Our mission at the Samuel H. Kress Foundation (est. 1929) is to sustain and carry out the original vision of our founder, Samuel H. Kress (1863-1955). We support the work of individuals and institutions engaged with the appreciation, interpretation, preservation, study and teaching of the history of European art and architecture from antiquity to the dawn of the modern era.
We serve the field of art history as practiced in American art museums and institutions of higher education, and in an array of research centers and libraries throughout the world. We further support training and research in art conservation as well as the professional practice of art conservation.
We make grants in defined program areas and offer professional development fellowships for historians of art and architecture, art conservators and historic preservation professionals, art museum curators and educators, and art librarians. We further develop program initiatives in these areas.