Exhibition Dates: September 18, 2007 – March 2, 2008
Exhibition Location: The Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Gallery, Lila Acheson Wallace Wing
One of the preeminent collections of Abstract Expressionism, The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection was given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2006, contributing significantly to the Museum's holdings in modern art. To celebrate the gift, Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art — on view from September 18, 2007, to March 2, 2008 —presents 55 works assembled by one of the most prescient and astute collectors of the mid-20th century.
Included in the roster of important paintings in the exhibition are: Jackson Pollock's Number 28, 1950, a supreme example of the artist at the height of his career; Attic (1949), a key work by Willem de Kooning from the 1940s; Franz Kline's Nijinsky (1950), the artist's first painting in his mature style; an early signature work by Clyfford Still; and Mark Rothko's glowing No. 3 (1953). Also featured are major works by slightly younger American artists working in the early 1960s, such as Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, and Claes Oldenburg. In addition, the Newman gift includes fine works by European modernists, such as Max Ernst's 1924 portrait of Gala Eluard; a 1927 Joan Miró from the Circus Horse series; a 1930 relief by Jean Arp; and Alberto Giacometti's bronze sculpture The Forest (1950).
"The Newman Collection constitutes a magnificent contribution to the Metropolitan Museum," stated Director Philippe de Montebello. "This generous gift represents a New York homecoming for remarkable works by a number of the most important New York artists of the 1940s, '50s, and '60s.
Mrs. Newman has said of her gift, "This was a collection of New York art, and I had always felt it belonged in New York."
Comprised of 63 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by 50 artists, The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection is the only extant collection of Abstract Expressionist works gathered at the time of their creation. Mrs. Newman's collection — "the best of the newest," as Chicago curator Katharine Kuh once described it — is also notable for its depth. In addition to the pivotal paintings and sculptures mentioned above, it includes wonderful works by Alexander Calder, Joseph Cornell, Arthur Dove, Helen Frankenthaler, Arshile Gorky, Philip Guston, Hans Hofmann, Fernand Léger, Jacques Lipchitz, John Marin, Matta, Larry Rivers, Anne Ryan, Kurt Schwitters, David Smith, and Wols, among others.
"Muriel Newman is one of the rare collectors who grasped the importance of a radical new development in the visual arts and acted on that understanding immediately, with almost pitch-perfect accuracy," said Gary Tinterow, Engelhard Curator in Charge of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art.
Known for her intelligence and enthusiasm, Muriel Newman combined her background as a painter, her love of New York, and her eye for modern art to become one of the most prominent collectors of Abstract Expressionism. She was born in Chicago in 1914 and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Institute of Design, and the University of Chicago, then became an accomplished portrait painter. In 1938, she married Jay Z. Steinberg. Although a lifelong Chicagoan, Muriel Kallis Steinberg always loved New York, and the Steinbergs traveled there six to eight times a year. On a visit to New York in 1949, one of her art professors from Chicago introduced her to The Club, the hangout of a new generation of American artists. Known there as a fellow artist, she met the Abstract Expressionist painters who were just about to achieve recognition. Although the Steinbergs had begun to buy works by better-known European modernists, such as Miró, Léger, Arp, Schwitters, and Giacometti, by 1953 she decided to focus on the exciting new development in American art. Venturing into territory where there were few collectors, she acted quickly and with great discernment, choosing artists whom history would later validate. By 1954 she had purchased superb paintings by Pollock, de Kooning, Kline, and Rothko.
After the death of Jay Steinberg, she stopped collecting for several years. She took it up again in the late 1950s, after her marriage to Albert Hardy Newman, and she added significant works by Robert Motherwell, Hans Hofmann, and Clyfford Still to her collection. The Newmans shared a passion for travel, and she acquired objects and textiles on trips to Egypt, Kathmandu, and other far-flung destinations; at the same time, she continued to be involved in promoting the cause of modern American art. In the early 1960s, for example, Mrs. Newman visited New York in order to select works that could be purchased by supporters of the Art Institute of Chicago. Some of her choices — including paintings by Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, and Jules Olitski — remained unsold; as a result, she bought them herself.
The Newmans began to look for a permanent home for the collection in the 1970s. In 1980, Mrs. Newman made a promised gift of the collection to the Metropolitan Museum, and a major exhibition of the collection was organized at the Museum in 1981. In 2006 she decided to make the gift immediate.
Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works is organized by Gary Tinterow; Nan Rosenthal, Senior Consultant; and Lisa M. Messinger, Associate Curator, all of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art. Exhibition design is by Daniel Kershaw, Senior Exhibition Designer; graphics are by Barbara Weiss, Graphic Designer; and lighting is by Richard Lichte and Clint Coller, Senior Lighting Designers, all of the Museum's Design Department.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, edited by Mr. Tinterow, Ms. Rosenthal, and Ms. Messinger. The publication features texts by leading scholars, including David Anfam, Pepe Karmel, Carolyn Lanchner, and Richard Shiff, as well as an introduction by Mr. Tinterow. It is published by the Metropolitan Museum and distributed by Yale University Press and is available for $50 (hardcover).
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by the Blanche and A.L. Levine Fund and the Mary C. and James W. Fosburgh Publications Fund.
Education programs offered in conjunction with the exhibition include: a private gallery tour with Gary Tinterow on October 29 (with limited availability); a Sunday at the Met program on November 11, featuring short films on Pollock and de Kooning and lectures by Lisa Messinger and Katy Siegel, Associate Professor of Art History, Hunter College; a screening of the documentary The New York School (1973) on November 8; and an "Evening for Educators" on November 30. The exhibition will also be featured on the Museum's Web site at www.metmuseum.org.
# # #
September 13, 2007
Press resources