The Barnett Newman Foundation was established in 1979 by Annalee Newman, the artist's widow. Its principal mission is to encourage the study and understanding of Barnett Newman's life and work.

The Foundation has published comprehensive studies of the artist's drawings (1979) and graphics (1983); it has further compiled and published Newman's selected writings and interviews (1990) as well as the catalogue raisonné of all mediums (2004). A Newman biography is forthcoming.

The collections of the Foundation include extensive archival files assembled by Annalee Newman from 1936 onward, a collection of photographs—both of the oeuvre as well as of the artist and his circle—audio recordings, Newman's personal library, and a comprehensive research library. These holdings are available to scholars by appointment.