AAM Collects: Recent Acquisitions

This exhibition features a small, but rich sampling of works from over 250 that have become part of the Akron Art Museum's collection in the past two years. An Astonishing two-thirds of those objects were given to the museum in the form of gifts and bequests. Other works were purchased through the museum's acquisition fund, to which many donors have generously contributed; the Mary S. and Louis S. Myers Endowment Fund for Painting and Sculpture; and the John S. and James L. Knight Purchase Fund for Photographic Media. These funds, in addition to gifts of art, enable the museum to expand its world-class collection of modern and contemporary art. A "credit line" appears on each object label in this exhibition and indicates who donated the work or which fund was used to purchase it. Among the museum's recent donors are artists and collectors outside Akron as well as long-time supporters within the region. All seek to honor the museum's outstanding history as well as its promising future. Artist Chuck Close donated a spectacular print on view here in  honor of the museum's recent seventy-fifth anniversary and the publication of the award-winning book Akron Art Museum: Art Since 1850, An Introduction to the Collection. Others have been particularly inspired by the museum's upcoming building expansion. Designed by the renowned Viennese architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, the new building will greatly expand the gallery space devoted to the collection. The generous donors and patrons who enrich the collection of the Akron Art Museum ensure that visitors will continually discover inspiring, exciting, and challenging new works of art.