2019 Annual Report
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2019 Annual Report Fiscal Year 2019 Washington, DC TABLE OF CONTENTS President’s Foreword ...........................................................5 Director’s Statement ............................................................9 Board of Trustees and Committees................................. 11 Year in Review ......................................................................13 Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statements ...............35 Acquisitions .......................................................................... 41 Changes of Attribution ..................................................... 85 Exhibitions and Loans ........................................................89 Gifts and Donors ............................................................. 109 Staff List ...............................................................................121 PRESIDENT’S FOREWORD At the dedication of the National Gallery of Art in 1941, Paul Mellon spoke of his father’s hope that the museum he had founded “would become not a static but a living institution, growing in usefulness and importance to artists, scholars, and the general public.” Founder Andrew W. Mellon envisioned “a joint enterprise on the part of the Government, on the one hand, and of magnanimous citizens, on the other.” This public- private partnership, now nearly eight decades later, makes it possible for the Gallery to serve millions of visitors each year. I am deeply grateful for the steadfast support of the president and the Congress of the United States. Carrying on the work of this living institution and ensuring its usefulness are of paramount importance to my fellow trustees and me, the staff, and the Gallery’s new director Kaywin Feldman. In March of this fiscal year, Kaywin assumed her role as the fifth director of the National Gallery of Art. She came to the Gallery from the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where she expanded the museum’s collection and transformed the institution’s relationship to its city by fostering community dialogue. She is a dynamic leader, collaborator, and innovator. She brings to the Gallery more than two decades of experience as a museum director. We are thrilled to welcome Kaywin to Washington. At the end of fiscal year 2019, Frederick W. Beinecke became trustee emeritus after serving on the board for 12 years, five of them as Gallery president. A tireless champion of the Gallery, Rick shaped the institution through his dedication to scholarship and his steady guidance. The Gallery and its board are grateful for Rick’s distinguished leadership during several key moments in the museum’s history, and we thank him and his wife Candace for their friendship and participation in the life of the Gallery. Andrew M. Saul became trustee emeritus in June after six years as a trustee, stepping down from the board to serve the nation as Commissioner of Social Security. Andrew is a steadfast advocate for the Gallery who faithfully served the public and offered astute counsel throughout his tenure. We are deeply thankful to Andrew and his wife Denise for their leadership and support of the 5 Gallery. We are pleased that Denise will continue her passing of Barbara Kay. She and her late husband Jack involvement as a member of the Trustees’ Council, were Exhibition Circle members and provided support the national advisory group to the Gallery’s board, for the acquisition of watercolors of the American West and as chair of our Collectors Committee, which by Thomas Moran. We remember these cherished contributes support for the acquisition of modern and friends whose remarkable gifts will continue to enrich contemporary art. the Gallery for years to come. In September 2019, the trustees elected Darren In 2016, in honor of the Gallery’s 75th anniversary, Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, to the The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded a $30 Gallery’s board. I am thrilled that Darren will bring his million endowment challenge grant to the Gallery matchless brand of ebullient and thoughtful optimism to to strengthen digital programs and collaborations, the Gallery and the many challenges and opportunities education and outreach, conservation and conservation ahead. He will broaden the Gallery’s national impact, science, and the Center for Advanced Study in the and I look forward to working with him in planning for Visual Arts. With the help of scores of generous donors, the museum’s future. the Gallery matched this grant ahead of schedule with $45 million in new endowment funds. In fiscal year During this moment of transition, my fellow trustees 2019, donors continued to make gifts and pledges to and I are grateful that both Benjamin R. Jacobs and Jo meet the Mellon challenge. The trustees join me in Carole Lauder have agreed to serve an additional year thanking all of the Mellon match donors, including those as cochairs of the Trustees’ Council. We welcomed who gave leadership gifts this fiscal year: the A. James back nine members to the Trustees’ Council this fiscal & Alice B. Clark Foundation, the Frederic C. Hamilton year: Louise Bryson, Vincent J. Buonanno, Louisa Foundation, Jacqueline B. Mars, the Robert H. Smith Duemling, Rose Ellen Greene, Mark J. Kington, Robert B. Family Foundation, and an anonymous donor. We Menschel, Tony Podesta, B. Francis Saul II, and Andrea are immensely grateful to the Mellon Foundation for Woodner. We also were delighted to have Joseph P. providing the catalyst for so many extraordinary gifts Gromacki, Thomas L. Lloyd, Courtney Clark Pastrick, with its historic and visionary challenge grant. and Denise Saul join this advisory body. We deeply appreciate the participation of every member of the The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund supported the Trustees’ Council during Kaywin’s first year as director. acquisition of 17th-century Dutch paintings of superb quality this year in another spectacular demonstration Victoria P. Sant, a beloved friend and longtime of generosity and civic virtue. Their commitment to president of the Gallery, passed away in December building and enhancing our nation’s art collection 2018. Rick Beinecke eulogized Vicki in the foreword brought two masterful works to the Gallery in fiscal year to last year’s annual report. I add my highest praise for 2019: The Departure for the Hunt, a lively scene and the life of an extraordinary philanthropist and Gallery fine example of Philips Wouwerman’s mature period leader. Vicki Sant is missed, but her legacy lives on at the given in honor of Earl A. Powell III, and Still Life with Gallery and through the many causes that she supported. Stoneware Jug and Pipe, the first work by Jan Jansz We also grieved the passing of Joan Saltzman. During van de Velde III to enter the Gallery’s collection. The their lifetimes, she and her late husband Arnold made trustees and staff join me in extending deepest thanks transformational gifts of German expressionist works to Julie and Lee Folger for their sustained commitment that greatly enhanced the Gallery’s collection. We to strengthening the Gallery’s holdings of northern mourned the death of Marion Scharffenberger, who baroque painting. along with her family, donated a painting by Gustave This fiscal year, the Alice L. Walton Foundation Caillebotte, Dahlias, Garden at Petit Gennevilliers—one completed its exceptional gift to establish the John of only two Caillebotte works in the Gallery’s collection. Wilmerding Fund for Education in American Art. This We grieved the loss of Elaine Silverstein as well. She endowment supports the annual John Wilmerding and her late husband Leonard were longtime Circle and Symposium on American Art and Community Exhibition Circle members and provided major gifts for Celebration, as well as rewarding professional art acquisitions, special exhibitions, and a significant opportunities, innovative new offerings, and evaluation endowment for conservation. This year also marked the 6 work. We are extremely grateful to Alice Walton for of Renaissance Venice and Verrocchio. The Terra her generosity and dedication to making possible Foundation for American Art and the Henry Luce outstanding initiatives that engage new audiences and Foundation graciously and generously funded The strengthen the public’s understanding of American art. American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists exhibition and catalog, along with the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. In 2019, scholarship, conservation and research, Horowitz Foundation for the Arts. We thank them all. exhibitions, and digital initiatives all benefited from the abiding support of the Robert H. Smith Family The Exhibition Circle, Tower Project, Collectors Foundation. The trustees and staff join me in thanking Committee, Circle, and National Membership the Smith family for supporting so many key areas of constitute the Gallery’s slate of annual giving programs, the museum’s mission. and we are grateful to all participants. The Collectors Committee continues to focus its energies on acquiring Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, works of art that enhance the Gallery’s modern and and individuals, we were able to present a diverse array contemporary holdings. The staff and trustees extend of special exhibitions at the Gallery this year. Members warm thanks to the committee members for their of the Exhibition Circle direct their generous annual unwavering support and their dedication to growing contributions to fund special exhibitions at the Gallery. this important facet of our nation’s art collection. With The Tower Project membership