Samuel H. Kress Collection
The Samuel H. Kress Collection is a collection of European paintings and sculptures donated by the Kress Foundation to the Birmingham Museum of Art beginning in 1952.
Samuel Kress was the founder of the S. H. Kress & Company chain of five-and-ten-cent stores, located predominantly in Southern cities. In the 1930s Kress began making plans to donate his collection of European art to various public museums. His brother, Rush Kress, oversaw the execution of those plans on behalf of Samuel's foundation between 1947 and 1961.
Birmingham first viewed works from Kress' collection when a group of fifty paintings toured eight cities where Kress stores were located in 1933. The fourth floor gallery of the Birmingham Public Library held the exhibition which remained on view from January 12 to February 1 of that year. Later the tour was extended to sixteen more cities.
In April 1952 the foundation donated 29 paintings, selected by Rush Kress in collaboration with museum director Richard Howard. These predominantly Italian Renaissance works formed the basis of the newly-opened museum's European collection. After the completion of the Museum's Oscar Wells Memorial Building in 1959 ten more paintings and a sculpture were also donated. Other pieces from the Kress Foundation were added up to 1976.
Today the Kress Collection includes those original bequests as well as additional paintings and sculptures, furnishings, textiles and stained glass.
External links
- European art at artsbma.org
- Kress Collection/Birmingham Museum of Art at kressfoundation.org