THORNTON WILLIS

Caught on Camera May 15, 1957: Opening of Contemporary Art—Acquisitions, 1954–1957

Many artists visited the Albright Art Gallery for theopening of Contemporary Art—Acquisitions, 1954–1957 on May 15, 1957, including Franz Kline, Philip Guston, and Robert Montherwell. The exhibition consisted of a group of forty works of art presented to the Albright Art Gallery by Seymour Knox, Jr. from 1954 to 1957. While the major emphasis was on modern American painting, there were also examples of contemporary work by British, French, German, Italian, Mexican, and Spanish artists. The exhibition also featured contemporary sculpture purchased by the Albright Art Gallery during those past three years. The six examples, representing the work of Americans, Italians, and British sculptors, were all created during the 1950s. Contemporary Art—Acquisitions, 1954–1957 marked a defining moment in the growth of the Albright Art Gallery and the state of art in the 1950s. The exhibition was broken into three main parts: gifts from Seymour H. Knox, museum purchases of contemporary sculpture, and loans from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Knox. “Taken as a whole,” wrote former director Gordon M. Smith in the exhibition brochure, “the three parts present an exciting survey of the creative spirit in art at mid-century.” Pictured are Franz Kline (American, 1910–1962) with New York, N.Y., 1953; Philip Guston (American, born Canada, 1913–1980) with Voyage, 1956; and Robert Motherwell (American, 1915–1991) with Elegy to the Spanish Republic XXXIV, 1953–54. These works, and many more from the Albright-Knox’s Collection, are currently on view at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art as part of Van Gogh to Rothko: Masterworks from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

Jack Whitten

Egon Schiele 

Sunflowers