{
  "checked_on": "2026-10-06",
  "scope": "Primary focus is the Kress network, the Corcoran institutional collection, and William Andrews Clark within Corcoran. Sterling and Francine Clark are distinguished, not financially merged.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "K1",
      "publisher": "Samuel H. Kress Foundation",
      "title": "Our Founder",
      "url": "https://www.kressfoundation.org/About/Our-Founder",
      "type": "Institutional history",
      "supports_and_limits": "Retail origin; foundation establishment. Not an independent assessment of the founder.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06",
      "location": "Our Founder and S.H. Kress & Company Stores sections",
      "verified_details": "Samuel H. Kress lived 1863 through 1955; foundation established 1929; S. H. Kress & Company variety-store chain established 1896. The page describes assembly and distribution of European art from 1929 through 1961."
    },
    {
      "id": "K2",
      "publisher": "Samuel H. Kress Foundation",
      "title": "History of the Kress Collection",
      "url": "https://www.kressfoundation.org/Kress-Collection/History",
      "type": "Institutional history",
      "supports_and_limits": "Samuel, Claude and Rush Kress endowed the foundation; collection distribution."
    },
    {
      "id": "K3",
      "publisher": "Samuel H. Kress Foundation",
      "title": "Kress Collection",
      "url": "https://www.kressfoundation.org/kress-collection",
      "type": "Institutional collection overview",
      "supports_and_limits": "More than 3000 works; distribution period and recipient network.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06",
      "location": "Curated Gallery introduction",
      "verified_details": "More than 3,000 works; donated to regional and academic museums throughout the United States between 1929 and 1961, with the largest donation for the National Gallery."
    },
    {
      "id": "K4",
      "publisher": "Samuel H. Kress Foundation",
      "title": "Collection digital archive",
      "url": "https://archive.kressfoundation.org/",
      "type": "Institutional archive",
      "supports_and_limits": "Recipient conditions and local fundraising around collection gifts."
    },
    {
      "id": "K5",
      "publisher": "U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; reproduced by Justia",
      "title": "Mutual Shares v. Genesco, 384 F.2d 540 (1967)",
      "url": "https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/384/540/392889/",
      "type": "Judicial opinion",
      "supports_and_limits": "1963 purchase of Kress Foundation company shares. Allegations against defendants are not findings against the foundation.",
      "location": "Part I, opening factual paragraphs",
      "verified_details": "The opinion identifies W. Maxey Jarman as Genesco chairman and principal stockholder. It records that between July and October 1963 Genesco acquired 94.1 percent of Kress stock, including 43 percent purchased from the Kress Foundation. Litigation allegations concern Genesco and Jarman, not a finding against the foundation.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "K6",
      "publisher": "Samuel H. Kress Foundation; independent auditor",
      "title": "Financial review for years ended June 30, 2025 and 2024",
      "url": "https://bmmweb.blob.core.windows.net/kressmedia/media/kress/media/about/annual%20reports/2025/kress_fy25_financialreview.pdf",
      "type": "Audited financial statements",
      "supports_and_limits": "PDF pages 6, 7 and 17; statements A and B; note 8. Investment return is not new contributions.",
      "location": "PDF pages 6, 7, 16 and 17; Exhibits A/B and Notes 4/8",
      "verified_details": "Investments $94,131,409; net assets without donor restriction $93,512,349; net investment return $11,172,670; grants authorized $2,353,422; grants paid $2,265,113. Note 4 separates realized gains and unrealized appreciation from interest/dividends and expenses. Do not confuse grants approved in Note 8 with grants authorized in Exhibit B.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "K7",
      "publisher": "Samuel H. Kress Foundation",
      "title": "About and mission",
      "url": "https://www.kressfoundation.org/About",
      "type": "Institutional program statement",
      "supports_and_limits": "Research, conservation, fellowships and professional recipients."
    },
    {
      "id": "K8",
      "publisher": "NCpedia",
      "title": "Standing Their Ground: The Sit-In at the Greensboro Lunch Counter",
      "url": "https://www.ncpedia.org/sit-ins-greensboro-student",
      "type": "State encyclopedia history",
      "supports_and_limits": "Kress lunch counter integration in July 1960. Separate chain history from Samuel Kress personal conduct."
