In 1998, Chicago-based collectors Reva and David Logan donated a major collection of artist illustrated books to the Achenbach Foundation at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor museum, part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. A gallery at the museum is devoted to displaying the collection, which comprises more than 400 works of 20th-century art, the majority of them by some of the century’s most important artists – including Matisse, Miró, Braque, Léger, Chagall, El Lissitsky, Sonia Delaunay and more than 70 books conceived or illustrated by Picasso. The gallery offers a unique opportunity to introduce the artist’s book to a wider art-loving public.
Support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation has allowed the museum to pursue the online presentation of books in the collection, offering a more thorough look than is possible in a gallery setting, where only one opening can be displayed at a time. Online presentations include the iconic La Prose du Transsibérien and Iliazd: Publishing as an Art Form, as well as an overview of the history of artists’ books. Other programs in the initiative include an annual symposium and special events scheduled throughout the year, all intended to further acceptance and understanding of the artist’s book as a primary art medium.
To see what is currently on display in the Logan Gallery, visit here