As President of the Fajardo Sugar Company of Puerto Rico, John Bass was also an amateur journalist, artist (namely painting and etching) and composer of published music.

[1] In 1963, the couple bequeathed a collection of more than 500 works, including Old Master paintings, textiles and sculptures to the City of Miami Beach, under the agreement that a Bass Museum of Art would remain open to the public in perpetuity.

[4] Following a series of published reports casting serious doubts upon the authenticity of many of the Bass collection paintings, a group of citizens asked the Art Dealers Association early in 1969 for an independent appraisal.

[15] In 2022, the Bass received $20.1 million in city-issued funds as part of a municipal general obligation bond that voters authorized in the US midterm elections; it will be used to add a new wing to the museum's building for additional exhibition space.

The museum’s permanent collection includes European painting and sculpture from the 15th century to present; 7th to 20th-century textiles, tapestries and ecclesiastical vestments and artifacts; 20th and 21st-century North American, Latin American, Asian and Caribbean art; photographs, prints and drawings; and modern and contemporary architecture and design with emphasis on the pre- and postwar design history of Miami Beach.

Dürer to Rubens: Northern European Art from the Bass Museum included works that represent a range of media—including oil on canvas, tempera on panel, enamel on porcelain, and textiles.

As of April 2018[update], the board members are George Lindemann (President), Lida Rodriguez-Taseff (Parliamentarian), Olga Blavatnik, Criselda Breene, Clara Bullrich, Hugh Bush, Trudy Cejas, Michael Comras, Brian Ehrlich, Gaby Garza, Solomon Genet, Christina Getty, José Ramón González, Sarah Harrelson, Lisa Heiden-Koffler, Naeem Khan, Diane Lieberman, Alice S. Matlick, Jimmy Morales, Thomas C. Murphy, Laura Paresky Gould, Tui Pranich, Alisa Romano, Tatyana Silva, Christine J. Taplin, and Cathy Vedovi.