The New Contemporary
Art Institute Chicago
December 2015 – Present
The intsitution's press release follows:
Today the Art Institute opens The New Contemporary, the unveiling of the largest gift of art in the museum’s history. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s the largest gift of art in the museum’s 130+ year history.
Earlier this year, collectors Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson gave the Art Institute the extraordinary gift of 44 iconic works of contemporary art, including works by Andy Warhol (nine of them!), Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Cindy Sherman, and Jeff Koons, among others. This transformative gift cannot be overstated—it makes the Art Institute’s contemporary collection the best of any encyclopedic museum in the world.
The museum’s Publishing department documented the gift with a catalogue that includes images of all of the works, an essay by Dittmer Chair and Curator, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art James Rondeau that situates the gift within the museum’s history, and a candid interview with Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson on their collecting strategies, relationships with artists, and stories about their incredible collection.