VOLUME 12, NUMBER 19 • APRIL 6, 2001

Sculptures From MoMA to be on Exhibit at Rockefeller

Spring always brings changes to the Rockefeller campus. This year, in addition to blooms of many kinds, the campus community will welcome the installation of a dozen sculptures on loan from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The special exhibition, entitled "Sculpture from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden of the Museum of Modern Art," includes works by Scott Burton, Alexander Calder, Ettore Colla, Herbert Ferber, Bryan Hunt, Henry Moore, Claes Oldenburg, Eduardo Paolozzi, George Rickey, David Smith, Tony Smith and Mark di Suvero.

Among the sculptures that will be on campus are Claes Oldenburg’s Geometric Mouse, Scale A (above) and Henry Moore’s Large Torso: Arch (right).

"It’s wonderful in our centennial year to have the museum’s sculptures here on campus," says Rockefeller University President Arnold J. Levine. "From early on, the leaders of this institution understood the importance of creating an environment that would inspire scientists to think creatively. The presence of art on campus has always been a very important part of of expanding and enriching the intellectual and aesthetic life at Rockefeller."

The works on loan will be familiar from their previous installation in MoMA’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, which currently is under construction as part of the museum’s major expansion and renovation program.

The idea for the new exhibition, which will be installed in the next few weeks, grew out of discussions in the mid-1990s between then-President Torsten Wiesel, Life Trustee and Chairman Emeritus David Rockefeller, and MoMA Director Glenn Lowry about how the campus could be a setting for sculpture to expand the university’s long tradition of integrating the arts into the scientific community.

"I am delighted that this project, which Torsten and I have talked about for so many years, is finally being realized and in time to celebrate the centennial of the university’s founding," Rockefeller says. "Creative thinking and the arts have been central to the university community. I am proud that two institutions that have been so important to me and my family have collaborated on this exciting exhibition."

Over his 55-year association with the university, David Rockefeller not only has given numerous works of art (including the Frank Stella in Weiss and, more recently, a Joel Shapiro sculpture and a Chuck Close print) but he also has played a key role in developing and guiding the university’s art collections. With MoMA’s Alfred Barr and Dorothy Miller, David Rockefeller began to assemble an important collection of Abstract Impressionist paintings for the opening of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Hall, designed by Wallace Harrison in 1958. This collection——which includes works by Bradley Walker Tomlin, James Brooks, Joan Mitchell and Jack Tworkov——will be complemented by the exhibition of the MoMA sculptures.

In selecting which pieces to send to the university, Kynaston McShine, senior curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA, carefully considered the campus landscape, which was designed by renowned American landscape architect Dan Kiley.

"With our garden being closed, it allowed for the happy circumstance that very important works, especially of postwar American sculpture, could be loaned," says McShine. "Some of these reflect the university’s distinguished collection of American painting of that period. Other works have been chosen that indirectly connect to the fundamental endeavors of the university as well as doing justice to the extraordinary contemplative surroundings of the main university buildings."

Lowry adds: "This is a modest and timely gesture of The Museum of Modern Art to honor the centennial of another internationally renowned New York institution whose chairman emeritus, David Rockefeller, we happily share."

On Sat., May 19, at the university’s Spring Neighborhood Day event, Lowry will give a public lecture about the MoMA sculptures, which will remain on campus for 18 months. The day will also include docent-led art tours for the public and campus community. News&Notes will provide more information about Spring Neighborhood Day and the art tours in a future issue.