More than 200 major artworks, ranging from antiquities to contemporary paintings, lent by over 80 collectors, all of whom have deep connections to Brooklyn, will be presented in the exhibition A Family Album: Brooklyn Collects.
Brooklyn Collects
More than 200 major artworks, ranging from antiquities to
contemporary paintings, lent by over 80 collectors, all of
whom have deep connections to Brooklyn, will be
presented in the exhibition A Family Album: Brooklyn
Collects. Each of the objects reflects the remarkable
diversity that has always been Brooklyn's signature.
A Family Album: Brooklyn Collects celebrates the variety
and character of people connected to Brooklyn through
the objects they collect. The exhibition will bring together
lenders as diverse as the objects they've lent; some were
born here and stayed, some moved away, and some have
returned. The objects will be grouped by collector and
accompanied by the lender's photo and statement when
available.
Brooklyn-born Museum Director Arnold Lehman recalls the
stimulus for A Family Album: Brooklyn Collects: Some of
my fondest memories while growing up were of coming to
the Museum and seeing the wonderful objects here,
Lehman said. After being appointed director, I received
hundreds of letters from current or former Brooklyn
residents expressing the same memories and saying that
the Museum sparked their interest in art and collecting.
That's what gave us the impetus for this exhibition. We
wanted to broaden Brooklyn's definition from a geographic
place to a state of mind, a connective tissue that runs
throughout the country, said Mr. Lehman.
Every curatorial department of the Brooklyn Museum of Art
has been involved in locating collectors and securing loans.
Elizabeth Easton, Chair of the Museum's Department of
European Painting and Sculpture, coordinated the
Museum-wide effort. The result is an impressive and
engaging array of art of the highest quality from ancient
Egyptian and classical sculpture, to photography, textiles,
furniture, prints, drawings, and the latest contemporary
art.
The exhibit extends the parameters of the Museum's
encyclopedic collection, comments Dr. Easton The impetus
behind each collection is personal. Some have inherited
their objects; some collectors are descendants of the
Museum's founders, while others have spent devoted years
to assembling objects from a specific moment in the
history of art. Dr. Easton added that several works that
have been contributed to the exhibition are by
Brooklyn-born or based contemporary artists.
The artists have been invited to include testimonials with
their group of objects, reflecting on their earliest
reminiscences of visits to the Museum, of their Brooklyn
neighborhoods, or their personal relationship to their art.I
believe that for many Brooklyn expatriate collectors,
involvement in this exhibition is a bit of a homecoming, said
Ms. Easton.
Brooklyn Museum of Art, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, USA