Letter from Jack Rasmussen

Dear Museum Patrons,

I am thrilled to inform you that the American University Museum has been chosen as the recipient of nearly 9,000 works of art from the Corcoran Art Collection. If you have not seen last week’s announcement in the Washington Post, please see it here.

We plan to use this once-in-a-lifetime gift to establish The Corcoran Legacy Collection at American University. To give you a taste of this new collection, it contains some of history’s most masterful artists such as the 16th-century Italian painter Titian, American artists Ansel Adams and Helen Frankenthaler; 18th-century British portraitist Thomas Gainsborough, as well as important American collections such as those of William A. Clark and Olga Hirshhorn. 

In the spirit of our Alper Initiative for Washington art, we are very excited to expand upon our collection of 19th-century Washington art, with works from the Washington Color School and paintings by figurative artists such as Sarah Baker, Manon Cleary, and Claudia DeMonte. 

The gift will also supplement our collection of work by female artists and artists of color, in alignment with the legacy of the American University Art History department as a leader in feminist art history and the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. 

For those who are curious, you may view the complete listing of artwork and recipient organizations in the Corcoran’s May 14th press release here.

In order to prepare for the legacy collection at AU, the university has invested in a new storage facility that will be a home to works utilized most often by the museum, complete with rolling racks and shelving. We have also upgraded our collections management software and will be working with the registrars at the National Gallery of Art to incorporate the data on the new collection. 

With every great collection comes great responsibility. We still have much work to do! American University is seeking support through a funding initiative designed to further expand our storage capacity, enhance the museum’s exhibition space to accommodate the growing collection, and safeguard the Corcoran legacy for the greater arts community. We also aspire to create a collection viewing and study room to provide increased accessibility to scholars and visitors and new faculty and staff positions to care for the collection and ensure it is shared with the world through public program offerings. 

We will continue to update you as this project progresses and look forward to celebrating this transformational milestone with you! 

Jack Rasmussen 

Director & Curator

 American University Museum