William Kentridge, the South African artist known for his animated films and forays into theatrical design, will soon take a sort of permanent residence in Rochester, N.Y.
Just weeks before his production of Alban Berg’s “Lulu” opens at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Kentridge has given the definitive collection of his archive and art — films, videos and digital works — to the George Eastman Museum there.
The museum, founded in the 1940s, has one of the world’s largest and oldest photography and film collections. Bruce Barnes, the museum’s director, called Mr. Kentridge’s gift “the most important acquisition of contemporary art in the museum’s history.”
His animated art is notable for its “erasure” style; the typical cartoon consists of hundreds of slightly different drawings, like frames in film, while Mr. Kentridge’s use only one sheet of paper. He starts with a single charcoal drawing, then erases it and creates another image in the same space.
Visitors will be able to get a taste of Mr. Kentridge’s style soon when the museum uses its 500-seat theater to screen some of his films, including the widely celebrated “9 Drawings for Projection.” Other chances to see Mr. Kentridge’s gift in action will come in a couple of phases, which will be more of a challenge, Mr. Barnes said.
The museum’s exhibitions are planned for at least the next three years, so a major retrospective of Mr. Kentridge’s work will probably not happen before 2019. In the meantime the museum’s moving image curator, Paolo Cherchi Usai, will work on a Kentridge monograph that will likely include an oral history based on interviews with the artist, Mr. Barnes said.
Included in the gift is intent to contribute additional artworks in the future, Mr. Barnes said. That means materials from Mr. Kentridge’s “Lulu,” which opens at the Met on Nov. 5, will eventually make their way into the collection.