Berkeley Art Museum Acquires The Steven Leiber Collection

The University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive has acquired the Steven Leiber collection of Conceptual art and ephemera as well as Leiber’s library of Conceptual art reference and artists’ books.  Steven Leiber passed away in 2012; he was a world-renowned dealer, scholar, and collector with a special interest in Conceptual art. 

The acquirement of his personal collection was made possible through a bequest from Phoebe Apperson Hearst, by exchange, a partial gift of the Steven Lieber Trust, and gifts from Andy and Deborah Rappaport, Robin Wright, Frances Bowes, Alexandra Bowes, and proceeds from the Marcia Simon Weisman Foundation Fund and the Friends and Trustees Acquisitions Endowment Fund. 

The newly acquired collection includes about 300 rare and significant works by American and European Conceptual artists from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and over 700 books, catalog, and reference materials.  “This collection is an embodiment of the most radical, thoughtful, and innovative art being made anywhere in the world from the 1960s to the 1980s,” says current BAM/PFA Trustee Jack Wendler.  “As an active participant in the Conceptual art movement, I can say that there couldn’t be a better home for this collection than BAM/PFA.  It will be an inspiration to students and our other audiences for years to come.”

See Berkeley Art Museum Acquires the Steven Leiber Conceptual Art Collection and Library, Art Daily, Dec. 20, 2014.