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Exhibitions on View

COLLECTIONS ON VIEW

African Art from the Permanent Collection

African art has been an integral part of the permanent collection since the Neuberger Museum of Art opened in 1974.  In 1999, the collection nearly doubled in size with the major gift of 153 works from the late Lawrence Gussman, a notable collector and resident of Scarsdale, New York.

Gussman’s interest in Africa began in 1957 when he met Dr. Albert Schweitzer at his hospital in Labaréné (Gabon). This first encounter sparked a friendship between them that endured until Schweitzer’s death in 1965. Also sharing Dr. Schweitzer’s strong belief in humanitarian aid, Gussman and his wife returned each year to work at Dr. Schweitzer’s hospital. They both went for over thirty years. It was in Gabon that Gussman’s fascination with the art of Central Africa began; yet despite his annual trips to Gabon, he collected only in Europe and the United States, primarily through auction houses, dealers, and other collectors.

A large cloak to cover the entire body is comprised of strips of fabric, each adorned with patterned cloth, mirrors and medallions.
Masquerade costume (egungun); Yoruba peoples, Nigeria; 20th century; Fabric
 

Then and Now: Modern and Contemporary Selections from the Permanent Collection

The Neuberger Museum of Art celebrates the return of some of its most precious treasures after being on national tour across the country for over a year. Included in Then and Noware works by some of our most beloved artists including Milton Avery, Romare Bearden, Stuart Davis, Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Arthur Dove, Helen Frankenthaler, Marsden Hartley, Hans Hofmann, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and David Smith. Amid these works contemporary art from the collection also are installed, in keeping with the spirit of our founding patron, Roy. R. Neuberger, who was committed to supporting the work of living artists, particularly during the formative years of their careers. As he once observed, “The contemporary world should buy the work of contemporary artists.”

Generous support for this project is provided by the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art and by the Purchase College Foundation.

A hard glint of sunlight diagonally bisects the interior scene of a basement-level barber shop. The light isolates a seated young manicurist looking down at a magazine, as shadow obscures the barber, turned away to his customer, who only appears as a dark, blurred reflection in the mirror.
Edward Hopper, Barber Shop, 1931, Oil on canvas, 60 x 78 inches

Yto Barrada

Yto Barrada: The Dye Garden

The 2019 Roy R. Neuberger Prize
September 25 - December 22, 2019

The Neuberger Museum’s 2019 Roy R. Neuberger Prize, carrying an honorarium of $25,000, has been awarded to Yto Barrada, an internationally-acclaimed, Moroccan-French multi-media artist. In addition to the cash award, the exhibition, Yto Barrada: The Dye Garden, will be presented for the first time in the United States.

Originally presented at the American Academy in Rome and expanded for the Neuberger Museum of Art, Yto Barrada: The Dye Garden features recent work by Barrada, whose artistic practice weaves together family history and broader sociopolitical narratives, employing a variety of media, including photography, film, video, installation, sculpture, books, and hand-dyed textiles. The artist has long investigated gestures of resistance to structures of power and control. She has an abiding interest in mechanisms of displacement and dislocation, as well as questions of appropriation and authenticity.

Yto Barrada: The Dye Garden is co-organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art and the American Academy in Rome. Co-curated by Chief Curator Helaine Posner and Peter Benson Miller, Curator and former Andrew Heiskell Arts Director at the American Academy. A fully-illustrated, multi-essay catalogue will accompany the exhibition. Generous support for the Roy R. Neuberger Prize has been provided by Jim Neuberger and Helen Stambler Neuberger.

Examples from the exhibit
From Left to Right: Tree Identification for Beginners Curtain, 2017, Detail from Untitled (North African Toys, Musée du quai Branly, Mission Dakar-Dijbouti, Mission Charles le Coeur Paris, Mission Thérèse Rivière; c. 1930s), 2014–15, Untitled (After Stella, Rabat), 2017

