A MAJOR GIFT: When the new Princeton University Art Museum, shown here in a rendering, opens its doors in late 2024, important works of abstract art donated by Preston H. Haskell III ’60, and an education center named for him, will be key elements.

By Anne Levin

A donation announced last week by Princeton University Art Museum is considered one of the most important gifts of art in the museum’s history.

Preston H. Haskell III, a member of the Class of 1960, has given eight abstract works from his collection by Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Hans Hofmann, Jean-Paul Riopelle, and Gerhard Richter. Haskell’s name will be on a new education center in the museum, which is being designed and expanded on its former footprint by architect Sir David Adjaye, in collaboration with architects Cooper Robertson.

Haskell’s gift is among several made by alumni toward construction of the new building, doubling its space. “While the museum’s expansive collections include over 114,000 works of art from cultures spanning the globe, no more than two percent of these could be on display at any time in the former building,” reads a release on the University’s website.

Haskell is a major collector whose primary interests are abstract expressionism, minimalism, and pop art from the mid-to-late 20^th century, especially the 1940s-1970s. He has shared some of his collection with the museum in the past, primarily the exhibit “Rothko to Richter: Mark-Making in Abstract Painting from the Collection of Preston H. Haskell” in 2014. He served on the museum’s advisory council for 24 years and was its chair for four years. He remains an honorary member. In 2010, he endowed the Haskell Curatorship of Modern and Contemporary Art at the museum, which is currently filled by Mitra Abbaspour.

“Without Preston’s steadfast volunteer leadership over many years, I doubt very much that the project of making a new art museum at Princeton would be becoming reality,” said James Steward, director of the museum, in the release. “His early commitment of financial support led to many of the fundraising successes that have followed, and now Preston’s commitment of art takes our collection of modern art to a new level.”

The eight artworks Haskell has donated include de Kooning’s Woman II, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 1961; Frankenthaler’s Belfry, acrylic on canvas, 1979; Hofmann’s The Chair, oil on panel, 1944 and Composition #3, oil on canvas, 1952; Mitchell’s Aires pour Marion, diptych, oil on canvas, 1975-76; Richter’s
Abstract Painting (613-3), oil on canvas, 1986; Riopelle’s Terre Promise, oil on canvas, 1960; and Rothko’s Untitled, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 1968.

Haskell is founder and chairman of the Haskell Company, an engineering, architectural, and construction firm in Jacksonville, Fla., which he established in 1965. “I became interested in art through my first boss, Bob Jacobs, a collector who once gave me a Gabor Peterdi in lieu of a year-end bonus,” Haskell said. “Early on, I focused on the American postwar abstract expressionism movement, works that are entirely nonobjective and highly spontaneous, colorful and emotional. I found myself passionately drawn to the energy, mystery and excitement of these works — a passion that is as difficult to rationalize as the art itself.”

The new museum will occupy three stories, with nine interlocked pavilions containing many of its new galleries. Six new classrooms and social gathering spaces are part of the plan, aimed at being a “town square for campus and community.”

“Having a great art museum is important to the primary mission of the University, which is teaching, learning, and research,” said Haskell. “Without the great collection and the scholars, curators and researchers — both permanent and visiting — you couldn’t have a great museum and you couldn’t have a great educational experience. It’s also the community museum, located in the central part of campus and open to the public. This gift was motivated by helping one of the finest art museums in the region move to the next level.”

Additional major gifts are to be announced over the next year.