Press

ALBANY, N.Y. - The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will become the latest world-class New York City art museum to join the Fleet Great Art Series at the New York State Museum, officials announced today.

An Art of Pure Form: Non-Objectivity and Its Legacy from the Collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will be featured at the State Museum from May 18, 2000, to July 20, 2000, in West Gallery.

"The addition of the Guggenheim as a partner to the Great Art Series brings a whole new arena of world-class art to the State Museum," said Mark Schaming, the Director of Exhibitions at the State Museum. "We are delighted to have access to their wonderful collection of great American and European masterworks. This is an outstanding complement to the already exciting schedule."

The exhibit created for the Fleet Great Art Series will feature about 30 paintings and sculptures, including works by Vasily Kandinsky, Alexander Calder, Paul Klee and Ellsworth Kelly.

"The Guggenheim has a great legacy as an institution devoted to non-objective art," stated Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. "We are delighted to share this legacy with the New York State Museum and to participate in the Fleet Great Art Series."

An Art of Pure Form, organized by Clare Bell, Associate Curator for Prints and Drawings, draws from the Guggenheim's renowned collection of non-objective art. The exhibit will explore the languages of form, color and line that comprise the various aspects of non-objectivity. Nonobjective art (also called abstract art) is a term used to describe works that have no recognizable subject.

"I am thrilled that the Guggenheim will be participating in our great museum series in Albany at the State Museum," said State Sen. Roy M. Goodman, R-Manhattan.

"The Guggenheim is noted for its extraordinary innovations and its superb taste in modern art, and we will welcome their participation in our very well-received series in the capital."
Sen. Goodman initiated these exhibits by encouraging the partnership between the State Museum and the great art museums of New York City.

The Guggenheim exhibit will follow American Folk Art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which runs from Feb. 11, 2000, to April 23, 2000. The Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art participated earlier this year.

The Fleet Great Art Series began in February after Fleet Financial Group donated $450,000 to the State Museum. The Hearst Foundation Inc. also gave the State Museum a $100,000 grant to strengthen the program, which includes educational workshops for both students and adults. The State Museum, part of the State Education Department, is committed to lifelong learning for all New Yorkers.

Harry M. Rosenfeld, editor-at-large of the Times Union of Albany, was also instrumental in assisting the State Museum. Additional support comes from the Times Union, WNYT News Channel 13 and Lang Media.

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