SAN DIEGO, CA.- In honor of its 80th Anniversary, the San Diego Museum of Art has reinstalled its permanent collection gallery of American art to acknowledge the individuals who were most instrumental in shaping the Museum's collections. The current presentation of visitor favorites and rarely seen works celebrates five important donors who are each linked through an interest in American artists of the 20th century and the emerging modernist styles of the era.

The earliest donation of American art to SDMA was made by Alma Emma Spreckels, who in 1925 donated 105 Arthur Putnam bronze sculptures, of which 15 are now on view. The sculptures are displayed alongside five of the twenty Putnam drawings donated by artist Alice Klauber.

The Museum's second largest gift of American art came from the bequest of Mrs. Josephine Everett in 1938, whose donation formed the foundation for the Museum's future collection of 20th-century American painting and included important works by Mary Cassatt, Nicolai Fechin, and Emil Carlsen.

In 1972, Earle Grant left the remainder of his collection and estate to the Museum, making it the third largest gift of 20th-century American art in SDMA's history. As evidenced in the current display, his gift comprised watercolors by many leading practitioners of the century, including John Marin, Everett Shinn, and Max Weber.

Finally, Barbara and Norton Walbridge greatly shaped the Museum's collection of European and American Modernism when they began donating in 1962. Their works include many important modern American masters, including Roy Lichtenstein, Milton Avery, Stuart Davis, and Georgia O'Keeffe.