The Heckscher Museum of Art 90th Anniversary Exhibits ~ Then and Now

Written by Carter Mayberry Thursday, 23 June 2011 20:28

HUNTINGTON, NY.- As part of its 90th anniversary celebration, The Heckscher Museum of Art presents The Heckscher at 90: Then and Now, featuring favorite works from the Permanent Collection and new acquisitions. From its founding in 1920, with a gift of more than a hundred works from the industrialist and real estate magnate August Heckscher, the Museum's collections have grown to more than 2,200 objects. This exhibition opens with a selection of Old Master works, including portraiture and sculpture, and a broad range of 19th century American and European paintings that reflect the romantic sensibility of August Heckscher's collecting aesthetic.

Highlights include a rare bronze by François Girardon, The Rape of Proserpine, 1693; the Museum's oldest painting, Lucas Cranach the Elder's Virgin, Child, St. John the Baptist and Angels, 1534; the dramatic Arab Horsemen, Defeat and Hate, 1863 by the German orientalist painter Adolf Schreyer, as well as works by William Holbrook Beard, Ralph Albert Blakelock, Alfred Thompson Bricher, Asher B. Durand, Jean-Desire-Gustave Courbet, Jean Léon Gérôme, George Inness, and the brothers Edward and Thomas Moran. The Museum’s most significant acquisition, George Grosz's Eclipse of the Sun, 1926 will also be included, as will important recent acquisitions of works by Edward Curtis, Olafur Eliasson, Larry Fink, Red Grooms, Winslow Homer, Man Ray, Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Louis Comfort Tiffany.

The modern life of The Heckscher Museum really began in 1957 when responsibility for the Museum passed to a Board of Trustees lead by George Wilhelm. Almost immediately the collection began to grow. Plans were developed for a more active exhibitions schedule and a program of educational activities. In 1962, Eva Gatling was hired as Director, one of the first women to direct an art museum. During her tenure, the Museum made its most important acquisition since the foundation with the purchase of George Grosz’s Eclipse of the Sun— a monumental painting from the height of his activity in Berlin in the 1920s. Many more objects were added to the collection during her sixteen-year career, including a number of works by Arthur Dove who, like Grosz, had lived in Huntington for an extended period.

In the 1970s, dreams of expansion were born with plans requested from Marcel Breuer. Subsequent directors placed great emphasis on education programs and improved exhibitions. The staff grew in number and professionalism. The addition of the Baker/Pisano Collection of American works in 2001 was the single largest gift to the Museum since the founding donation. A major historic preservation and renovation project, under the direction of Centerbrook Architects, was initiated in 2007, upgrading the exhibition space and highlighting the original architectural features of the building.

Today The Heckscher Museum seeks to thrive and grow in four basic areas—education and public programs, collections and exhibitions. Visit : http://www.heckscher.org/

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