FAMSF Receives Gift of 1,600 Works from Kirk Edward Long

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), which includes the de Young and the Legion of Honor, has received a gift of 1,600 works from local collector Kirk Edward Long. The donated works will be stewarded by FAMSF’s Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, and the donation marks one of the largest single-owner gifts in the foundation’s history. Long’s holdings are particularly strong in early modern European prints from Italy, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. His collection also includes paintings, antiquities, and decorative arts, some of which he also donated to FAMSF, including a 19th-century painting by Gustave Moreau and a 19th-century bust by Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier. The Long gift is part of FAMSF’s larger multiyear “Gifts of Art,” which began in 2022 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the merger of the de Young and the Legion of Honor to create FAMSF in 1972, as well as the 100th anniversary of the Legion of Honor in 2024. In total, the museum has added 2,000 works by 275 donors across all of the museum’s collecting departments. Other gifts that have entered the FAMSF collection via the campaign include paintings by Canaletto, Angelica Kauffmann, Georgia O’Keeffe, John Singer Sargent, Camille Pissarro, and Marie-Guillemine Benoist, as well as drawings by Elisabeth Louise Vigée‑LeBrun, Mary Cassatt, and Henri Matisse. Contemporary works have also been added to the holdings, such as pieces by Ruby Neri, Rashaad Newsome, and Maria Guzmán Capron. In a statement, FAMSF director and CEO Thomas P. Campbell said, “The Gifts of Art campaign is a significant milestone in the history of the Fine Arts Museums and I am humbled and inspired by the exceptional generosity of donors set on a common goal: to make extraordinary works of art accessible to our creative, curious, and engaged Bay Area audiences. The succession of two landmark anniversaries offered opportunities to reflect on the distinct identities and strengths of our collections—and the profound legacy of the thousands of steadfast supporters who have helped shape them over the years with generous donations of art.” See images below of works donated to FAMSF by Kirk Edward Long and other donors as part of the “Gifts of Art” campaign. This chiaroscuro woodcut, made using four blocks, entered the FAMSF collection via a gift by Kirk Edward Long. This engraving entered the FAMSF collection via a gift by Kirk Edward Long. This bust made of bronze and onyx entered the FAMSF collection via a gift from Kirk Edward Long. This oil painting of Prometheus entered the FAMSF collection via a gift from Kirk Edward Long. This stunning oil painting from the 18th century by Canaletto entered the FAMSF collection via Diane B. Wilsey, a chair emerita of the museum. Donating it in honor of Ann Getty, the painting’s previous owner, Wiley provided FAMSF with the funds to acquire before it was auctioned at Christie’s in 2022, where it carried an estimate of $6 million to $10 million. This O’Keeffe painting is now part of the FAMSF collection. These two paintings, which each measure about 12.5 by 10 inches, by Angelica Kauffmann were purchased by FAMSF with funds from several donors and acquisition funds. This 1899 Pissarro painting entered the FAMSF collection via an anonymous gift. This painting of Psyche by Neoclassicist painter Marie-Guillemine Benoist was purchased by FAMSF via funds from various donors. This pastel drawing by Elisabeth Louise Vigée‑LeBrun, who is best known for her paintings of Marie Antoinette, was purchased by FAMSF via funds from the Heidi Chipp Living Trust. This pastel drawing entered the FAMSF collection via an anonymous gift. This mixed-media work by Rashaad Newsome was one of 42 works of contemporary art purchased by FAMSF using funds from a $1 million gift Svane Family Foundation to support the acquisition of work by Bay Area artists.