    },
    {
      "id": "C1",
      "publisher": "George Washington University",
      "title": "Corcoran history",
      "url": "https://corcoran.gwu.edu/history",
      "type": "Institutional history",
      "supports_and_limits": "Founding, gifts, estate and fundraising; 1869 transfer and 1874 opening. Contains an older Study Collection count of 830.",
      "location": "William Wilson Corcoran section; paragraphs on the Civil War and 1869 deed",
      "verified_details": "GW records the 1840 Corcoran & Riggs partnership, describes Corcoran as a southern sympathizer living in Europe during the Civil War, dates the deed to May 10, 1869 and the formal opening to January 19, 1874, values the private collection alone at $100,000, and describes two free days weekly with reasonable fees on the others. Its building history distinguishes the 1897 Flagg building and the 1928 Clark Wing.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "C2",
      "publisher": "Library of Congress",
      "title": "W. W. Corcoran Papers finding aid",
      "url": "https://findingaids.loc.gov/repositories/19/resources/4699",
      "type": "Archival finding aid",
      "supports_and_limits": "Corcoran and Riggs; Mexican War bond financing dates.",
      "location": "Biographical Note, chronological entries",
      "verified_details": "1840: formed Corcoran & Riggs. 1847 through 1851: major financier of Mexican War bonds. 1862 through 1865: lived in Europe. The chronology also lists 1872 for gallery opening, differing from GW formal public opening in 1874; not reconciled. The chronology also records real-estate and suspended-debt management from 1828 through 1836 and his withdrawal in 1854 to manage his properties and pursue philanthropy.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "C3",
      "publisher": "Architecture DC; republished by George Washington University",
      "title": "(Re)dedicated to Art",
      "url": "https://corcoran.gwu.edu/rededicated-art",
      "type": "Architectural secondary history on institutional site",
      "supports_and_limits": "Historical $900,000 gallery endowment and $100,000 school support. Do not assume a dated payment schedule.",
      "location": "Paragraph beginning William Wilson Corcoran founded the gallery",
      "verified_details": "The republished Architecture DC account explicitly attributes a $900,000 gallery endowment and another $100,000 for the school to Corcoran. It does not establish a payment schedule. Its 1870 founding date should not replace the 1869 deed or 1874 formal-opening dates from other records.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "C4",
      "publisher": "George Washington University",
      "title": "Historic Arts Agreement Transfers $43 Million to GW",
      "url": "https://gwtoday.gwu.edu/historic-arts-agreement-transfers-43-million-gw",
      "type": "Recipient transaction announcement, September 10, 2014",
      "supports_and_limits": "Approximately $43 million split into $35 million renovations and $8 million restricted school endowment; property and asset transfer, not a new fundraising campaign.",
      "location": "First three transaction paragraphs",
      "verified_details": "September 10, 2014 announcement: approximately $43 million, of which $35 million is renovation funding and $8 million restricted school endowment. Following August court approval, the transaction transferred properties, cash, securities and endowed funds. Not all cash and not a fresh fundraising total.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "C5",
      "publisher": "National Gallery of Art",
      "title": "The Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art",
      "url": "https://www.nga.gov/artworks/corcoran-collection-national-gallery-art",
      "type": "Recipient collection record",
      "supports_and_limits": "Ultimately more than 9,000 objects acquired following the 2014 closure."
    },
    {
      "id": "C6",
      "publisher": "George Washington University",
      "title": "Corcoran Study Collection",
      "url": "https://corcoran.gwu.edu/corcoran-study-collection",
      "type": "Specific current collection page",
      "supports_and_limits": "884 works; public catalog and teaching/research resource; conflicts with older generic history count.",
      "location": "About and Background sections",
      "verified_details": "Dedicated collection page states 884 works. This is the source for the current count, rather than the older 830 in the general history page.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "C7",
      "publisher": "Smithsonian Archives of American Art",
      "title": "Coalition of Washington Artists records, 1985–1989",
      "url": "https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/coalition-washington-artists-records-16244",
      "type": "Archival collection description",
      "supports_and_limits": "Records protest against cancellation of Mapplethorpe exhibition in 1989, not an explanation attributing sole responsibility for the 2014 closure."
    },
    {
      "id": "W1",
      "publisher": "National Gallery of Art",
      "title": "Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection",
      "url": "https://www.nga.gov/research/publications/antiquities-impressionism",
      "type": "Museum catalogue description, 2001",
      "supports_and_limits": "Copper wealth and more than 800 objects in the 1926 bequest. Full catalogue PDF was not available through the research tool."
    },
    {
      "id": "W2",
      "publisher": "WETA Boundary Stones",
      "title": "Attempted Rembrandt Heist at the Corcoran",
      "url": "https://boundarystones.weta.org/2014/03/19/attempted-rembrandt-heist-corcoran",
      "type": "Secondary historical reporting",
      "supports_and_limits": "Earlier $100,000 prizes endowment and heirs $700,000 construction money. Amounts are attributed, not audited donor accounts."
    },
    {
      "id": "W3",
      "publisher": "U.S. Senate",
      "title": "The Election Case of William A. Clark of Montana (1900)",
      "url": "https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/electing-appointing-senators/contested-senate-elections/089William_Clark.htm",
      "type": "Official Senate historical account",
      "supports_and_limits": "Committee finding, May 15, 1900 resignation before vote, later 1901 election; not a criminal conviction or expulsion.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06",
      "location": "Background and Response of the Senate",
      "verified_details": "The official account describes the investigation of Clark election, committee finding, resignation on May 15, 1900 before Senate action, and later 1901 election. The article does not call this a criminal conviction or expulsion."
