Monumental painting 'World War II' among PAFA's new acquisitions

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has announced the acquisition of 28 historic, modern, and contemporary works for its permanent collection.

The paintings, works on paper, mixed-media collages, and photographs feature a number of  purchases, including Audrey Flack's large oil and acrylic canvas, World War II (Vanitas); two elaborate mixed-media collages by Mickalene Thomas; textile artist Sonya Clark's Unraveling; photographs of  performance artist Cassils' Becoming an Image; photographs related to Leah Modigliani's Morris Gallery exhibition The City in her Desolation; and works on paper by Fernando Orellana.

The cost of the acquisitions was about $300,000, officials said, with the largest amount ($200,000) going to corral the monumental canvas by photorealist Flack.

In addition to the purchases, the academy announced it had received a number of gifts, including three pieces from the estate of Marion Boulton Stroud – by Ann Hamilton, Mary Heilmann, and Joan Jonas. Also announced was a gift from the estate of painter Sylvia Sleigh, a large nude, Pluto: Robert Lucy, completed in 1994.

Academy museum director Brooke Davis Anderson said works by women from throughout the 20th century were highlighted in the gifts and acquisitions, "reflecting our commitment to collecting works by women artists and artists from communities often overlooked by the conventional canon of art history."