MoMA to Present ILEANA SONNABEND: AMBASSADOR FOR THE NEW, Begin. 12/21

The Museum of Modern Art will pay tribute to the legacy of the legendary gallerist and collector Ileana Sonnabend (1914-2007) with an exhibition of works that were shown in her galleries in Paris and New York from the 1960s through 1980s, revealing her extraordinarily prescient selection of new artists of the time. Ileana Sonnabend: Ambassador for the New, on view from December 21, 2013, through April 21, 2014, celebrates the Sonnabend family's generous gift in 2012 of Robert Rauschenberg's Combine painting Canyon (1959) to MoMA, and salutes Sonnabend's commitment to introducing groundbreaking art to the public. Works by some 30 artists, including Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Robert Morris, Mario Merz, Vito Acconci, Mel Bochner, John Baldessari, and Jeff Koons, will be drawn from MoMA's holdings and from other public and private collections, spanning a range of mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, video, and live performance. The exhibition is organized by Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, and Claire Lehmann, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art.

During a career spanning half a century, Ileana Sonnabend (1914-2007) helped shape the course of postwar art in Europe and North America. Both a gallerist and a noted collector, Sonnabend discovered and championed some of the most significant artists of her time. Among the many important works that Sonnabend owned is Robert Rauschenberg's Combine painting Canyon (1959), which the Sonnabend family generously donated to The Museum of Modern Art in 2012. In celebration of this extraordinary gift, Ileana Sonnabend: Ambassador for the New explores Sonnabend's legendary eye through selected works of art that she presented in her eponymous galleries in Paris and New York.

Renowned for her ambassadorial role in bringing new art across the Atlantic, Sonnabend was instrumental in introducing American Pop art and Minimalism to Europe and Italian Arte Povera to the United States. Sonnabend also sought out and supported some of the most noncommercial and challenging Conceptual, new-media, and performance-based art of the 1970s. The exhibition includes works by approximately 30 artists, including Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Robert Morris, Mario Merz, Vito Acconci, Mel Bochner, John Baldessari, and Jeff Koons. Ileana Sonnabend: Ambassador for the New reveals the astounding scope of Sonnabend's taste and salutes her commitment to introducing groundbreaking art to the public.

This exhibition is organized by Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, and Claire Lehmann, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture.

The exhibition is supported by the MoMA Annual Exhibition Fund.