Comprising more than 100 works made after 1950, the Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the most important holdings of contemporary art in the US. In 2014, 97 of these objects were offered to the museum, representing a transformative gift to the institution. These works both complement and supplement the museum’s holdings of contemporary art, a testimony to Mr. and Mrs. Sachs’s affection for the institution and its collection.
For more than forty years, the couple nurtured relationships with many of the artists they admire, resulting in rich selections of works by Jasper Johns and Ellsworth Kelly. The Sachs Collection also encompasses important examples by major postwar artists including Richard Hamilton, Gerhard Richter, and Brice Marden. Strengths of the collection include video art, with examples by Francis Alÿs, Pierre Huyghe, and Steve McQueen; and large-call photography, including works by Candida Höfer, Andreas Gursky, and Jeff Wall. Mr. and Mrs. Sachs cemented their impact on the museum’s Department of Contemporary Art by endowing the Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Senior Curator of Contemporary Art. The museum’s wing dedicated to modern and contemporary art also bears the Sachs name in recognition of their contributions.