collection

+ collection — Portland Museum of Art
 
 
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February 2 through April 28, 2024

Derrick Adams (United States, born 1970), This Could All Be Yours, 2020, inkjet and six color screen print on paper, 19 1/2 x 28 7/8 inches. Museum purchase with support from the Contemporary Art Fund, 2020.18. © Derrick Adams. Image courtesy of t
Der­rick Adams (Unit­ed States, born 1970), This Could All Be Yours, 2020, inkjet and six col­or screen print on paper, 19 1/2 x 28 7/8 inch­es. Muse­um pur­chase with sup­port from the Con­tem­po­rary Art Fund, 2020.18. © Der­rick Adams. Image cour­tesy of t
Tom Loeser (United States, born 1956), Chest of Drawers , 1992, mahogany, poplar, Baltic birch plywood, mahogany plywood, milk paint, and Delrin, 75 x 26 1/2 x 26 inches. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Gift of Samuel J. and Eleanor T. Rosenfeld, 20
Tom Loeser (Unit­ed States, born 1956), Chest of Draw­ers , 1992, mahogany, poplar, Baltic birch ply­wood, mahogany ply­wood, milk paint, and Del­rin, 75 x 26 1/2 x 26 inch­es. Port­land Muse­um of Art, Maine. Gift of Samuel J. and Eleanor T. Rosen­feld, 20
Paulina Peavy (United States, 1901-1999), Untitled (Smokies Series) , 1978, smoke on paper, 16 x 11 inches. Museum purchase with support from Christina Petra, 2023.23. © Estate of Paulina Peavy and Andrew Edlin Gallery. Image courtesy Luc Demers
Pauli­na Peavy (Unit­ed States, 1901–1999), Unti­tled (Smok­ies Series) , 1978, smoke on paper, 16 x 11 inch­es. Muse­um pur­chase with sup­port from Christi­na Petra, 2023.23. © Estate of Pauli­na Peavy and Andrew Edlin Gallery. Image cour­tesy Luc Demers 
Kathy Butterly (United States, 1963), PINKSCAPE , 2018, nail polish on catalog page, 10 1/8 x 8 5/16 inches. Gift of Tina Petra, 2023.12. © Kathy Butterly. Image courtesy Luc Demers
Kathy But­ter­ly (Unit­ed States, 1963), PINKSCAPE , 2018, nail pol­ish on cat­a­log page, 10 1/8 x 8 5/16 inch­es. Gift of Tina Petra, 2023.12. © Kathy But­ter­ly. Image cour­tesy Luc Demers 
Alfred Boucher (France, 1850-1934), Au But (The Finishing Line) , circa 1890, bronze, 18 x 26 3/4 x 15 inches. Bequest of Eleanor G. Potter, 2021.6.10. Image courtesy Luc Demers
Alfred Bouch­er (France, 1850–1934), Au But (The Fin­ish­ing Line) , cir­ca 1890, bronze, 18 x 26 3/4 x 15 inch­es. Bequest of Eleanor G. Pot­ter, 2021.6.10. Image cour­tesy Luc Demers 
Mary Ann Unger (United States, 1945-1998), Armature with Shells , 1994, etching and aquatint on paper, 23 x 18 5/8 inches. Gift of Geoffrey Biddle and Eve Biddle, 2023.13.2. © Mary Ann Unger Estate. Image courtesy Luc Demers
Mary Ann Unger (Unit­ed States, 1945–1998), Arma­ture with Shells , 1994, etch­ing and aquatint on paper, 23 x 18 5/8 inch­es. Gift of Geof­frey Bid­dle and Eve Bid­dle, 2023.13.2. © Mary Ann Unger Estate. Image cour­tesy Luc Demers 
Gordon Parks (United States, 1912–2006), Eldridge Cleaver and his wife, Kathleen with Portrait of Huey Newton, Algiers, Algeria, 1970, gelatin silver prints, 12 15/16 x 9 inches. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman L
Gor­don Parks (Unit­ed States, 1912–2006), Eldridge Cleaver and his wife, Kath­leen with Por­trait of Huey New­ton, Algiers, Alge­ria, 1970, gelatin sil­ver prints, 12 15/16 x 9 inch­es. Port­land Muse­um of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glick­man L
Pia Fries (Switzerland, born 1955), lochtrop , 2005, oil and silkscreen on panel, 78 3/4 x 102 3/8 inches. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Gift of Carla Chammas, Richard Desroche, and Glenn McMillan, 2023.8. © Pia Fries. Image courtesy Hans Brändli
Pia Fries (Switzer­land, born 1955), lochtrop , 2005, oil and silkscreen on pan­el, 78 3/4 x 102 3/8 inch­es. Port­land Muse­um of Art, Maine. Gift of Car­la Cham­mas, Richard Desroche, and Glenn McMil­lan, 2023.8. © Pia Fries. Image cour­tesy Hans Brändli 
Elizabeth Atterbury (United States, born 1982), 44 Flags 34 , 2020, chine collé and embossment, 30 x 22 1/2 inches. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Museum purchase with support from the Contemporary Art Fund, 2020.16.2. © Elizabeth Atterbury. Image
Eliz­a­beth Atter­bury (Unit­ed States, born 1982), 44 Flags 34 , 2020, chine col­lé and emboss­ment, 30 x 22 1/2 inch­es. Port­land Muse­um of Art, Maine. Muse­um pur­chase with sup­port from the Con­tem­po­rary Art Fund, 2020.16.2. © Eliz­a­beth Atter­bury. Image

