History of the Center and the Collection

exterior of the Fisher Landau Center for Art, LIC

Housed in a former parachute harness factory, the 25,000 square foot museum was designed by Max Gordon in association with Bill Katz and was devoted to the exhibition and study of the contemporary art collection of Emily Fisher Landau. The core of the 1,500 work collection spanned 1960 to the 2000s and contained key works by artists who had shaped the most significant art of the prior 50 years, including Richard Artschwager, Donald Baechler, John Baldessari, Jenny Holzer, Alfredo Jaar, Neil Jenney, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Sherrie Levine, Glenn Ligon, Agnes Martin, Robert Rauschenberg, Susan Rothenberg, Ed Ruscha, Kiki Smith, Mark Tansey, and Cy Twombly.

Emily Fisher Landau’s insightful selection of works by contemporary masters, many of which she bought from the artists early in their careers, was reflected in exhibitions presented at the Fisher Landau Center for Art. Her ongoing commitment to emerging artists extended to the annual presentations of the Columbia University School of Visual Arts MFA Thesis Exhibitions in 2010–2016.

In May of 2010, Mrs. Landau made an historic pledge of 417 artworks by nearly 100 artists to the Whitney Museum of American Art. Excerpts from LEGACY a traveling exhibition that highlighted the gift to the Whitney Museum, was on tour at various venues throughout the United States through 2015.

The Fisher Landau Center for Art closed to the public on November 20th, 2017.

Fisher Landau Center for Art, library Lobby of the Fisher Landau Center for Art
3rd floor, installation view, 2003 Counting the Ways: Word As Image, installation view, 2005
Donald Baechler: Painting & Sculpture, 1st floor installation view, 2012
Nancy Dwyer: Painting & Sculpture, 1982–2012, 3rd floor installation view, 2013