Courtesy of the Estate of Anne Marion and Sotheby's
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth announced its new exhibit honoring one of the museum’s greatest patrons, Modern Masters: A Tribute To Anne Windfohr Marion.
As a philanthropist figurehead, Marion collected art for her personal collection. It was because of her dedication to the arts that the Modern is now sharing that collection. Along with her strides in art, Marion was the president to her family’s world-renowned 666 Ranch and chairman of Burnett Oil Company.
Some of the collection comes from her Fort Worth house which was curated since the mid-1980s. Marion, who died in 2020 at age 81, championed many of the museum’s initiatives.
The exhibition, on view from Oct. 23-Jan.8, features 80 works by 47 artists, including five renowned works from her personal collection, given to the museum at the time of her passing in 2020: Arshile Gorky’s The Plow and the Song, 1947; Willem de Kooning’s Two Women, 1954–55; Mark Rothko’s majestic White Band No. 27, 1954; David Smith’s Dida Becca Merry X, 1964; and Ellsworth Kelly’s Spectrum III, 1967.
Courtesy Sothebys
Andy Warhol’s Elvis 2 Times, 1963
Each of the works in the exhibition was made possible by Anne Marion, Anne and John Marion, or The Burnett Foundation, in addition to gifts donated anonymously or in partnership with the Sid W. Richardson Foundation.
“Every great museum has its primary patrons who step up in ways that change their museums forever,” says The Modern director Marla Price in a statement. “Anne Marion’s generosity to The Modern was deep and broad and moved the museum to a new level of importance and recognition. It is a joy to bring these works together in the building she loved.”In 2001, Marion donated more than $12 million to The Modern to purchase major works from key artists, resulting in the acquisition of art by Francis Bacon, Howard Hodgkin, Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter, Sean Scully, and Richard Serra.
The exhibit’s curator, Michael Auping, a former curator of the museum, has described the gift of these paintings as “a monumental addition to the museum’s collection, each work a classic example of the artist’s signature style.”
