Selections From The Roy R. Neuberger Collection On View

Written by Laurie Goodman Sunday, 01 May 2011 22:08

Purchase, NY - The works of art included in this exhibition are selections from Roy R. Neuberger’s (American, 1903-2010) generous gift to Purchase College, State University of New York, which helped to establish the Neuberger Museum of Art. The exhibition sheds light on the aesthetic and social commitments of leading American artists in the middle of the twentieth century. Exhibition on view perpetual with art changing.

Roy Neuberger returned from a five-year stay in Paris in 1929, determined to go to work and collect art. He found an entry-level job on Wall Street, where he also met his future wife, Marie. He began his collection in the 1930s, and by the end of the decade Roy Neuberger was collecting seriously and had acquired major works by living artists.

He states, I collect because I love works of art and because, when I began, I believed that the contemporary world should buy the work of contemporary artists. I still do. When I started, I felt that in a small way I could render a service, because I would be able to help artists who were young and struggling.

At the heart of the exhibition is art of the 1940s and 1950s. This period in history was one of great expansion in the United States. New York was especially exciting, with the World's Fair in 1939 at Flushing Meadow, Queens and with WWII bringing many European immigrants to the United States.

The influx of artists infused an already vital New York with a stimulating expansion of ideas. New York City became the established center of the art world, a place in which lively debates created a climate where crosscurrents not only proliferated at a rapid pace, but where artists gained support from a relatively small but influential group of critics, galleries, museums and private collectors.

No longer a contemporary collection, but rather one of historical importance, the paintings and sculptures here reflect the rich diversity in American art before the 1960s.

Initiated in 1974 with Roy R. Neuberger's donation of 108 works of art, the permanent collection of the Neuberger Museum of Art has grown to over 6000 works of uncompromised quality and variety. Featuring prestigious examples of modern, contemporary and African art, holdings include the Roy R. Neuberger Collection of American Art, the Aimee W. Hirshberg and Lawrence Gussman Collections of African Art, the Hans Richter bequest of Dada and Surrealist objects, the George and Edith Rickey Collection of Constructivist art, and American, Mexican and European master works from the collection of the late Dina and Alexander Racolin. The Neuberger Museum of Art continues to collect and exhibit its permanent collection, enacting Mr. Neuberger's commitment to supporting the work of contemporary artists who examine and expand the ideas of our day. Visit : http://www.neuberger.org/

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