‘This Truly Is a Landmark’: An Atlanta Couple Donates a Major Impressionist Collection to the High Museum of Art

In what is one of the most
significant gifts in its history, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta
announced today that it has been given 24 treasured Impressionist,
post-Impressionist, and Modernist paintings.

The donation comes from
Atlanta-based philanthropists and collectors Doris and Shouky
Shaheen, who have had a relationship with the High over the past
several decades. The full collection, which includes paintings
by Claude
Monet, Henri
Matisse, Amedeo
Modigliani, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and
Édouard Vuillard, among other notable names, will go on view later
this year in a gallery to be named after the
couple. 

“This truly is a landmark gift
for us,” Rand
Suffolk, director of the
High Museum, tells artnet News. “Any time you acquire a new work—let alone an
entire collection—it provides an opportunity to think differently
about the works that you already have and gives you an opportunity
to create and inspire new programming around it. Adding a
collection of this caliber and this breadth, which is so
complementary to what we already have, will allow us to do those
things in new and creative ways. It’s an extraordinary
opportunity.”

The High boasts a substantial
European art collection, with over 1,000 works from the 14th
century to the 20th century. The collection is currently made up
largely of works on paper, Suffolk says, which makes the Shaheen’s
gift that much more significant for the
institution. The museum
will now own paintings by Matisse, Modigliani, Henri Fantin-Latour,
and Alfred Sisley for the first time. 

The Shaheens are the founders of
Shaheen and Co., an Atlanta-based company that
supplies warehouse
space in the area. The couple moved to the city in 1965 and began
building their art collection not long after. One of their first
purchases was Maurice de Vlaminck’s painting Banlieue de
Paris (ca. 1922) from local gallery in the early
1970s.

“It’s been a great blessing of
our life together to build this collection and live with these
incredible works,” the couple said in a statement. “Given our love for this collection and our
love for this city, we knew the High was the best home for these
paintings. We’re thrilled that Atlantans will enjoy them for
generations to come.”

“The Shaheens really are great philanthropists. They love
this city,” Suffolk said. “I think this gift is as much of an
investment in Atlanta as it is in the museum itself. We’re super
proud of their confidence and faith in us and we’re going to do
everything we can to position these works so that they’ll provide
inspiration and enjoyment for generations to
come.”

The post ‘This Truly Is a Landmark’: An Atlanta Couple
Donates a Major Impressionist Collection to the High Museum of
Art appeared first on artnet News.