Samuel H. Kress Foundation

Description

Samuel H. Kress was born near Pennsylvania in 1863. His father was a retail merchant, and after working in various roles, Kress decided to follow in his father’s footsteps by establishing his own business. His company, S. H. Kress & Co., was a chain of department stores known for selling goods at five and ten cents. Owing to its widespread popularity, Kress was able to establish the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, where he amassed artworks (primarily from the Italian Renaissance) acquired with the assistance of the art dealer Joseph Duveen. Around 1930, Kress donated numerous pieces from his collection to cities that had supported his business, laying the foundation for the museums that emerged in later years. Following Kress’s death in 1955, the foundation continued its work by making art accessible through the donation of pieces (Glesne, 2012). His artworks are now housed in numerous museums and institutions, such as the Columbia Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Portland Art Museum, among others. Today, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation focuses on supporting institutions and researchers interested in studying European art history.