2018 Gala

Archives of American Art 2019 Gala

Our 2019 Gala honorees, date, and location will be announced next spring.
For more information, call 202-633-7989, or email AAAGala@si.edu.

On Tuesday, October 23, at 583 Park Avenue in New York City, we presented the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and Sam Gilliam with the Archives of American Art Medal, honoring distinguished members of the American arts community.

Opened in 1999, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation has contributed to the study and appreciation of the art of Roy Lichtenstein and his time with grants to museums, foundations, and other nonprofit organizations. In June 2018, the Foundation announced landmark gifts from its enormous archive to the Archives of American Art and more than 400 artworks to the Whitney Museum of American Art, ensuring that scholars and art-lovers will continue to learn about Lichtenstein’s work in public institutions for generations to come.

Artist Sam Gilliam has made major contributions to the American art world since the 1960s, breaking boundaries with his renowned signature draped canvases, beveled-edge paintings, and other trailblazing work. In 1972, he was the first African American artist to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale; today Gilliam has a solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel and is featured in the 2018 Unlimited program at Art Basel. He continues to make his mark as an artist worldwide after more than 50 years. Gilliam was interviewed in 1984 and 1989 for the Archives' oral history program, and donated his archives in 1989.  

The Lawrence A. Fleischman Award for Scholarly Excellence in the Field of American Art History was conferred on Cécile Whiting. The Award was originated in 1998 by Trustee Barbara G. Fleischman as a tribute to her late husband, who co-founded the Archives with Edward Richardson in 1954, and is presented every year to a distinguished scholar.

Cécile Whiting is a Chancellor’s Professor of Art History and Professor of Visual Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Whiting’s research focuses on American art of the mid-twentieth century, a subject on which she has published numerous books and articles, including Pop L.A.: Art and the City in the 1960s, which won the 2009 Charles C. Eldredge Prize from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Past Honorees

The Archives of American Art Medal honors distinguished members of the American art community.

2018     Sam Gilliam
             Roy Lichtenstein Foundation

2017     Sharon Percy Rockefeller
             Glenn Ligon 

2016     Steve Martin
             Catherine Opie

2015     Ford Foundation
             Robert Gober

2014     Robert  E. Meyerhoff
             Claes Oldenburg

2013     James Turrell
             Alice Walton

2012     Richard Serra
             Melva Bucksbaum & Raymond Learsy

2011     Cindy Sherman
            The Leadership of Ann L. Gund,
            Jo Carole Lauder, Wendy W. Luers, Carol Price, &
            Eden Rafshoon of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies

2010     Mark di Suvero
             Sheila Hicks
             Don & Mera Rubell

2009     Richard Artschwager
              Douglas S. Cramer
              Jack Lenor Larsen

2008     Ellen Phelan
              Joel Shapiro
              Joan T. Washburn
              Virginia M. Zabriskie

2007     John Baldessari

2006     Paula Cooper

2005     Barbara G. Fleischman & the Fleischman Legacy

2004     Eli Broad

2003     Rita Fraad & Margaret & Raymond Horowitz

2002     André Emmerich

2001     Wayne Thiebaud

2000     Salute to the Founders of the Archives of American Art

1999     Ellsworth Kelly

1998     Robert Hughes

1996     Chuck Close

1994     Agnes Gund

1993     Frank Stella

1991     Roy Lichtenstein

1990     Richard Manoogian

1988     Benjamin D. Holloway

The Lawrence A. Fleischman Award for Scholarly Excellence in the Field of American Art History originated in 1998 by Trustee Barbara G. Fleischman as a tribute to her late husband, who founded the Archives in 1954.

2018      Cécile Whiting

2017      Tomás Ybarra-Frausto

2016      Thomas Crow

2015      William H. Truettner

2014      Teresa A. Carbone

2013      Richard J. Powell

2012      Morrison H. Heckscher

2011       Dore Ashton

2010      William H. Gerdts

2009      Klaus Kertess

2008      Neil Harris

2007      H. Barbara Weinberg

2006      Wanda Corn

2005      Helen A. Cooper

2004      Robert Storr

2003      Barbara Haskell

2002      Linda Ferber

2001      Jules Prown

2000     John K. Howat

1999      Barbara Novak

1998      John Wilmerding

Archives of American Art Award for Philanthropic Leadership

2014      Terra Foundation for American Art