Peggy Cooper Cafritz Bequeaths Major Collection to Harlem's Studio Museum
October 9, 2018 | In the PressFrom ArtForum (https://www.artforum.com/news/peggy-cooper-cafritz-bequeaths-major-collection-to-harlem-s-studio-museum-77034 (opens in a new window))
Thelma Golden (opens in a new window), director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, announced today that the institution received a bequest of more than four hundred works by contemporary artists of African descent from the legendary civil rights activist Peggy Cooper (opens in a new window) Cafritz, who passed away earlier this year.
“We are humbled that the indomitable Peggy Cooper (opens in a new window) Cafritz chose the Studio Museum to help steward the legacy of her incredible vision,” Golden said in a statement. “Peggy was a trailblazing champion of artists of African descent, and at her core believed deeply in the power of art. Through her collecting and her support of artists, she quite literally transformed the way the world viewed black artists.”
Among the artists whose work is represented in the gift are many alumni of the museum’s signature Artist-in-Residence program, including Sadie Barnette (opens in a new window), Sanford Biggers (opens in a new window), David Hammons (opens in a new window), Titus Kaphar (opens in a new window), Simone Leigh (opens in a new window), Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas, and Kehinde Wiley, in addition to artists such as Nina Chanel Abney, iona rozeal brown, Nick Cave (opens in a new window), LaToya Ruby Frazier (opens in a new window), Theaster Gates, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Malick Sidibe´, Lorna Simpson (opens in a new window), Kara Walker (opens in a new window), Carrie Mae Weems, and Jack Whitten (opens in a new window).
The respected arts patron and educator also left 250 works to the Washington, DC, high school the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Cofounded by Cooper Cafritz in 1974, the institution boasts of the only museum studies high school program in the country. Pieces by BK Adams, Miya Ando (opens in a new window), Alexandre Arrechea (opens in a new window), Louise Bourgeois (opens in a new window), Mark Thomas Gibson, Hannah Greely (opens in a new window), Walter Lobyn Hamilton (opens in a new window), Jas Knight, Eva Sussman (opens in a new window), and many others will enter the school’s collection.
Commenting on the gift, Zachary Cafritz (opens in a new window), Cooper Cafritz’s son, said: “This is, of course, a bittersweet moment. Our mom would have loved to see this bequest come to fruition. But we’re thrilled this collection will live on in two places so close to her heart. . . . Both institutions are dedicated, as she was, to fostering the careers of young artists of color.”
