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Title A curator's quest : building the collection of painting and sculpture of the Museum of Modern Art, 1967-1988 / William Rubin ; foreword by Ronald S. Lauder ; preface by Richard E. Oldenburg ; introduction by Phyllis Hattis Rubin.
Publication Info. New York ; London : Overlook Duckworth, ©2011.
Edition 1st ed.

Location Call No. Status Notes
 Purdy-Kresge Library Oversize  N 620 .M9 R83 2011    CHECKED IN
Description 621 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 28 cm
text txt rdacontent
unmediated n rdamedia
volume nc rdacarrier
Note "With 'The pioneers of modernism' by William Rubin-- eight lectures presented at Sotheby's, New York."
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 607-611) and index.
Summary "The distinguished curator, critic, collector, art historian, and teacher William Rubin was a forceful presence for over two decades at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) from the late 1960s through the 1980s. He was extraordinarily successful at acquiring for the collection such monuments of modern art as Pollock's One: Number 31, 1950 and Picasso's 1914 sheet-metal Guitar. The exhibitions he mounted as Chief Curator and later Director of the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum-among them the unprecedented Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective-set a standard of curatorial excellence. A Curator's Quest is the story of the professional life of a pioneering curator who built the Modern's unparalleled collection, and a history of MoMA itself during that key period. A Curator's Quest begins with Rubin's account of his life in art, including early influences, his arrival at the Museum to work with its founding director Alfred H. Barr, Jr., and recollections of the challenges and accomplishments during his tenure. Rubin writes about his notable exhibitions such as Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage; Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism; and "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art (organized with Kirk Varnedoe, who would become Rubin's successor). With a distinctive style, he provides rare insights into his acquisitions, including Klimt's Hope II, Klee's Mask of Fear, and Miro's Birth of the World, and into his relationships with such distinguished collectors as Sidney Janis, Florene May Schoenborn, William S. Paley, David Rockefeller, Nelson A. Rockefeller, the architect Gordon Bunschaft, Ben Heller, and Ronald S. Lauder. The heart of the book is magnificent plate section with full-color images of nearly 250 of Rubin's major acquisitions. From Cezanne, van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse, Miro, Mondrian, Pollock, de Kooning, and Rothko to Lichtenstein and Warhol, the range and depth of the works acquired made an undeniable impact on the Museum and the world of modern art. Rubin's considerable expansion of MoMA's collection of Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism was enhanced by important works by the next generation of artists, such as Rauschenberg, Johns, Serra, and Stella. The book concludes with Rubin's series of art history lectures, "The Pioneers of Modernism," presented at Sotheby's in 1997 and 1998"--Jacket.
Contents Foreword / Ronald S. Lauder -- Preface / Richard E. Oldenburg -- Introduction and Acknowledgements: The Shaping of a Professional Memoir / Phyllis Hattis Rubin -- A Curator's Quest / William Rubin -- Notes to the Text -- Plates: Key Acquisitions for the Museum of Modern Art -- The Pioneers of Modernism / William Rubin.
Subject Rubin, William, 1927-2006.
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) -- Biography.
Art museum curators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Biography.
Added Author Rubin, William, 1927-2006. Pioneers of modernism.
Added Title Pioneers of modernism.
Standard No. 796202371 828770474 829316088
ISBN 9781590201176 (U.S.) : $100.00
1590201175 (U.S.)
9781468300772 (UK)
1468300776 (UK)
9780715639818 (UK)
0715639811 (UK)
OCLC # 548596906
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