Recent Acquisitions 2009 – 2016

February 4 – May 28, 2017

Reception:
Saturday, February 4, 4-6pm

Curated by Janice La Motta

Curator’s Statement

WAAM’s Permanent Collection was established in 1973 to collect and preserve the work of important artists associated with the Woodstock art colony. During its 43-year history the collection has grown to its present inventory of over 2,000 objects. Many of the works in the collection were acquired as generous gifts from private individuals, and many are from family members of the artists in addition to those purchased through WAAM purchase funds. The collection represents fine examples of works by important American artists such as Milton Avery, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, George Bellows, and Philip Guston, and has been recognized for its important holdings by curators and historians. Currently, three works by Bradley Walker Tomlin are on loan in the traveling exhibition Bradley Walker Tomlin: A Retrospective, and works by Carl Walters are included in the upcoming exhibition, Carl Walters and Woodstock Ceramic Arts, at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

Recent Acquisitions 2009-2016 highlights the gifts and purchases acquired by the WAAM Permanent Collection over the past eight years. Over 40 works that include paintings, prints, drawings, ceramic works and photographs are represented in the selections. Featured works include two floral still lifes and a landscape painting by Eugene Speicher gifted from the Estate of Frances Harris. Speicher (1883-1963) was one of the foremost figurative painters in America of the 1920s and 1930s. A Woodstock neighbor and friend of George Bellows, Speicher was an early founder of the Woodstock art colony and his work was the subject of a retrospective curated by Valerie Leeds at the Dorsky Museum in 2014.

One of of the highlights of the Recent Acquisitions exhibition is the work entitled, A Lion, 1947, crayon on paper by Philip Guston (1913-1980). What makes this work on paper especially appropriate for the WAAM’s collection is that the vibrant, animated drawing of the lion is drawn on WAA letterhead from 1947. The provenance of the drawing includes original ownership by the artist  and illustrator Howard Mandel. Guston is well represented by a selection of paintings, drawings and prints in the WAAM Permanent Collection and the specific reference and connection to WAAM in this drawing makes it an exciting addition to the representation of the artist’s work.

Recent Acquisitions 2009-2016 will also include the following historic and contemporary artists: Robert Angeloch, Marianne Appel, George Ault, Sally Michel Avery, Peggy Bacon, Lucille Blanch, Bolton Brown, William Hunt Diederich, Agnes Hart, Doris Lee, Eugene Ludins, Fletcher Martin, Anton Refregier, Hannah Small, Carl Walters, and Arnold Wiltz among others.