Raymond Loewy earned the nickname “father of streamlining” for his influential career in industrial design, shaping sleek icons of 20th-century America such as the Lucky Strike cigarette packet and the Art Deco shell of the PRR S1 steam locomotive.
Acquisitions
Library of Congress Acquires Portfolio of 681 Photos of US Public Libraries
There are over 16,000 public libraries in the United States, and although photographer Robert Dawson only visited a fraction — 526 over two decades — his series presents a diverse portrait of this community space.
Carnegie Museum of Art Makes its Provenance Accessible and Interactive
Label text rarely describes the life of a painting before it arrived at a museum, yet there’s a whole narrative of ownership in a painting’s journey from an artist’s studio to a static place on the wall.
The Exuberant Postcard Art of the First Bauhaus Exhibition
In 1923, a flurry of colorful postcards heralded the first major Bauhaus school exhibition.
Tania Bruguera Will Help NYC Provide Services to Undocumented Workers
In the past few days, Tania Bruguera has made numerous headlines once more, following the lifting of her travel ban and return of her passport in Havana, as well as major announcements supporting her work in New York.
Museum of Modern Art Acquires Iconic Rainbow Flag
The Rainbow Flag that artist Gilbert Baker created in San Francisco in 1978, and which has since become the icon of the Gay and LGBT Pride movements, has just been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for its design collection.
Toronto University Acquires Berenice Abbott Archive
Berenice Abbott was best known for being New York City’s official photographer during the Great Depression, though she actually explored a panoply of subjects during her six-decade-long career.
Philadelphia Scores a Standout Early Duchamp
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is already home to the world’s richest collection of Marcel Duchamp’s work, but it just added two very uncharacteristic pieces to its holdings.
Why Are So Many Museums Buying Christian Marclay’s “The Clock”?
The Boston MFA is purchasing Christian Marclay’s epic movie mash-up “The Clock” (2010) (recently on view in NYC) for $250,000. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art bought the piece in April, and there are rumors that MoMA plans to do the same. What’s up with this collecting fad?
MoMA Makes Statement By Acquiring Censored Wojnarowicz
The New York Times announced today that the Museum of Modern Art has acquired David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire in My Belly,” including both the artist-cut 7 minute version and the 13 minute full work. The acquisition pays testament to the work’s newfound significance after being censored from the Smithsonian’s Hide/Seek exhibition.