"Modern American Realism: Selections from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection"
1999-09-24 until 2000-01-03
National Museum of American Art, Renwick Gallery,Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC, USA United States of America

After visiting several museums across the country, major examples of 20th-century American realist works are coming home to the Smithsonians Museum of American Art. The thirty paintings and four sculptures on view this fall from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection include works by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, Kenneth Hayes Miller, Ben Shahn, and George Tooker.

The Sara Roby Foundation was established in 1952 to encourage the creation and public appreciation of the visual arts and continues an active program today. Sara Mary Barnes Roby (1907–86) was born in Pittsburgh to a wealthy industrialist, educated at Vassar and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and was affiliated with the Art Students League from the 1940s through the 60s. She selected works by established artists as well as new talent, building a foundation collection of American art spanning over 60 years. In 1984 the Roby Foundation gave 176 paintings, sculptures, and drawings to the American Art Museum. Modern American Realism,an exhibition showcasing 95 of the works, was shown at the museum in 1987.

Sara Roby Foundation Collection and Edward Hopper: The Watercolors (Oct. 22 through Jan. 3) are the final exhibitions shown at the museums Old Patent Office home before the start of its three-year major renovation. During the renovation, eight traveling exhibitions will be shown at more than 70 venues across the country.>

The Sara Roby Foundation was established in 1952 to encourage the creation and public appreciation of the visual arts and continues an active program today. Sara Mary Barnes Roby (1907–86) was born in Pittsburgh to a wealthy industrialist, educated at Vassar and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and was affiliated with the Art Students League from the 1940s through the 60s. She selected works by established artists as well as new talent, building a foundation collection of American art spanning over 60 years. In 1984 the Roby Foundation gave 176 paintings, sculptures, and drawings to the American Art Museum. Modern American Realism,an exhibition showcasing 95 of the works, was shown at the museum in 1987.

Sara Roby Foundation Collection and Edward Hopper: The Watercolors (Oct. 22 through Jan. 3) are the final exhibitions shown at the museums Old Patent Office home before the start of its three-year major renovation. During the renovation, eight traveling exhibitions will be shown at more than 70 venues across the country.

Related Links:

Isabel Bishop

Yasuo Kuniyoshi

Jacob Lawrence

Ben Shahn

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of District of Columbia

Other Important Exhibitions in Washington