The Otto Kallir family has donated over 130 Austrian Expressionist works valued at more than $60 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The gift includes the museum's first paintings by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Richard Gerstl, along with works by Oskar Kokoschka, Alfred Kubin, Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, Lovis Corinth, and Käthe Kollwitz. The collection spans from the turn of the 20th century through the 1920s and features paintings, drawings, prints, posters, and mixed-medium works from the Wiener Werkstätte. A selection of 24 works will go on view in the exhibition “Austrian Expressionism and Otto Kallir” from November 23, 2025, through May 31, 2026, with a comprehensive exhibition planned for 2030. The Kallir family is also donating rare Viennese books and prints to the Getty Research Institute.
This donation transforms LACMA's holdings by filling a long-standing gap in Austrian Expressionism, complementing its existing German Expressionist collection. It underscores the enduring legacy of dealer Otto Kallir, who fled Nazi Austria and championed these artists through his New York gallery, Galerie St. Etienne. The gift also strengthens LACMA's Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies and establishes a partnership with the Kallir Research Institute, ensuring continued scholarly focus on Austrian Expressionism. The inclusion of major figures like Klimt and Schiele significantly elevates LACMA's modern art collection and highlights the importance of émigré contributions to California's cultural landscape.