LACMA is pleased to announce 10 new acquisitions for its permanent collection during the museum’s 37th Collectors Committee fundraiser. Led since 2009 by LACMA trustee, Collectors Committee Chair, and Acquisitions Committee Chair Ann Colgin, the event took place over two days and included art presentations by LACMA curators, private dinners in the homes of museum supporters, and a gala dinner and auction. This year, 70 members raised over $2 million for art acquisitions. The 2023 event was generously sponsored by Bank of America and Cartier.
Funds for artwork acquisitions were raised through Collectors Committee membership dues, with additional funds provided by The Buddy Taub Foundation, Jill and Dennis Roach, Directors, the Ducommun and Gross Endowment, the Robert Gore Rifkind Foundation, Beverly Hills, CA, and LACMA trustee Wendy Stark. A live auction of six lots, conducted by Ann Colgin, added another $765,000 to the acquisition funds.
While Collectors Committee members customarily vote for which artworks to acquire for the museum, this year’s auction proceeds, combined with record-setting membership dues, enabled the outright purchase of all proposed acquisitions. With the remaining funds, Director Michael Govan proposed the acquisition, pending board approval, of an additional work—View Count (2021) by Los Angeles artist Analia Saban, which committee members enthusiastically supported.
“I am thrilled with the unprecedented success of this year’s Collectors Committee and the beautiful artworks that will join LACMA’s collection, thanks to all of the committee members,” said Ann Colgin. “I’m also grateful to all of the hosts, chefs, and vintners who contributed to the Friday evening dinners, to the curators for their wonderful scholarship, and to the LACMA staff for everything they do to make this event possible.”
“Collectors Committee is an essential source of support for LACMA’s collection, and has enabled transformative acquisitions in all of the museum’s curatorial areas,” said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director. “This year’s acquisitions are no exception, and each will have a lasting impact on LACMA and the people we serve.”
The artworks that have been acquired are:
- Bernardo Polo, Still Life with an Ebony and Ivory Cabinet, Tortoiseshell Chest, and Sweets, c. 1675–1700
- Spanish Capital, 11th century
- Five Historic Pacific Textiles, 18th–19th centuries
- Miyoko Ito, Sea Chest, 1972
- Nick Cave, Soundsuit 8:46, 2022
- Max Ernst, The Entire City, 1935
- Theaster Gates, Vessel #12, 2020
- Moriguchi Kunihiko, Kimono, ‘Isō amime mon’yō (Topological Mesh Pattern)’, 2020
- Cabinet (Papelera), c. 1700
- Analia Saban, View Count, 2021
Since 1986, Collectors Committee weekend has been one of the museum’s most important fundraising events and continues to enable major acquisitions for every area of its encyclopedic collection. This year’s acquisitions bring the number of works acquired through the event to 256, with donations totaling more than $49 million.
Stay tuned for more information about the artworks acquired by LACMA at the 37th annual Collectors Committee, which will be shared throughout the week on Unframed.