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| Shared Passions |
Framing the Future
Regan Good
08/02/2004
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Collectors often
overlook the idea of donating art to charities other than museums or private
foundations. Colleges, hospitals and other nonprofit organizations, such as
nursing homes, accept—and even solicit—donations of art. The Hebrew Home for the
Aged in Riverdale, N.Y., for example, has amassed a 4,500-piece collection that
has earned it membership in the American Association of Museums. The IRS
requires that the organization actually use the art as a part of its charitable
work for at least two years, however, to allow the donor to deduct the
full-market value of the piece. If the recipient sells the art before those two
years are up, or the IRS rules that the art does not serve a charitable purpose,
the donor can deduct only the price he paid for the work.
Preserving a Passion
If a collection does contain a significant number of
important works, we stand a reasonable chance of getting it into an existing
museum, especially if we get to know the curators. Norah and Norman Stone are an
accomplished Bay Area couple who collect art and produce wine, among their other
activities. Since they began collecting art, the Stones have served on
committees and cultivated close ties with San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art.
While they have not yet drafted a formal agreement with the museum, it appears
that they will bequeath their collection to that institution.
Unlike Cartin,
the Stones adamantly desire to keep intact their entire edgy collection of 1980s
and 1990s American art—which includes some shocking pieces, to observers prone
to shock. With works such as Duchamp’s Feuille de Vigne, a plaster cast of
female genitalia, and Matthew Barney’s Repressia, a large installation that
includes a video of Barney climbing the walls of an art gallery naked and
shoving a piton up his rectum, select pieces of the Stone collection come with
warning labels.
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