Art Collection
In 1996 Lannan Foundation created a museum gift program, offering pieces from its collection of over 1,000 works of modern and contemporary art to U.S. museums and making these important works accessible to significantly larger and more diverse audiences. The program was designed to increase the exposure of, accessibility to, and scholarship on artists represented in the foundation’s holdings.
Between January 1996 and August 2000 over 1,000 drawings, paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures and video installations were given to 78 museums in twenty-six states, the District of Columbia, and Mexico. The gift program was designed to match works with institutions where the pieces would become an active part of the collection. In fall 2000 Lannan Foundation decided to sell a group of twenty-three works at auction at Sotheby’s to support ongoing acquisitions and projects in contemporary art.
Between 2000 and 2021, the Foundation continued to acquire and commission new work on a limited basis. Among these acquisitions are works by Guy Tillim, Victoria Sambunaris, Thomas Joshua Cooper, Fred Sandback, and Susan York. Recent gifts include donations of work by An-My Lê to the Art Institute of Chicago, On Kawara to Dia:Beacon, and Siah Armajani to the Walker Art Center.
In 2022, the foundation announced plans to close. At that time, the remaining art collection of 1600 works was gifted to 50+ institutions, completed in 2024.