GILBERT KINNEY

KINNEY--Gilbert H. The Board of Trustees and staff of the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, mourn the death of longtime Trustee Gilbert H. Kinney. Mr. Kinney, who joined the Archives' Board of Trustees in June 1974, served as a devoted advocate and advisor for more than four decades. He was President of the Board of Trustees from 1979 to 1982, a position that set his fundraising acumen in high relief. He continued to serve as an active Trustee from 1983 to 1991, rejoining the board in 2008. He was named Trustee Emeritus in 2019. Mr. Kinney participated enthusiastically in a wide array of Archives' events, from the mid-1970s on, and rarely missed a board meeting. He was unfailingly generous with his time and his knowledge of the American art world. In 2009, Mr. Kinney was interviewed for the Archives' oral history program, a project he relished. He considered the transcript recommended reading for fledgling art collectors. In the three-hour exchange, he recalled his first purchases, refining his collection to focus on Abstract Expressionist painting and sculpture, his process of lifelong learning and adventure that he shared with his wife Ann, and the thrill of art auctions. There was nothing he liked more than giving a morning-after recap of an exciting auction sale. Most recently, we were truly humbled by the Kinneys' enormous generosity in endowing the Gilbert and Ann Kinney New York Collector at the Archives of American Art, a position responsible for collecting primary sources documenting the history of the visual arts in New York City. The Kinney legacy will live on permanently at the Archives through this named position. We celebrate Gil as a friend, a patron, and a trusted advisor, whose passion for American art will forever be a source of inspiration. Bridget Moore, Chair, Board of Trustees Liza Kirwin, Interim Director