BERKELEY, CA.- The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, Berkeley, announces its upcoming two-part exhibition, Nancy Lee Katz: A Private Pantheon, opening on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. Curated by Lauren Graves, Ph.D., the show presents photographer Nancy Lee Katz’s monumental portraiture project Pantheon in its entirety for the first time. Part one of the exhibition will be on view until December 17, 2026. Part two opens on January 19, 2027, and runs through May 13, 2027.
Born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles, Katz (1947–2018) was a prolific photographer who traveled through Europe and Morocco, working as an assistant film editor and still photographer before focusing on her own art. Between 1986 and 2010, she photographed prominent artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers she deeply admired. Created in the intimate environments of personal studios and workplaces, these portraits look behind public accolades to reveal a quiet presence. Choosing to keep her project entirely private during her lifetime, Katz never exhibited, sold, or published her work—or even showed it to anyone.
“Bringing together Nancy Lee Katz's complete Pantheon offers a rare opportunity to experience the full scope of the photographer’s twenty-five-year project,” said Graves. “In shaping this exhibition, I wanted viewers to move beyond individual portraits and encounter the work as a collective meditation on photography's power to foster connection. Seen together, these photographs transform acts of admiration into an enduring tribute to people who shaped the cultural landscape of their time.”
The exhibition invites local audiences to connect more deeply with cultural icons in Katz’s Pantheon who have strong ties to the Magnes, UC Berkeley, and the Bay Area. In the gallery, visitors can engage directly with the intellectual and creative legacies of sitters like Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Raphael Soyer, Maya Lin, and Andr Watts by listening to archival speeches and musical recordings, and exploring books by and about them. Selected works of art from the Magnes’s collection that were made by or relate to members of Katz’s Pantheon will be displayed adjacent to the exhibition gallery.
The exhibition is made possible by the generosity of Katz’s life partner, Michael S. Sachs, who donated a complete set of 133 small-format Pantheon photographs to the Magnes in 2024 and loaned 40 large-format prints for the exhibition. All 133 images will be on display across the two-part presentation.
“When Michael donated Katz’s Pantheon to the Magnes, the staff started imagining an exhibition almost immediately. We are privileged and honored to be the first museum to show the full work,” said Magnes Executive Director Hannah Weisman. “Both Lauren’s curation and the intimate scale of our gallery invite visitors to get up close to and spend time with Katz’s photographs, provoking reflection and discourse on the ways people leverage their talents to contribute to society and the concepts of genius and legacy.”
