Tacoma Art Museum - Haub Collection Donation

Thomas Moran - Haub Collection

There's some very exciting news coming out of the Northwest.  Erivan and Helga Haub have donated their extensive American Western Art collection of 280 major pieces to the Tacoma Art Museum.  They've also made a contribution to build a 10,000 square foot wing to house the collection as well as setup an endowment for the care of the collection.  The new wing is set to open in 2014.  This news is significant because it will create a major Western Art museum whose quality of works are rivaled by only a few institutions across the country.  The Haub Collection includes major works by Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, Georgia O'Keefe, Charles Russell, Frederic Remington, John Clymer, E.M. Hennings, Ernest Blumenshein, and many of today's leading contemporary Western artists.  I think the Northwest will benefit greatly as the Tacoma Art Museum will continue to raise awareness of the importance of American Western Art, and contribute to the growing popularity of American Western Art as a genre in the American art landscape.

“This collection ranks among those of the highest breadth and caliber in American museums today,” said Peter H. Hassrick, retired museum director, curator, and American and Western art scholar. “Western art as a genre has added much to the overall development of American art over the past 150 years. The Haub collection represents a remarkable esthetic contribution as well as a fascinating historical narrative.”

Here are a few examples from the Haub Collection.

Albert Bierstadt - Haub Collection

Charles Bird King - Haub Collection

Frederic Remington - Haub Collection

Charles Russell - Haub Collection

Charles Russell - Haub Collection

Here is the official Tacoma Art Museum Press Release:

TACOMA ART MUSEUM RECEIVES GIFT OF 280 WORKS OF AMERICAN WESTERN ART FROM THE HAUB FAMILY

Gift of Noted Collectors Includes Outstanding Historical and Contemporary Works by Thomas Moran, Frederic Remington, and Georgia O’Keeffe

Museum Will Be Only Pacific Northwest Institution to Hold Collection of this Caliber

 Plans for a 10,000 Sq. Ft. Wing to Accommodate Western Art Collection by Seattle-based Architectural Firm Olson Kundig Architects

TACOMA, WA, JULY 9, 2012 – Tacoma Art Museum is proud to announce a major donation by Erivan and Helga Haub and family of 280 major works of American Western Art along with a contribution for a new 10,000 square foot wing to house the collection as well as endowment funds for the care of the collection.

The new wing will be designed by award-winning architect Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig Architects; Olson Kundig Architects is also leading the museum’s plaza redesign project. This will be Tom Kundig’s first completed museum project, set to open in 2014.

“We are extremely grateful to the Haub family for this extraordinary gift, the largest in the museum’s 75-year history,” said Stephanie A. Stebich, Director of Tacoma Art Museum. “The 280 works from noted artists will make our museum a key destination to view American Western Art.”

This significant donation of iconic works will transform Tacoma Art Museum into one of the leading museums in the country featuring American Western Art. The museum will be the only Pacific Northwest institution to hold a collection of this caliber, and in turn will provide an entirely new dimension of cultural offerings to Tacoma as well as the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest.

This collection ranks among those of the highest breadth and caliber in American museums today,” said Peter H. Hassrick, retired museum director, curator, and American and Western art scholar. “Western art as a genre has added much to the overall development of American art over the past 150 years. The Haub collection represents a remarkable esthetic contribution as well as a fascinating historical narrative.”

Peter Hassrick has advised both the Haubs and Tacoma Art Museum on shaping this extraordinary gift of art, building funds, and endowment support.

Erivan and Helga Haub began collecting American Western art in 1984, and have since amassed one of the most important collections in private hands. Their passion for the West has helped shape their artistic choices, which chronicle the land, people, wildlife, and history of the great American West.

The collection features outstanding works that capture the spirit of the American West including the work of significant historic Western painters, such as grand manner landscape painters Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran; titans of Western genre, Frederic Remington and Charles Russell; as well as works by artists such as E. Martin Hennings and Ernest Blumenschein. The collection also contains works by notable modernist painters, including Georgia O’Keeffe, as well as more contemporary artists such as John Clymer, Tom Lovell, Bill Schenck, and Clyde Aspevig. The works range in date from the 1820s to the present.

About Erivan and Helga Haub

Originally from Germany, Erivan and Helga Haub have had close personal and business ties to the Pacific Northwest and specifically Tacoma, where their three sons were born. Their family business, The Tengelmann Group, is an international company with diversified retail and investment operations in Europe and North America. Their love and passion for the American West inspired the Haub family to become fervent collectors of American Western Art over the last 30 years.

About Peter H. Hassrick

Peter Hassrick is a writer and independent American art scholar who focuses on the American West. He lives in Wyoming, and serves a national and international constituency of museums as a guest curator. He is the Founding Director Emeritus of the Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. He is also the Director Emeritus of the Petrie Institute of American Western Art at Denver Art Museum and Director Emeritus and Senior Scholar at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. Hassrick's devotion to the history and art of the American West has inspired numerous exhibitions, lectures, and a couple dozen publications that he has produced throughout his career.

About Tom Kundig and Olson Kundig Architects

Seattle-based architectural firm Olson Kundig Architects’ work encompasses museums, commercial, and mixed-use design, exhibit design, interior design, places of worship, and residences, often for art collectors. Tom Kundig is one of the most recognized architects in North America. He has received some of our nation’s highest design awards, including a 2008 National Design Award in Architecture Design from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; a 2007 Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; and a total of 37 American Institute of Architects (AIA) awards. Olson Kundig Architects received the 2009 National AIA Architecture Firm Award (as Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects) and has twice been named one of the Top Ten Most Innovative Companies in Architecture by Fast Company.

About Tacoma Art Museum

Tacoma Art Museum was founded in 1935 and has since grown to become a national model for regional, mid-sized museums. The museum is dedicated to exhibiting and collecting Northwest art, with the mission of connecting people through art. The museum serves the diverse communities of the region through its collection, exhibitions, and learning programs, emphasizing Northwest art and artists.

Tacoma Art Museum has built a permanent collection of artwork by regional, national, and international artists. The museum’s rich collection contains more than 3,800 works, with an emphasis on art by Northwest artists, a notable collection of Japanese woodblock prints, and the most comprehensive public collection of glass art by Tacoma native Dale Chihuly. The collection also includes key holdings in 19th-century European and 20th-century American art.