WEST PALM BEACH, FL.- The Norton Museum of Art presents the special exhibition, Legacy: The Emily Fisher Landau Collection, beginning 6 p.m. Feb. 21, 2013. Not only is it truly special because it includes remarkable contemporary artwork by American icons such as Jasper Johns, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, Susan Rothenberg, Ed Ruscha, Cy Twombly, Kiki Smith, and Andy Warhol, but it is part of a formidable collection of more than 350 works part-time Palm Beacher Emily Fisher Landau pledged to the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2010. (She is a Whitney Trustee.)

South Florida residents will be able to see an astounding array of dozens of contemporary works – paintings, sculptures, drawings, and photographs – that Landau presciently collected when many of these artists were still relatively unknown. Legacy runs through June 2, 2013.

“The Norton Museum of Art is grateful to Emily Fisher Landau and the Whitney Museum for bringing this extraordinary exhibition of contemporary art to Palm Beach County,” said Norton Executive Director Hope Alswang. “Ms. Landau has assembled one of the great collections of contemporary art, and museum visitors have an amazing opportunity to see very important work by significant artists of our time.”

Emily Fisher Landau was first a member of the Whitney Museum’s Painting and Sculpture Acquisitions Committee in 1987 before becoming a Board member. She stated early on: “I like the fact that the Whitney isn’t afraid to expose the public to the work of young artists before they are accepted.” That approach guided her when collecting work by artists who were yet to gain wide acceptance and were sometimes pushing beyond conventional tastes. Landau summed up her enthusiasm for the untested art of our time: “Artists like Kiki Smith and Glen Ligon portray the world we are living in now … whether you like it or not is beside the point.”

Collecting the work of an artist over a period of several years, if not decades, is a characteristic of Mrs. Landau’s approach. In this exhibition, three artists are seen in depth: Richard Artschwager, Jasper Johns, and Ed Ruscha. Los Angeles-based Ruscha said of Landau: “To the greatest degree, she’s the friend of the artist…. Some collectors would prefer not to meet the artist and I can understand that they don’t want to crack an illusion about somebody whose work they are collecting…. She’s different. She’s not afraid to know the artist personally.”

Legacy represents an historic collection of art as well as the remarkable vision of Emily Fisher Landau. It is organized by Donna De Salvo, the Whitney’s Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Programs, and David Kiehl, the Museum’s Curator of Prints and Special Collections.