About the Artist

Yto Barrada, who was born in Paris and raised in Tangier, had her first solo exhibition in 2003 at the Galerie Polaris, Paris. Since then, her work has been featured in exhibitions at the Jeu de Paume, Paris (2006); Venice Biennale (2007, 2011); and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2009), among other venues. In 2011, she received Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year Award. According to Ms. Posner, Barrada’s wide-­‐ranging intelligence and global perspective inform her work in a variety of media including photography, film, sculpture, and hand-­‐dyed textiles. She creates aesthetically compelling images and objects and tackles serious sociopolitical and cultural issues leavened with humor.” Barrada now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Engels the Artist

“Art Got Into Me”: the Work of Engels the Artist

October 9 – December 22, 2019

This monographic exhibition features more than fifty works created by Engels the Artist over the past en years. Born in Haiti, the artist has been living in Brooklyn for more than three decades. For Engels, the canvas is a limited space that requires subversion, inversion, expansion, or containment. He engages
in a sort of metonymic game, whereby the container becomes the contained, and the support becomes the object itself. For example, the fabric of the canvas, the wood of the stretcher, and the metal staples are all part of his iconography. Abstract and poetic, his sculptural paintings are both aesthetically appealing and profoundly meaningful. According to the artist, “The strict economy of line and texture, the use of everyday objects, and makeshift elegance recall my grandmother’s home in Port-au-Prince, which against all odds had splendor.”

The exhibition will include an artist residency during which Engels will create new works inside the museum. A fully illustrated monograph, the first in the artist’s career, will accompany the exhibition.

“Art Got into Me”: The Work of Engels the Artist is organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY, in collaboration with the Willowell Foundation, and is curated by Patrice Giasson, the Alex Gordon Curator of Art of the Americas, with the assistance of Cynthia Newman, curatorial intern.

Major support for “Art Got into Me”: The Work of Engels the Artist is funded by the Alex Gordon Foundation. Additional support has been provided by ArtsWestchester, with support from the Westchester County Government; and the Triennial Adeline Herder Fund for Collage.

Engels the Artist, Across the Border, 2016, Oil on canvas with string and staples, 40 x 72 inches, Photo by Bill Orcutt Artwork © Engels the Artist, Photo © Bill Orcutt

Cleve Gray

Cleve Gray: Threnody

September 25-December 22, 2019

Threnody (1973-74) is a 250-foot-wide site-specific painting created by American artist Cleve Gray for the opening of the Neuberger Museum of Art. At that time, college students across the country were demonstrating against the conflict in Vietnam, a war that they felt to be unjust and inhumane. An active anti-war supporter himself, Gray saw this as an opportunity to express his hope for humanity’s spiritual and emotional healing. Threnody is a lament for the dead on both sides of the war. Although the theme of Threnody was conditioned by current events, Gray sought a more reconciliatory image and mood. Somber grounds of red, black, green and violet delineate the four walls in the space that he envisioned as a cathedral. Tall vertical forms engaged in a “dance of death and life” draw the eye upward, taking full advantage of the monumentality of the gallery.

Cleve Gray: Threnody is organized by the Neuberger Museum and curated by Avis Larson, Assistant Curator. Generous support for this project has been provided by the Honorary Council of the Neuberger Museum of Art and ArtsWestchester, with support from the Westchester County Government.

Detail of immersive installation of monumental paintings, each panel with a single abstract form moving across a somber background. This image features the North, East and South walls.
Cleve Gray; Threnody (detail), 1972-73

Discover What's Now, What's Next and What's Neu!

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Visiting the Museum

Address

735 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, NY 10577

Driving directions

Temporary Parking and Walking Directions

Until repaving of the Visitor Parking Lot West 1 (W1) is complete, museum visitors are encouraged to park in Lot West 2.  Parking fees are suspended during the repaving project. A walking path from Lot West 2 to the museum is shown in red below. Additional spaces are available in the East Parking Lots (E1, E2, E3, E4, and E5), as shown on the map at this link.

Special Needs Access

The Neuberger Museum of Art is wheelchair accessible throughout the building, including galleries and restrooms. Wheelchairs are available without charge at the museum’s entrance. Gallery stools are available by request.

Please click here for a map to the drop-off point for visitors with special needs. To learn more, please call 914-251-6100 Monday through Friday from 9am - 5pm or 914-251-6117 on Saturday and Sunday from 12pm - 5pm.

Click here to report any accessibility barriers you experience on campus.

