The collection of over 60 works includes exceptional drawings by renowned 20th- and 21st-century artists, alongside photographs and sculpture

Washington, DC—The National Gallery of Art has received a transformative gift of over 60 works of art by more than 40 artists from longstanding museum benefactors Lenore and Bernard Greenberg. The centerpiece of the gift is a selection of 53 exceptional drawings that meaningfully enhance the museum’s collection of modern and contemporary works on paper.

One of the most significant collections of modern drawings ever acquired by the National Gallery, the gift includes superb examples by Vija Celmins, Willem de Kooning, Alberto Giacometti, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Franz Kline, Brice Marden, Bruce Nauman, Susan Rothenberg, Ed Ruscha, Shahzia Sikander, and Cy Twombly, among others. The gift also includes photographs by John Baldessari, Roni Horn, Uta Barth, and Hiroshi Sugimoto, and a 1929 wire sculpture by Alexander Calder, The Acrobats—expanding the National Gallery’s major holdings of works by this seminal artist.

This remarkable array of works comes to the National Gallery of Art from the private collection of Los Angeles–based philanthropists and art collectors Lenore and Bernard Greenberg. The Greenbergs have been dedicated supporters of the National Gallery for over two decades, both having served on the Collectors Committee—a members group supporting the acquisition of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery—for nearly 20 years. Lenore also served three four-year terms on the Trustees’ Council, a patron group comprising leaders in the worlds of art, philanthropy, and business that engages in discussions with fellow thought leaders and special guests from across disciplines.

“The works included in the Greenberg Collection are transformative for the museum’s collection, and will invite our visitors to experience a fuller history of art and creativity at the National Gallery,” said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art. “We are grateful to Lenore and Bernard Greenberg for their enduring support of our mission to serve the nation. With keen discernment and immense care they built an extraordinary collection which will delight visitors for generations to come.”

Among the highlights of the collection are:

• Bruce Nauman’s Dream Reaper (1983) is the first drawing by the multidisciplinary artist to enter the National Gallery’s collection. The monumental work is evocative of the artist’s irreverent neon wordplay sculptures but is imbued with grittier immediacy imparted by the dynamic gestural evidence of the artist’s hand in the execution of this layered mixed-media drawing.
• Two charcoal drawings by Susan Rothenberg are the first by the celebrated painter to join the collection. Untitled (1984) derives from Rothenberg’s continual exploration of the human form, rendered in her signature energetic mark-making and brushwork. The figure portrayed in Untitled [portrait with arm [Elizabeth Murray)] (1984) references Elizabeth Murray, a similarly inventive painter, draftsperson, and printmaker whom Rothenberg cited as an inspiration.
• Shahzia Sikander’s Predatory Systems 1 (2005) exemplifies the multidisciplinary artist’s masterful command of ink and gouache on paper and reflects an early chapter of her practice closely tied to her training in Indo-Persian miniature painting traditions.
• Ed Ruscha’s Study for “OOF” (1962) is a preparatory sketch for one of the artist’s most iconic paintings, OOF (1962–1963), at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The small but striking work will be the earliest drawing by the artist to enter the National Gallery’s collection, which holds more than 100 works by Ruscha.
• Two drawings by Philip Guston, Untitled (1953) and Dawn (1980), span nearly the length of the artist’s career and represent distinct phases of his practice. The first comes from an early group of abstract compositions created with reed pen and ink. Guston created the latter work, centered on the concept of mortality, shortly before his death, integrating familiar motifs he favored after he turned to figuration over a decade earlier.
• John Baldessari’s Civic Piece (1986), a multipanel work consisting of gelatin silver prints with oil tinting and gouache, is an important early example of the artist’s use of found photographs overlayed with painted dots to cover the faces of the people depicted. By obscuring their faces, Baldessari invites the viewer to consider the other elements of the image; this method became his signature style. Civic Piece holds personal meaning for the Greenbergs, as two figures who appear in one of the photographs are Lenore’s parents, taken when her father received an award for his civic service.

The Greenbergs’ commitment to the National Gallery reflects a family tradition: Lenore’s mother, Rita Schreiber, donated three important works to the museum in memory of her husband, Taft, when he died. These gifts—the Constantin Brânçusi sculpture Bird in Space (1927) and the paintings Woman Seated in an Armchair (1940) by Henri Matisse and Harlequin Musician (1924) by Pablo Picasso—have become cornerstones of the National Gallery’s permanent collection. Visited often by Lenore when she travels to Washington, DC, the works serve as a reminder of the vital role she plays in continuing the family’s commitment to philanthropy.

Press Release: The National Gallery of Art Receives Transformational Gift of Modern and Contemporary Drawings from Lenore and Bernard Greenberg

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For Additional Information:
Laurie Tylec
Public Affairs Specialist, Communications Office
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(202) 842-6355