SEATTLE, WA.- Seattle art collector Albert Feldmann has gifted
the Henry with 204 European prints including, Dürer, Callot, Goya, Hogarth, and Piranesi. With this generous gift of prints dating from the 15th to 18th centuries, the Henry’s collection, which already had strong holdings in the 19th and 20th centuries, now offers a complete timeline of the history of printmaking.
“This is a truly transformative gift,” says Sylvia Wolf, John S. Behnke Director of the Henry Art Gallery. “For over fifty years, Mr. Feldmann collected works of the highest quality and finest condition. We are deeply grateful to him for the gift of this extraordinary collection, which will serve as a resource and inspiration for artists, scholars, students, and enthusiasts of the art of printmaking for generations to come.”
Albert Feldmann, a long-time resident of Seattle, was a mechanical engineer of some renown. He built the first laser and was instrumental in the development of the atomic clock. He later worked as a senior engineer at Boeing. In parallel, he amassed an exquisite collection of European master prints and an impressive library of books on the subject. He chose the Henry as the recipient of this gift as he wished the collection to remain local and accessible to students.
The Henry, which is celebrating its 90th birthday, has collected more than 26,000 objects over the decades, including new media, sculpture, video, photographs, paintings, and works on paper, as well as costumes, textiles, and ceramics.
In the museum’s Eleanor Henry Reed Collection Study Center—the only facility of its kind in the region—works from the permanent collection may be seen by appointment. This is a significant cultural resource for anyone seeking to learn from original works of art, and for students and researchers studying at the University of Washington.
On November 4, the Henry is opening The Time. The Place: Contemporary Art from the Collection which will focus on contemporary works that have entered the permanent collection in the last 20 years.
