Emily Fisher Landau, Longtime Whitney Trustee and Benefactor, Donates Several Hundred Works of Art to the Whitney

Gift includes seminal works by Carl Andre, Willem de Kooning, William Eggleston, Peter Hujar, Jasper Johns, Glenn Ligon, Agnes Martin, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Susan Rothenberg, Ed Ruscha, Kiki Smith, and Andy Warhol.

Emily Fisher Landau, the noted philanthropist and art collector, and one of the Whitney’s most generous trustees, has made an important gift of 367 works of art, including works from the Fisher Landau Center for Art, that have been pledged to the Museum, it was announced today by Adam D. Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. The gift comprises works in all media by nearly one hundred key figures in American art, including Carl Andre, Richard Artschwager, Carroll Dunham, William Eggleston, Peter Hujar, Jasper Johns, Glenn Ligon, Agnes Martin, Robert Rauschenberg, Susan Rothenberg, James Rosenquist, Ed Ruscha, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, and Andy Warhol. An exhibition with an accompanying catalogue is planned for early 2011.

Mr. Weinberg noted, “Emily has been a dear friend and supporter of the Whitney for nearly forty years, and a trustee since 1987. Her commitment—to artists, to the artistic imagination, to exploring the new, and to the Whitney Museum—is unwavering. We are delighted that she has chosen the Whitney as the home for so much of her stunning collection and we thank Emily and her family for all they’ve done for the Museum over the last several decades. This spectacular gift came about through the involvement of our Chairman Emeritus, Leonard A. Lauder, who has been working with Emily for many years towards this landmark acquisition for the museum. This superb donation helps ensure that the Whitney will continue to flourish for many more decades to come.”

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