    },
    {
      "id": "D1",
      "publisher": "Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute",
      "title": "Sterling Clark archival biography",
      "url": "https://archives.clarkart.edu/repositories/2/resources/51",
      "type": "Institutional archive",
      "supports_and_limits": "Singer inheritance; different Clark identity. Search index text available; direct page fetch was intermittent."
    },
    {
      "id": "D2",
      "publisher": "The Frick Collection",
      "title": "History of the Clark collection",
      "url": "https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/clark/history",
      "type": "Museum exhibition history",
      "supports_and_limits": "Sterling and Francine and the 1955 Williamstown opening; not the Corcoran donor. Direct fetch intermittent."
    },
    {
      "id": "A1",
      "publisher": "National Gallery of Art",
      "title": "The Adoration of the Shepherds",
      "url": "https://www.nga.gov/artworks/432-adoration-shepherds",
      "type": "Object provenance and media record",
      "supports_and_limits": "Giorgione; 1939.1.289; Allendale, Duveen 1937, Kress 1938, NGA 1939."
    },
    {
      "id": "A2",
      "publisher": "National Gallery of Art",
      "title": "Niagara",
      "url": "https://www.nga.gov/artworks/166436-niagara",
      "type": "Object provenance and media record",
      "supports_and_limits": "Church; 2014.79.10; Gallery Fund purchase 1876, NGA 2014; underlying fund donors not established."
    },
    {
      "id": "A3",
      "publisher": "National Gallery of Art",
      "title": "The Dance Class",
      "url": "https://www.nga.gov/artworks/165300-dance-class",
      "type": "Object provenance and media record",
      "supports_and_limits": "Degas; 2014.79.710; Clark 1903, Corcoran 1926, NGA 2014.",
      "location": "Artwork overview and Provenance",
      "verified_details": "Credit: Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection, 1926), accession 2014.79.710. Provenance records Henry Hill purchase in 1876, his 1889 sale, dealers, Clark purchase in 1903, 1926 Corcoran bequest and 2014 National Gallery acquisition.",
      "rechecked_on": "2026-10-06"
    },
    {
      "id": "A4",
      "publisher": "National Gallery of Art",
      "title": "Terms and Notices: Open Access Policy",
      "url": "https://www.nga.gov/terms-and-notices",
      "type": "Institutional image policy",
      "supports_and_limits": "Eligible public domain images released CC0, including commercial use; attribution encouraged; no endorsement."
    }
  ],
  "images": [
    {
      "file": "/images/kress-giorgione-adoration.webp",
      "artist": "Giorgione",
      "title": "The Adoration of the Shepherds",
      "date": "1505/1510",
      "credit": "Samuel H. Kress Collection",
      "accession": "1939.1.289",
      "source_id": "A1",
      "download_url": "https://api.nga.gov/iiif/77d22f22-777b-456f-adc6-baf1e010b832/full/1600,/0/default.jpg",
      "reuse": "NGA public-domain open-access image; CC0",
      "courtesy": "Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington",
      "editing": "Full composition retained; resized and converted to WebP.",
      "generated": false
    },
    {
      "file": "/images/corcoran-church-niagara.webp",
      "artist": "Frederic Edwin Church",
      "title": "Niagara",
      "date": "1857",
      "credit": "Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund)",
      "accession": "2014.79.10",
      "source_id": "A2",
      "download_url": "https://api.nga.gov/iiif/4d6a4fa1-db74-4586-a753-9951bc5945a3/full/1600,/0/default.jpg",
      "reuse": "NGA public-domain open-access image; CC0",
      "courtesy": "Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington",
      "editing": "Full composition retained; resized and converted to WebP.",
      "generated": false
    },
    {
      "file": "/images/clark-degas-dance-class.webp",
      "artist": "Edgar Degas",
      "title": "The Dance Class",
      "date": "c. 1873",
      "credit": "Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection, 1926)",
      "accession": "2014.79.710",
      "source_id": "A3",
      "download_url": "https://api.nga.gov/iiif/5aabd016-748d-4f81-855d-7963dc5a62b4/full/1600,/0/default.jpg",
      "reuse": "NGA public-domain open-access image; CC0",
      "courtesy": "Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington",
      "editing": "Full composition retained; resized and converted to WebP.",
      "generated": false
    }
  ],
  "financial_snapshot": {
    "institution": "Samuel H. Kress Foundation",
    "fiscal_year_end": "2025-06-30",
    "currency": "USD",
    "investments_fair_value": 94131409,
    "net_assets_without_donor_restriction": 93512349,
    "net_investment_return_before_excise_tax": 11172670,
    "grants_authorized_activities_statement": 2353422,
    "grants_paid_note_8": 2265113,
    "source": "K6",
    "not_collection_market_value": true
  },
  "limits": [
    "No verified total lifetime artwork acquisition cost.",
    "No market appraisal or inflation-adjusted comparison.",
    "No claim that every object has complete provenance or no restitution issues.",
    "Corcoran gallery, construction and endowment sums are not interchangeable.",
    "No audit of the present Clark Institute endowment.",
    "No inference that heirs retain title or receive cash from current collection display."
  ]
}