Emily Rauh Pulitzer to Donate Major Works of Art

Fresh from the world of art here in St. Louis… 

Yesterday, the Saint Louis Art Museum announced the promised gift of 22 works of art from Emily Rauh Pulitzer. Composed primarily of paintings and sculpture by 20th-century European and American artists, the gift includes major works by 17 artists, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Constantin Brancusi, Joan Miró, Philip Guston, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol and others. The works will be transferred to the museum at or before Mrs. Pulitzer’s death, as she chooses. The gift is among the most significant in the museum’s 142-year history, transforming a collection that has been elevated over time by 144 works of art from Mrs. Pulitzer; her late husband, Joseph Pulitzer Jr.; and his first wife, Louise Vauclain Pulitzer, who died in 1968.

Director of the Saint Louis Art Museum Min Jung Kim on Mrs. Pulitzer’s gift:  “Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about this gift is its surpassing quality. These are all masterpieces, ranging from the early 20th-century Cubism of Braque to the late 20th-century Minimalism of Kelly and the Pop-Art of Warhol. These works are, by themselves, an art historical primer. They will become part of the Saint Louis Art Museum’s permanent collection and, joining other works given by the Pulitzer family, will cement this institution’s reputation as one of the premier art museums anywhere.”

In addition to funds and artworks donated by the Pulitzers, the depth and breadth of Emily Rauh Pulitzer’s knowledge of the history of art, as well as of museums and how they work, have proved crucial to numerous institutions, from the St. Louis Art Museum, where she and Joseph Pulitzer served in a series of governance roles, to the Harvard Art Museums, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and others. Both Joseph and Emily Pulitzer were involved from the early days in the revival of St. Louis’ Grand Center neighborhood as an arts and cultural district. This included involvement in bringing to the neighborhood the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, KWMU—St. Louis’s public radio station—and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

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