Just about when I was writing an item on the promised return of the Maud Morgan Prize for women artists in Massachusetts — little did I know — in Pennsylvania another female artist was going one Morgan better.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts announced that Linda Lee Alter — a Philadelphia-based artist and philanthropist — had donated 400 works of art by women to the Academy.
But it got little attention: I wonder why.
Lee’s collection includes works by Louise Bourgeois, Kiki Smith, Joan Brown, Viola Frey, Ana Mendieta, Christina Ramberg, and Beatrice Wood (none of which is represented in PAFA’s collection now) as well as works by Alice Neel, Louise Nevelson, Gertrude Abercrombie, Edna Andrade, Sue Coe, Janet Fish, Sarah McEneaney, Gladys Nilsson, Elizabeth Osborne, Betye Saar and Nancy Spero (who are). They range in date of execution from the 1910s to the present, and they include ceramics, photography, painting, sculpture, assemblage, and works on paper.
Alter began collecting these works in the 1980s. “My hope was to find a museum emphasizing inclusion and diversity; one working toward greater representation of art by women and artists of color in its permanent collection, exhibitions and outreach programs,” said in the press release, “where the art by women would be fully accessible to students, teachers, scholars and the general public; and where my collection would be enthusiastically welcomed because it embodied the institution’s vision.”
PAFA promises that works from the collection will be on view by spring, and that it will produce a comprehensive catalogue of the collection.
Alter, who is 71, founded the Leeway Foundation in 1993, to support women artists, particularly those who live in the region — according to a short item in the Inquirer.
Looking for images for works in Alter’s gift, I instead discovered that Alter had an exhibition of her own works at the Allentown Art Museum in 2008. As the press release said at the time:
Her work has ranged from vibrant fabric wall hangings and appliqués with lively allegorical depictions of fables and Old Testament stories to paintings that serve as metaphors for life events. Many of her works, which have been widely exhibited and collected, have served as inspiration for children’s book illustrations and greeting cards.
Two of her works are reproduced here.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Allentown Art Museum