Broad Art Foundation

Broad Art Foundation
Jeremiah Garcia · CC BY 2.0 · source
Name	Broad Art Foundation
Established	1984
Location	Los Angeles, California
Type	Contemporary art foundation
Founder	Eli Broad
Director	(various)
Collection size	Approx. 2,000 works

Broad Art Foundation The Broad Art Foundation is a private contemporary art institution founded in Los Angeles by philanthropist Eli Broad to collect, lend, and study postwar and contemporary art. It operates in conjunction with major museums, collectors, and universities, influencing exhibition practices at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Tate Modern. The foundation’s activities intersect with prominent figures and venues including Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Marina Abramović, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and The Broad.

History

The foundation was established in 1984 by Eli Broad following his early collecting of works by artists associated with movements like Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Minimalism. In the 1980s and 1990s the foundation partnered with institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Walker Art Center to place works on long-term loan and to support museum exhibitions. Notable early acquisitions included pieces by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns', which positioned the collection alongside holdings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Tate Modern. In the 2000s the foundation expanded relationships with contemporary venues such as MoMA PS1, Serpentine Galleries, Centre Pompidou, and Stedelijk Museum. The foundation’s loans and collaborations have influenced curators at the Guggenheim Bilbao, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Collection

The collection emphasizes postwar and contemporary art with a focus on artists who have shaped late 20th‑ and early 21st‑century practices. Holdings include works by Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning from the Abstract Expressionist generation, alongside later figures such as Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, and Sol LeWitt. The collection features conceptual and performance-related material by Yves Klein, Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman, and Marina Abramović, as well as contemporary painters like Gerhard Richter, Cecily Brown, Julie Mehretu, and Kerry James Marshall. Sculpture and installation artists represented include Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Richard Serra, and Rachel Whiteread. Photography and video works by Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Bill Viola, and Shirin Neshat complement the holdings. The breadth of the collection has enabled collaborations with academic institutions such as University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, Yale University, and Harvard University for teaching, research, and exhibitions.

Exhibitions and Loans

The foundation is best known for its long‑term loans and rotating exhibitions, placing works at institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the National Gallery of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. It has supported major retrospectives and thematic exhibitions that examined movements linked to Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and Postmodernism, collaborating with curators from the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, and the Walker Art Center. Special projects have involved site‑specific commissions with galleries such as Gagosian Gallery, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and nonprofit spaces such as PS1 Contemporary Art Center. International loans have reached institutions like the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Centre Pompidou, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, enhancing scholarship and public access.

Architecture and Facilities

Facilities associated with the foundation have included storage, conservation, and curatorial spaces situated in Los Angeles and designed to meet museum standards for climate control and security. The foundation’s proximity and relationship to exhibition spaces such as The Broad in downtown Los Angeles and neighboring institutions like the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles has fostered cross‑institutional programming. Conservation work has involved specialists who formerly worked at major institutions including the Getty Conservation Institute, the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and the Smithsonian Institution to ensure proper preservation of works on loan.

Governance and Funding

Governance of the foundation has been shaped by philanthropic leadership, board members drawn from the art and business communities, and advisory committees composed of curators from institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Funding streams have included endowment support, private gifts from collectors and patrons, and partnerships with galleries and museums like Gagosian Gallery and Hauser & Wirth. The founder’s broader philanthropic network connected the foundation to initiatives involving The Broad museum, municipal cultural agencies in Los Angeles, and collaborative projects with universities including UCLA and USC.

Public Programs and Education

Educational and public programs associated with the foundation have ranged from scholarly symposia and curatorial workshops to school partnerships and graduate research initiatives with institutions such as Columbia University, Yale University, California Institute of the Arts, and UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. Public lectures and artist talks have featured figures like Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor, Marina Abramović, and curators from the Tate Modern and MoMA. The foundation’s loans to regional museums supported K–12 outreach programs in collaboration with cultural organizations including the Getty Foundation, the NEA, and local arts councils, while fellowships helped emerging curators gain placement at museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

Category:Art foundations in the United States