The Samuel H. Kress Collection at the University of Arizona represents a culmination of a most pleasant and gratifying relationship between the University and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
After making its rich gifts of thirteenth century to nineteenth century European art to the nation through the establishment of the Samuel H. Kress Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1939, the Foundation entered into the further program of establishing collections at some twenty regional galleries throughout the South and West and in Honolulu. The vision which could initiate and carry through such an unprecedented and monumental program belongs to Rush Harrison Kress, brother of Samuel Henry Kress whose original collection and generosity to the country became the foundation upon which Rush Harrison Kress and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation have continued to build.
The establishment of this Collection gives not only to the University of Arizona, but also to the State of Arizona and to the Southwest, art treasures which will add immeasurably to the cultural development of this region. To the Samuel H. Kress Foundation will go the increasing gratitude of the nation as it fully realizes the immense impetus given to its artistic growth through the Foundation’s generosity, of which the establishment of this collection is a significant example.
Andreas S. Andersen, Head
Department of Art
1957
adapted from the foreword to “The Samuel H. Kress Collection at The University of Arizona,” published in 1957
