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 1960's through the 1980's. 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 ...
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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 1960's through the 1980's. 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 Mir='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. Rockafeller, 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 CTzanne, van Gogh, Picasso, Mitisse, Mir=, 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.
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