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Summary:
An oral history interview with Mimi Haas conducted 2018 October 26, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art and the Center for the History of Collecting in America at the Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection, at Haas' home in San Francisco, California.
Haas describes growing up in the Washington, D.C. area; her early interests in both politics and art, as well as the beginnings of her focus on philanthropy; her involvement with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, first as a docent and later as a board member and chair of various committees; her marriage to Peter Haas and the establishment of the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund; her work on the expansions of SFMOMA as well as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Haas discusses the focus of the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund on providing support for early childhood education for children at risk; her sons Ari and Daniel Lurie; her work on the boards of SFMOMA and MoMA; the importance of having relationships with artists and the importance for modern art museums to collect contemporary work; the legacy plans for the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund. Haas also recalls Elise Haas; Gary Garrels; Robert Ryman; Brice Marden; Sigmar Polke; Neal Benezra, as well as Matilda Kunin; Phyllis Wattis; Becca Prowda; Richard Serra; John Caldwell; and Jack Lane, among others.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mimi Haas, 2018 Oct. 26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Funding:
Funding for this interview was provided by Barbara Fleischman.
Biography Note:
Interviewee Mimi Haas (1946- ) is a community volunteer and art collector in San Francisco, California. Interviewer Mija Riedel (1958- ) is an independent scholar in San Francisco, California.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
