IMA Receives 125 Significant Works of Art as Gifts in Celebration of its 125th Anniversary

INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced today the successful completion of its goal to secure 125 gifts to the permanent collection in honor of the Museum’s 125th anniversary. Ranging from old masters to contemporary works, the gifts include paintings, textiles, sculpture, prints and design arts, enriching each of the IMA’s collecting areas.

“No single factor is more important to the Museum’s legacy than the continued, robust and imaginative growth of our permanent collection,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the IMA. “The generosity of those patrons who have donated these 125 works honors the IMA’s past, marks a milestone in the Museum’s history, and sets an auspicious tone for its future.”

In an effort spearheaded by Ellen W. Lee, the Wood-Pulliam Distinguished Senior Curator at the IMA, Museum curators carefully targeted and sought strategic additions to the collection through a 16-month campaign to honor the IMA’s landmark anniversary. Many of the 125 works are already in the care of the IMA, and some are currently on view in the galleries. Other works will enter the Museum collection at future dates as donor commitments are fulfilled.

“I cannot imagine a more tangible sign of a museum’s vigor than the acquisition of important works of art,” said Lee. “Some of the pieces had been coveted by our curators for years; others were exciting surprises. Many IMA friends responded enthusiastically to our campaign, making commitments that surpassed our ambitious objective.”

For more than a century, the generosity of IMA patrons has spurred the growth of the Museum’s permanent collection, which today consists of more than 54,000 objects that span the globe and 5,000 years of artistic expression. Approximately 90 percent of these works have come through gift or bequest, enabling the Museum to bring treasured works of art once held in the private sector to public awareness, and to preserve them for future generations.

The IMA website features highlights of the anniversary gifts.
Visit www.imamuseum.org/125years/125-gifts.

Some highlights from the 125 gifts include:
• St. Luke, about 1610-1614, El Greco and workshop, Spanish, oil on canvas, The Clowes Fund Collection

• Farmers Fighting in Springtime, 1641, Zhang Chong, Chinese, ink on silk, Gift of Francine and Roger Hurwitz

• The Quai d’Austerlitz, about 1877, Armand Guillaumin, French, oil on canvas, Gift of Elaine Ewing Fess and Stephen W. Fess

• Old Pines, about 1900, Suzuki Shonen, Japanese, pair of 6-panel screens, ink on gold, paper, Gift of John and Cynde Barnes

• The Dream of Spring, 1901, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, French, oil on canvas, Promised gift of Melvin and Bren Simon

• Evening dress, winter, 1926-27, Jeanne Lanvin, French, Gift of Amy Curtiss Davidoff

• Study for Petunias, 1928, Blanche Lazzell, American, charcoal, Gift of Dr. Steven Conant in memory of Mrs. H. L. Conant

• Gamin, 1929, Augusta Savage, American, hand-painted plaster, Deaccessioned Sculpture Fund (Given in part to the IMA by the Indianapolis Chapter of the Links, Inc.)

• Hat for man, 1960-1990, Turkana or Pokot people, Kenya (Eastern Africa), clay, resin, cane, feathers, human hair, metal, pigment, Gift of Edward DeCarbo in honor of Roy and Sophie Sieber

• Jimmy Carter, 1976, Andy Warhol, American, color screen print, Estate of Eldon and Freida Nyhart

• Light-Light Armchair (Prototype), 1988, Alberto Meda, Italian, carbon fiber, Mfr: Alias, Purchased with funds provided by James E. and Patricia J. LaCrosse

• Duvor (communal cloth), 2007, El Anatsui, Ghanaian, Gift of Ann and Chris Stack

• From #258 Drawing (Tracings from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the L.A. River), 2007, Ingrid Calame, American, enamel paint on aluminum, Carmen & Mark Holeman Contemporary Fund

• Light and Space III, 2008, Robert Irwin, American, florescent lights, Purchased with funds provided by Ann M. and Chris Stack, The Ballard Fund, Nancy Foxwell Neuberger Acquisition Endowment Fund, Anonymous Art Fund, Lucille Stewart Endowed Art Fund, Martha M. Shertzer Art Purchase Fund in Memory of Her Nephew, Charles S. Sands, Roger G. Wolcott Fund, Gift of the Alliance of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Frank Curtis Springer & Irving Moxley Springer Purchase Fund, E. Hardey Adriance Fine Arts Acquisition Fund in memory of Marguerite Hardey Adriance, Emma Harter Sweetser Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Crane Fund, Elizabeth S. Lawton Fine Art Fund, Cecil F. Head Art Fund, Mary V. Black Art Endowment Fund, General Endowed Art Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore P. Van Vorhees Art Fund, General Memorial Art Fund, General Art Fund, James V. Sweetser Fund

The IMA began its year-long anniversary celebration on October 11, 2008, with a fundraising gala that raised $650,000 to support IMA annual programming. Guests of the event included prominent contemporary artists from across the United States. The evening included a live auction conducted by Christie’s of works produced by the artists in attendance. The night’s festivities also included the unveiling of one of the 125 gifts to the Museum, a commissioned work by internationally renowned sculptor Robert Irwin. The $1 million permanent installation inside Pulliam Great Hall, titled Light and Space III, was made possible through a combination of art purchase funds and a gift from Ann M. and Chris Stack. The event was chaired by IMA board member Wayne Zink.