BALTIMORE, MD -The BMA is presenting an exhibition of 35 postwar graphics by some of the most significant modern and contemporary artists working in the United States thanks to a generous gift from Baltimore philanthropists Mary and Paul Roberts. Featuring works by Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns, Elizabeth Murray, and Barnett Newman, Front Room: The Mary and Paul Roberts Collection celebrates a group of prints, drawings, and photographs remarkable for its range and quality. The exhibition also honors the legacy of Mary Roberts, who passed away in November 2018. The exhibition is on view in the BMA’s Contemporary Wing April 3 through June 30, 2019.
“The Roberts were perceptive and intelligent collectors who built their highly refined collection over five decades,” said BMA Senior Curator of Contemporary Art Kristen Hileman. “We are immensely grateful for their generous gift that enhances the BMA’s substantial contemporary holdings, allowing us to deepen our representation of a diverse array of artists who have had enormous impact on 20th-century art.”
As long-time participants in the museum’s Prints, Drawings & Photographs Society and Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Roberts favored elegant compositions, bold uses of color, and works that pose questions about the nature of art and representation. Their holdings comprise works by esteemed artists from Germany, Mexico, and the United States and reveal the ways that some of the 20th century’s most influential painters, sculptors, and conceptual artists have translated their approaches and ideas in print-making, drawing, and photography. The exhibition includes artists who pursued a minimal aesthetic like Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, John McLaughlin, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, and Frank Stella, as well as contemporary figures who examine the intersections among artistic form, global politics, and personal identity, in particular Martin Puryear, Ellen Gallagher, Gabriel Orozco, and Glenn Ligon. Prints by A.R. Penck and Gerhard Richter—two of postwar Germany’s most acclaimed artists—are also among the works.
Front Room: The Mary and Paul Roberts Collection is curated by BMA Senior Curator of Contemporary Art Kristen Hillman.
General admission to the BMA is free. Special exhibitions may be ticketed. The BMA is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. The museum is closed Monday, Tuesday, New Year’s Day, July 4, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The BMA is located at 10 Art Museum Drive, three miles north of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. For general museum information, call 443-573-1700 or visit artbma.org
