An Ohio Couple Just Donated $100 Million Worth of Art by Picasso, Matisse, Vuillard, and Others to the Cleveland Museum
An Ohio couple has donated more
than 100 works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and other artists
to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Valued at over $100 million,
the gift from Joseph
and Nancy Keithley, Clevelanders who have maintained a longstanding
relationship with the museum, is the largest the institution
has seen in more than 60 years. Ninety-seven of the newly
donated works have been transferred to the museum outright, while
17 others are promised to enter the collection in the
future.
“It would be difficult to
overstate the impact of Joe and Nancy’s gift and promised gift,”
said Cleveland Museum director William Griswold in a statement. “It is nothing short of transformative, and
it will permanently enrich our holdings—and the visitor’s
experience—across the institution, from our galleries of Asian art
to those dedicated to Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and the
20th century in Europe and this country.”
Pierre Bonnard, Fruit and Fruit
Dishes (c. 1930). Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
More than a dozen paintings by
post-Impressionists Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, and Maurice
Denis are among the works donated by the Keithleys, as are two
canvases each by Milton Avery, Georges Braque, and Joan Mitchell.
The collection also includes prized paintings by Camille Pissarro,
Andrew Wyeth, and Henri-Edmond Cross; a series of watercolors by
John Marin; and a group of Chinese and Japanese
ceramics.
A selection of the donated works
will go on view as soon as March 13 in the museum’s permanent
collection galleries. While a more comprehensive exhibition of the
Keithley gift is set for the fall of 2022.
Milton Avery, Hens and Chickens
(1948). Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
For the museum, the gift was
rare not only because of its size and scope, but because of the
institution’s typical acquisition habits.
“It’s important to understand
how rare it is for us to accept a gift of so many works from a
single collection,” Griswold told The Art
Newspaper. “Ours is
primarily a collection that has been assembled one gift or purchase
at a time.”
Joseph Keithley, an engineer,
led an Ohio-based company that manufactured electronic testing
instruments for 17 years. His wife Nancy became a trustee of the
Cleveland Museum in 2001, and has served on numerous committees
since. In 2013, the couple established the Keithley Institute for
Art History, a joint program between the museum and Cleveland’s
Case Western Reserve University for curatorial and museum
administration studies.
See more works of art from the Keithley donation below.
George Braque, The Port de l’Estaque,
The Pier (1906). Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Henri Matisse, Tulips (1914).
Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Eugène Boudin, Seascape with Open
Sky (c. 1860). Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Gustave Caillebotte, Chicken, Game
Birds, and Hares (c. 1882). Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of
Art.
Vilhelm Hammershøi, Strandgade,
Sunshine (c. 1906). Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of
Art.
John Marin, The White Moon,
Sailboat (c. 1922). Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of
Art.
The post An Ohio Couple Just Donated $100 Million Worth of
Art by Picasso, Matisse, Vuillard, and Others to the Cleveland
Museum appeared first on artnet News.
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