A Gift of Art: The Legacy of Mabel Perkins

Made Possible by
Wege Foundation

October 7, 2008–March 1, 2009

Mabel H. Perkins (1880-1974) was an international art collector whose generosity was crucial in building the collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Between 1947 and 1973 she gave the Museum nearly 300 prints, including etchings, engravings, woodcuts, and lithographs by a range of artists. Her mother Mrs. Cyrus E. Perkins was co-founder and first president of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and was an important influence on Mabel Perkins’ love of art and her desire to share her interest with the public.

A discerning and avid collector, Mabel Perkins sought out prints by master printmakers such as Albrecht Dürer, Francisco Goya, Hendrik Goltzius, Jacques Callot, Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, Jean-François Millet, Mary Cassatt, and James McNeill Whistler. She was also forward thinking in her purchases, collecting works by contemporary artists Pablo Picasso and Jasper Johns.

This exhibition, drawn entirely from the Mabel H. Perkins Collection, includes sixty important works dating from the sixteenth to the twentieth century chosen for their outstanding quality. The exhibition is made possible by Wege Foundation.

Paul Gauguin
(French, 1848-1903)
Te Po (Eternal Night), 1893-1894
Woodcut on paper
Gift of Mabel H. Perkins, 1949.2.25