Hours

Wednesday, Noon-8 pm*
Thursday-Sunday, Noon-5pm
Closed Monday and Tuesday
*Fall and Spring Semesters

Gallery Closings

Infrequently, a private event may necessitate the closing of a particular gallery for a short period of time. Please contact the museum in advance of your visit to confirm if a specific exhibition of interest is available.

Admission

General Public - $5
Adults 62 and older - $3

Free admission on the first Saturday of every month

Always Free To:

  • Members
  • Purchase College students
  • Purchase College faculty, and staff
  • Children 12 and under
  • Members of reciprocal museums

As a proud member of the Blue Star Museum collaboration, the Neuberger Museum offers free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve, from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Tours and Programs

The Neuberger Museum of Art offers education programs which introduce visitors to American art of the 20th century, traditional African art and contemporary art through visitor-centered experiences. The museum staff develops and implements educational programs, under the umbrella of The Phillip and Lynn Straus Center for Education in the Arts, that serve diverse audiences and establish the Neuberger Museum of Art as a regional center for curriculum-based art education.

Tours and Groups

The Neuberger Museum’s docent educators welcome visitors and help them appreciate the art collections presented in our galleries. The art comes alive as you walk the museum with a docent and hear the stories behind the artists and works on view.

To arrange a guided or self-guided group tour, please contact the Education Department via e-mail or phone (914) 251-6110.

Adult Tours ($8 per person)
School Tours ($8 per person)

NeuKids Program

The Neuberger Museum of Art’s NEU Kids program fills an educational gap by providing field trips to the museum for close to 2,000 local children each year.  This includes waived admissions, round-trip school bus transportation, lunch, and guided tours with talented docents who bring the galleries to life! This program is fully subsidized for Title 1 and other qualifying schools.

Membership

The Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, is the premier museum of modern, African, and contemporary art in the Westchester and Fairfield County area. An outstanding arts and education institution, the Museum was conceived to serve as an important cultural resource to its regional, national, and international audiences, and as an integral part of Purchase College.

Children gather around an African artwork on a tour sponsored by donors.
A crowd enjoys an exhibition preview in the gallery.

Donate

Support the Neuberger Museum of Art by contributing to the Annual Fund! Your contribution makes the work we do at the Neuberger Museum possible. Your support allows us to continue caring for our world-class permanent collection, present acclaimed special exhibitions, and produce dynamic education programs. Gifts made to the Annual Fund are 100% tax-deductible within the limits prescribed by law.

If your company has a matching gift program, you can double and sometimes triple your impact! For more information, please contact 914-251-6114 or email nma.development@purchase.edu.

Thank you for your support!

About the Neuberger Museum of Art

The Neuberger Museum of Art is a center of teaching and learning for all stages of life.  Experience exhibitions of modern, contemporary and African art and art-inspired events in our Philip Johnson-designed building at the heart of Purchase College, State University of New York.

Founded in 1969 with a promised gift of 300 works by Roy R. Neuberger—one of the greatest private collectors, philanthropists, and arts advocates of the twentieth century—the Museum’s collection has grown to over 6,000 objects by artists including Milton Avery, Romare Bearden, Willem de Kooning, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Jackson Pollock.

Our signature biannual award, the Roy R. Neuberger Prize, recognizes the work of exceptional contemporary artists, continuing our founding patron’s dedication to supporting artists early in their careers.

Alongside our permanent collection, critically acclaimed special exhibitions draw local, regional, and international audiences to our galleries in Westchester as well as NEU SPACE l 42, our space in New York City.

Tours, lectures, and programs engage our broad and diverse community. On any day, you can see adults, families, K-12 school children and their teachers, and Purchase College students, faculty, and staff enjoying the museum.

At the Neuberger, appreciating art is active and interactive. Here, students, scholars, artists, and art lovers find common ground to experiment, question, and grow.

About the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art:

Friends Board members provide advice, counsel, and seek to ensure that the Museum has the support and resources needed to realize its goals.

The Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art is a 501(c)(3) organization founded to support the Museum as it fosters a diverse community where art thrives and people are inspired to engage with new ideas. This support enables the Museum to host events for our public and members, produce world class exhibitions, provide art education opportunities for underserved students, and be a cultural ambassador to all those who visit us.