Mississippi Museum of Art April 9 – October 30, 2016
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, (December 2, 2016–January 29, 2017);
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, (December 2, 2016–January 29, 2017);
Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, (February 26–May 21, 2017);
Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, New Mexico, (September 30–December 31, 2017)
Revealing the pursuits of one of the twentieth century’s most important collectors, the American Federation of Arts (AFA) and the Neuberger Museum of Art present When Modern Was Contemporary: Selections from the Roy R. Neuberger Collection, the first traveling exhibition of this groundbreaking collection of American modern art in over forty years. Roy R. Neuberger was a devoted champion ofthe art of his time, and he acquired works by a remarkable selection of modern masters, including Alexander Calder, Stuart Davis, Willem de Kooning, Marsden Hartley, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and numerous others.
With paintings and sculptures from 52 of the era’s most influential artists, When Modern
Was Contemporary illuminates the artistic transformations that took place in the U.S.
during the first half of the 20th century, while also exploring Neuberger’s considerable role
as a collector of and advocate for the work of his artistic contemporaries.
Born in Connecticut, financier Roy R. Neuberger (1903–2010) developed his passion for
art while in Paris in the 1920s. After reading Vincent van Gogh’s biography, he was struck
by the fact that Van Gogh died in poverty, yet after his death the artist’s paintings achieved
ever higher prices. Neuberger’s credo, “the contemporary world should buy the work of
contemporary artists,” would guide him as a collector, and he often purchased works soon
after their creation.
Neuberger returned to New York in 1929 and went to work for a Wall Street brokerage
firm before founding his own firm in 1939. He once noted, “I have not collected art as an
investor would, I collect art because I love it.” By 1950, the center of the avant-garde art
world had shifted from Paris to New York, and Neuberger was the most important collector
focusing on contemporary American art in the country.
Concentrating on the patronage of living and often under-recognized artists, Neuberger
was far ahead of his time in appreciating the talents of soon-to-be canonical figures such
as Jackson Pollock, and his practice of donating works to museums ensured that both
emblematic and lesser-known, though important, artists could be viewed in public
collections. Committed to making contemporary art more accessible, Neuberger joined
the AFA in 1946, and served as president of the Board of Trustees from 1958 to 1967. In
1969, he gave much of his valuable collection to the State University of New York to found
the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College.
Exhibition Overview
Drawing from the collection of the Neuberger Museum of Art, When Modern Was
Contemporary: Selections from the Roy R. Neuberger Collection surveys the
development of modern art in the U.S., from representational modes in the early years of
the 20th century through the Abstract Expressionist revolution at mid-century. The
exhibition begins with works by artists who built upon European precedents, including
paintings such as
Weber’s La Parisienne (1907), with sinuous lines inspired by Matisse,
and Joseph Stella’s Gas Tank, Pittsburgh (American Landscape) (1918), which
freely samples from Cubism and Futurism to depict the vibrancy of an American city.
Georgia O’Keeffe, in her Lake George by Early Moonrise (1930), and
Arthur Dove, exploring shape and color in his Holbrook’s Bridge to the Northwest (1938),
are inspired by organic forms in the American landscape, while industry is celebrated in paintings such as Ralston Crawford’s At the Dock (1941) and Charles Sheeler’s The Web (1955), a
conceptual view of industrial structures.
The collection’s masterworks of Abstract Expressionism include Jackson Pollock’s Number 8, 1949, an exemplary “drip” painting, and Willem de Kooning’s Marilyn Monroe (1954), the only named figure in the artist’s groundbreaking Woman series.
Neuberger selected each work for the collection himself, taking artists and artworks on
their individual merits, a fact evidenced by the notable diversity of the artists he supported.
Works by exceptional masters such as Marsden Hartley, represented by the
iconic Fishermen’s Last Supper, Nova Scotia (1940–41), and
![]()
Horace Pippin, represented by a classic Cabin in the Cotton (1944),
as well as significant sculptures by Harry Bertoia, Alexander Calder, David Smith, and others, are among numerous highlights.
