: report
Imagine having carte blanche to acquire any work from an outstand-
ing private collection. That dream scenario recently became a reality
for the Dallas Museum of Art. When collector and Museum supporter
Dorace Maritzky Fichtenbaum passed away last July, she left behind
a bequest allowing DMA curators the opportunity to select whatever
they would like from her treasure trove of modern and contemporary
American and European artwork, as well as objects from African,
Asian and Ancient Mesoamerican cultures. Widowed in 1984,
Fichtenbaum amassed the collection largely on her own. The
Museum selected 138 objects, which, according to Olivier Meslay,
Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, represented about half of
her vast collection. As Fichtenbaum left no heirs, the fate of the
remainder of the work is unknown.The Museum selectively chose works that complemented already ex-
isting collections or enhanced underrepresented areas. “She was very
interested in women artists and German Expressionists, which for us
is a great opportunity to strengthen our holdings in these areas,”
explains Meslay. The work of German Expressionists represented
a void in an otherwise dynamic collection of Modern European art
at the DMA. With Fichtenbaum’s bequest, the Museum now owns a
thorough representation of this period, comprised largely of drawings,
watercolors and prints. In addition to the pantheon of expressionists,
such as Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde,
George Grosz and Käthe Kollwitz, among others, Fichtenbaum also
owned work by artists such as Gabriele Münther, Erich Heckel and
August Macke. Works on paper by Wassily Kandinsky, FrancescoClemente, Joan Miró, Karel Appel, Howard Hodgkin, Jean Dubuffet,
Edvard Munch, Tracey Emin and Lucian Freud and sculpture by
Jean Arp round out the broader collection of European Modernism.The collection’s roster of female artists is equally impressive. Late
20th-century luminaries such as Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell,
Lee Bontecou, Jenny Holzer, Kiki Smith and Susan Rothenberg are
well represented. Meslay applauds Fichtenbaum’s collecting acumen,
particularly in this area. He says, “The piece that she acquired at
the beginning of the 1980s from Yayoi Kusama is very strong. And
the Eva Hesse works on paper are extremely rare.” Fichtenbaum
rounded it out with the work of regionally prominent artists such
as Annette Lawrence and Linda Ridgway.Her canonical collection of 20th-century American male artists is
also noteworthy, and includes work by Ben Shahn, Roy Lichtenstein,
Chuck Close, Sol LeWitt, Brice Marden and Frank Stella. Among the
many gems in this cache is the rare and unique Jasper Johns’ 0 to 9
suite of lithographs from the early 1960s. A small, spherical wooden
wall piece by Martin Puryear is also joining the DMA collection.
Artists with local Texas roots include David Bates, Vernon Fisher
and Sam Gummelt.Beginning this month, these works will be exhibited together as a
cohesive collection for a final time. This select group of objects will
remain on view for six to eight months. Gavin Delahunty, The Hoff-
man Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, envisions an36 art ltd - March / April 2016DALLAS
A collector’s unique bequest helps Dallas Museum of Art enhance its permanent collection.