The Amon Carter Museum of American Art announced that it has been awarded an unprecedented endowment from the Walton Family Foundation. The museum will receive $20 million over five years. This gift honoring the Amon Carter’s longtime President of the Board Ruth Carter Stevenson (1923–2013) is the largest in the museum’s history and establishes an endowment to support future exhibition and education initiatives.

Patron of the arts and philanthropist Alice Walton served on the Amon Carter’s Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2015. Walton is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and is on the board of the Walton Family Foundation.

Karen Hixon, Amon Carter Board of Trustees President and Stevenson’s daughter, remarked on this monumental contribution, “Mother and Alice were great friends and shared an extraordinary love and knowledge of art—visionaries both. Alice has been an important part of the Amon Carter and its board for many years. I am thankful for all she has taught me, and words cannot express my gratitude for this gift from the Walton Family Foundation in Mother’s honor.”

As a result of the endowment, curators will have the opportunity to host and organize temporary exhibitions that foster new scholarship, are innovative in the field, or complement themes and artists present in the Amon Carter’s permanent collection; education staff will enhance programs for both students and teachers.

“This amazing endowment allows us to expand our offerings beyond what our current operating budget provides, and to engage the community on a deeper level,” says Andrew J. Walker, executive director. “The Amon Carter is truly grateful for this tremendous demonstration of support.”

In December, the museum made another major announcement about the acquisition of a landmark painting by acclaimed 20th-century artist George Bellows (1882–1925). The Fisherman (1917) is the first painting by Bellows to enter the Amon Carter’s collection; the museum already holds a full set of 230 lithographs by the artist.

“This painting is one of the museum’s most significant acquisitions in the last 10 years,” says Andrew J. Walker, executive director of the Amon Carter. “Bellows is perhaps most famous for his gritty depictions of early 20th-century New York urban life, but he was equally adept at depicting the powerful force of the American landscape. This fascinating painting adds invaluable depth to our collection and will surely become a visitor favorite.”

Bellows began painting seascapes in 1911, creating more than 250 paintings inspired by the water, which he referred to as his “eternal subject.” In 1917, he spent the summer visiting the scenic outlooks of Big Sur and Point Lobos in Carmel, California, where he painted en plein air. While there, he created The Fisherman, considered “one of the last important oils of the sea” by Bellows according to the scholar Michael Quick.

“In this bold, dramatic painting Bellows used his signature exuberant brushstrokes and thick oil paint along with a palette of brilliant hues to depict the raw power of the ocean,” says Shirley Reece-Hughes, curator of paintings and sculpture. “The subject of the lone fisherman trying to harness nature suggests the ethos of the physical and ideological manhood of Bellows’ generation that stemmed from President Theodore Roosevelt’s belief in the ‘strenuous life.’ ”