When Modern Was Contemporary also exhibits rarely seen archival material, including
contributions made by artists to albums presented to Neuberger for his fiftieth and
seventy-fifth birthdays and receipts for purchases of artworks, offering unique views into
the development of the collection, the artist-patron relationship, and the workings of the
About the Curator
Tracy Fitzpatrick is Director of the Neuberger Museum of Art and an Associate Professor
of Art History at Purchase College, SUNY. She is responsible for the Museum’s first in-
depth study of the Roy R. Neuberger collection. Fitzpatrick has written, curated, and
taught widely on American art of the 20th century.
Neuberger selected each work for the collection himself, taking artists and artworks on
their individual merits, a fact evidenced by the notable diversity of the artists he supported.
Works by exceptional masters such as Marsden Hartley, represented by the
iconic Fishermen’s Last Supper, Nova Scotia (1940–41), and
as well as significant sculptures by Harry Bertoia, Alexander Calder, David Smith, and others, are among numerous highlights.
When Modern Was Contemporary also exhibits rarely seen archival material, including
contributions made by artists to albums presented to Neuberger for his fiftieth and
seventy-fifth birthdays and receipts for purchases of artworks, offering unique views into
the development of the collection, the artist-patron relationship, and the workings of the
About the Curator
Tracy Fitzpatrick is Director of the Neuberger Museum of Art and an Associate Professor
of Art History at Purchase College, SUNY. She is responsible for the Museum’s first in-
depth study of the Roy R. Neuberger collection. Fitzpatrick has written, curated, and
taught widely on American art of the 20th century.
Catalogue
The fully illustrated publication is the first comprehensive catalogue of the Roy R.
Neuberger collection. Both a companion to the exhibition and a valuable resource for
scholars, it includes an essay by Tracy Fitzpatrick, large illustrations and detailed
scholarly entries for works in the exhibition, and a selected checklist of the Neuberger
Collection.
The exhibition is organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Neuberger
Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY.
Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY.
Marsden Hartley, Fishermen’s Last Supper, Nova Scotia, 1940-41. oil on canvas. 30 1/8 x 41 1/8 inches. Collection Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift from the Estate of Roy. R. Neuberger, EL 02.2011.67. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Joseph Stella, Gas Tank, Pittsburgh (American Landscape), 1918. oil on canvas. 40 x 30 1/8 inches.
(101.6 x 76.5 cm). 1975.16.42. Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1975.16.42. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Ralston Crawford, At the Dock, 1940. oil on canvas. 22 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches. Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1975.16.07. © Ralston Crawford Estate. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Charles Sheeler, The Web (Croton Dam), 1955. oil on canvas. 22 ¼ x 24 in. (56.5 x 61 cm). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1972.04.12. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Milton Avery, Walker by the Sea, 1961. oil on canvas. 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1973.08.08. © 2015 The Milton Avery Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Forrest Bess, Before Man, 1952-53. oil on canvas, with artist’s original frame. 10 x 23 5/8 in. (25.4 x 60 cm) (framed). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1986.10.08. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Alexander Calder, The Red Ear, 1957. painted sheet metal and wire. 50 x 73 x 3 in. (127 x 185.4 x 7.6 cm). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1975.16.50. © 2015 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Willem de Kooning, Marilyn Monroe, 1954. oil on canvas. 50 x 30 in. (127 x 76.2 cm). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1971.02.06. © 2015 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Helen Frankenthaler, Mount Sinai, 1956. oil on canvas. 30 1/8 x 30 in. (76.5 x 76.2 cm). Collection
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1969.01.13. © 2015 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Lee Krasner, Burning Candles, 1955. oil, paper, and canvas on linen. 58 1/8 x 39 in. (147.6 x 99.1 cm)Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1969.01.16. © 2015 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Jacob Lawrence, In the evening evangelists preach and sing on street corners, 1943. gouache on paper. 25 x 17 in. (63.5 x 43.2 cm). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1975.16.25. © 2015 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Georgia O’Keeffe, Lake George by Early Moonrise, 1930. oil and gouache on canvas. 24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1970.02.26. © 2015 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.
Mark Rothko, Old Gold Over White, 1956. oil on canvas. 68 x 46 in. (172.7 x 116.8 cm). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1969.01.20. © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Jim Frank. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.