Paul Tishman

Paul Tishman (1900–1996) was an American real estate developer and collector of African art. Paul Tishman was a member of the long established New York construction and real estate family whose independent development company did major projects in the New York area.

Early life and education Tishman was born to a Jewish family in 1900, one of five sons of Julius Tishman. In 1921, he graduated from Harvard University. He also did graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University.

Career In 1924, Tishman joined the Tishman Realty and Construction Company which was founded by his father in 1898 where he rose to the rank of senior vice president and director. Tishman was a collector of African art; his collection was acquired by Walt Disney Productions In 2005, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art received the Walt Disney-Tishman Collection of 525 works spanning most major African art styles and 75 cultures.

Allan Sherman parodied Tishman on his last Warner Brothers release (Togetherness, 1967) in the song "If I Were A Tishman" ("All day long I'd buildy-buildy build, if I were a building man...") to the tune of "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof.