Art Institute of Chicago to Unveil THE NEW CONTEMPORARY Exhibition, Featuring 44 Masterpieces, 12/13

The Art Institute of Chicago will unveil on December 13, 2015 its unprecedented Edlis/Neeson gift, announced earlier this year, in an installation titled The New Contemporary . The gift of 44 iconic masterpieces, including works by such artists as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Cindy Sherman, and more, provides the focal point for the multidimensional installation of paintings, photographs, and sculptures that offers visitors a rich and innovative presentation of contemporary art and a new experience of the museum's exceptional permanent collection and the Modern Wing.

James Rondeau, Dittmer Curator and Chair of Modern and Contemporary Art, shared his view of the significance of the collection and its importance to the Art Institute, "From the antecedents of Pop in early works by Rauschenberg and Johns to its reconfigurations in the hands of later artists, the Edlis/Neeson Collection allows us to tell a fuller, richer story of contemporary art for our visitors, creating new energies and new narratives and doing so with works of art of the highest possible quality, importance, and beauty."

To celebrate the installation opening, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Kate Nesin and Museum Education Senior Lecturer Annie Morse will offer a public lecture on December 13, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., free with museum admission in Fullerton Hall. The Art Institute of Chicago, in partnership with Yale University Press, is also publishing a richly illustrated catalog of the Edlis/Neeson Collection featuring a thought-provoking essay by James Rondeau and in-depth interview with Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson.

Images: Andy Warhol. Liz #3 [Early Colored Liz], 1963. The Stefan T. Edlis Collection, Partial and Promised Gift to the Art Institute of Chicago. © 2015 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.