Overview

One of the most significant--and least studied--forms of postwar art collecting in the United States has been the corporate collection. This beautiful book documents one of the most important and widely exhibited of these holdings: the collection of Sara Lee Corporation, fifty-two works selected from the personal collection of Sara Lee's founder, Nathan Cummings. With major masterpieces ranging from an 1872 painting by Claude Monet to a 1964 bronze by Henry Moore, the Sara Lee Collection was assembled in 1980, five years before Cummings's death. Since then it has been exhibited in or made loans to many museums throughout the world. In 1998, the corporation announced an unprecedented gift of the entire collection to a group of forty art museums, twenty-five in the United States and fifteen in international cities in which Sara Lee Corporation has a major presence. This Millennium Gift is the largest single gift to the arts in American history and the first to include institutions outside the United States. This book discusses the Nathan Cummings Collection, the Sara Lee Collection, and the Millennium Gift. It also includes an essay on each of the fifty-two works that places the work in the context of the artist's oeuvre, proposes new interpretations, and discusses the position of the art in the collections of the recipient museums throughout the world. Lavishly illustrated, the book also provides more than 200 comparative photographs.

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9780300081343

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Reviews

One of the most significant - and least studied - forms of postwar art collecting in the US has been the corporate collection. This book documents one of the most important and widely exhibited of these holdings: the collection of the Sara Lee Corporation, 52 works selected by its founder, Nathan Cummings. With major works ranging from an 1872 painting by Claude Monet to a 1964 bronze by Henry Moore, the Sara Lee Collection was assembled in 1980 and has since been exhibited in or loaned to many museums throughout the world. The entire collection has now been given to a group of 40 art museums in the US and elsewhere - the largest single gift tothe arts in US history, and the first to include museums abroad. This book discusses the Collection and includes an essay on each of the 52 works that places the work in the context of the artist's oeuvre, proposes new interpretations and discusses the position of the art in the collections of the recipient museums. Lavishly illustrated, the book also provides more than 200 comparative photographs. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

"Richard R. Brettell, curator of the Sara Lee Collection since its inception, is a professor in the interdisciplinary program in arts and humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas. Having served as a museum professional in Chicago and Dallas, he is the author of many other books, including the prize-winning ""Pissarro and Pontoise: The Painter in a Landscape, "" published by Yale University Press. Natalie H. Lee is an independent art historian based in Dallas."

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