New Acquisitions In Context

This exhibition celebrates the generous gift of more than 50 remarkable works from the collection of Paul and Charlotte Corddry to The Baker Museum. For more than two decades, the Corddrys amassed an impressive collection of modern and contemporary art in various media. Including examples by American and European artists, the collection reflects the couple’s interest in the most significant trends in 20th and 21st century art, their relationship with some of the artists represented and an acute awareness of artistic styles, key movements and engaging content.

This eclectic yet cohesive body of work, which spans from the 1930s to the 2000s, juxtaposes such canonical artists as Robert Rauschenberg and Pablo Picasso with contemporary practitioners Marilyn Minter and Zak Smith, among others. Characteristic of the historical narrative of modern and contemporary art, these contrasts and correspondences are visually striking and at times provocative.

Important artists whose works define American art, such as Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, James Rosenquist, Helen Frankenthaler and Ellsworth Kelly, are included. Jean Dubuffet, Fernand Léger and Pablo Picasso are among the European avant-garde artists represented in the exhibition. The works of contemporary artists Marilyn Minter, Ed Moses, Philip Pearlstein, Larry Rivers, John Wesley and Frank Stella evince the Corddrys’ commitment to collecting artists whose works transcend the boundaries of traditional artistic discourse.

New Acquisitions In Context explores the connections between the works in this significant acquisition and important pieces that are part of The Baker Museum’s permanent collection.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.