briefly for a regional planning board before taking a job
as a runner for The New York Times Sunday section.

After a little over a year there, she landed a job at the Museum of
Modern Art, working for the director of public relations.

"At that time, the museum was still relatively a small place and it
was run on a very personal, local kind of level by the people who were
there," her husband said.

Quickly moving up in the ranks, it did not take long for her to became
the museum's director of public relations.

One of her comments to The New York Times while in that position has
become legendary in artist circles. "Dead artists always bring out an
older, richer crowd," she told the Times in 1976, after a Fauvism
exhibition drew 2,000 people.

An excellent writer, she mentored many students in her department,
teaching them basic writing and public relations skills.

Retiring after more than 30 years at the museum, Mrs. Shaw worked for
Christie's Auction House in New York, handling public relations and
helping to keep the organization afloat in the recession of the early
1980s.

"The amount of activity here, when there was still supposed to be a
recession going on, surprised even us," she told the Globe in 1983.

After about eight years of working at Christie's, she became a
freelance writer on art-related topics, getting published in numerous
local and national publications. She moved to Massachusetts three
years ago.

When grandsons Ben and Casey Affleck reached national fame through
their film roles, she was pleased with their accomplishments, "but
when she suffered a stroke 51/2 years ago she lost most of her sight."

"You can describe her as being a fan of their art," her husband said.