There are more than 19,000 artworks in the PMA collection—each and every one of them has a story.

The Port­land Muse­um of Art has more than 19,000 objects in its col­lec­tion, and over the last decade has tak­en delib­er­ate steps to expand the nar­ra­tives it can tell through its art­works.  + col­lec­tion is a rare oppor­tu­ni­ty to view a selec­tion of the PMA’s most recent acqui­si­tions while gain­ing insight into the very basis of build­ing, main­tain­ing, and stew­ard­ing a muse­um col­lec­tion. On view from Feb­ru­ary 2 through April 28, 2024, + col­lec­tion high­lights the trans­par­ent and evolv­ing nature of the PMA’s Art for All mis­sion and how it impacts its gal­leries, exhi­bi­tions, and the museum’s artis­tic pro­gram as a whole. 

New works in muse­um col­lec­tions under­go a lengthy review process that often takes sev­er­al months or even years. + col­lec­tion fea­tures over 50 art­works that have come into the col­lec­tion via bequests, gifts, and pur­chas­es. Addi­tion­al­ly, the exhi­bi­tion inves­ti­gates these art­works’ many avenues into the muse­um and unveils the process­es crit­i­cal for inclu­sive col­lec­tion stew­ard­ship. By pri­or­i­tiz­ing the process as a crit­i­cal part of the sto­ry, + col­lec­tion enables con­ver­sa­tion around pri­vate and pub­lic col­lec­tions, pre­sen­ta­tion and care of art­work in pro­found ways.  
 
Many art­works added to the col­lec­tion have already trans­formed the PMA gal­leries. Extra­or­di­nary gifts in recent years—including more than 100 works from the Alex Katz Foun­da­tion as well as Judy Glick­man Laud­er’s promised gift of near­ly 700 photographs—have attract­ed glob­al audi­ences to Port­land to view works by Berenice Abbott, Martha Dia­mond, Diane Arbus, Richard Ave­don, Rack­straw Downes, Philip Gus­ton, Sal­ly Mann, Thad­deus Mosley, Sig­mar Polke, Robert Rauschen­berg, and many more. 
 
In explor­ing the rela­tion­ship between art­works and muse­ums, + col­lec­tion is a tes­ta­ment to the Port­land Muse­um of Art’s unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to growth, stew­ard­ship, and evolv­ing impact. With its diverse array of media and thought-pro­vok­ing nar­ra­tives, the exhi­bi­tion invites view­ers to explore the respon­si­bil­i­ties, and ambi­tions, of pub­lic and pri­vate art institutions.

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This exhi­bi­tion is sup­port­ed by The PMA Blue­print: Build­ing a Land­mark for the Future.