Philip Guston, American, 1913-1980
Sea, 1980
lithograph
30 1/2 x 40 1/2 inches
Purchased with funds derived from a gift from the Honolulu Advertiser Collection at Persis Corporation, by exchange, 2004

Joseph Cornell, American, 1903-1972
Untitled (Penny Arcade Series: Christ Child Rabbit. The Star Game), 1964
mixed-media collage
11 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches
Gift of Jay and Wallette Shidler, 2007

Sam Francis, American, 1923-1994
Black and Red, c. 1950-53
oil on canvas
77 x 38 1⁄4 inches
Bequest of Betty Sterling, 2007

Michelle Holzapfel, American, born 1951
Black and White Bowl #2, 2003
carved and scorched wood
5 1/8 x 15 x 15 inches
Purchased with a gift of funds from the Greenberg Foundation and the Renwick Alliance, 2005

Christo Javacheff, American, born Bulgaria 1935
Corridor Store Front, 1966-68
graphite and mixed media assemblage
28 x 22 inches
Bequest of Betty Sterling, 2007

Junko Mori, Japanese, born 1974
Propagation Project, 2006
forged steel
12 1⁄4 x 14 1⁄4 x 18 1/8 inches
Purchased with funds given in memory of Dr. Alan Pavel by his friends and family, 2006

Jaume Plensa, Spanish, born 1955
Father, Mother, Brother…, 2004
mixed-media on paper
10 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches
Purchased with funds derived from a gift from the Honolulu Advertiser Collection at Persis Corporation, 2004

Alexis Smith, American, born 1949
Hell on Wheels, 1985
mixed-media collage
32 3⁄4 x 21 1⁄2 x 1 1⁄2 inches
Gift of Cade and Waileia Roster, 2005

William T. Wiley, American, born 1937
Mr. Nobody, 1973
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
71 1⁄2 x 43 inches
Purchased with funds derived from a gift from the Honolulu Advertiser Collection at Persis Corporation, 2003

Nineteen Going on Twenty: Recent Acquisitions from the Collection of the Contemporary Museum

The Contemporary Museum, Makiki Heights
May 19 ­ August 12, 2007

The Contemporary Museum will mark its 20th anniversary next year. When the museum opened in October 1988, its collection comprised less than 1,000 works of art. Now the collection includes 3,000 works of art--paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, ceramics, wood, glass, metal and fiber objects, as well as video works. TCM doesn't currently have galleries where it can continuously present selections from its collection, but periodically the museum mounts exhibitions drawn from its collection in the main galleries.

In the two years since the last exhibition of works from its collection, TCM has acquired through gifts and by purchase with donated funds over 100 works that have not previously been exhibited. Among these are some of the most important works to enter the collection. Looking ahead to the completion of new galleries for exhibiting TCM's permanent collection, the museum is offering Nineteen Going on Twenty as a preview of works that will be seen in ongoing rotation in those spaces.

Honolulu collector Betty Sterling bequeathed several works that are included in this exhibition. Foremost among these is Sam Francis' early 1950s painting Black and Red, in which the artist filled the canvas with veils of color organized into amorphous cell-like forms. Works by David Smith, Herbert Ferber, Pat Steir, Christo, Robert Motherwell, and Donald Sultan are also in the Sterling bequest.

Honolulu collectors Jay and Wallette Shidler have donated another important Sam Francis painting, a 1968 work from the artist's Edge Paintings series in which Francis moved all color and gesture to the perimeter of the canvas, leaving a field of expansive whiteness filling most of the composition's space. This gift is a wonderful complement to the Francis painting in the Sterling bequest, allowing TCM to show an artist's development over 15 years in two major paintings. Other gifts from the Shidlers include two collages by Joseph Cornell from his Penny Arcade series, bringing TCM's Cornell holdings to 27 works.

An anonymous donor has contributed two important works, a large photograph by Thomas Ruff from his Substrat series of brightly-colored amorphous abstractions, the first work by the contemporary German school of photographers to enter the collection; and a sculpture from her Internal DupliCity series by Maria Elena Gonzalez, whose work Nani's House was installed on TCM's lawn last year as part of the museum's Catalyst program.

Also on view in the exhibition are major works by Robert Hudson, Jose Bedia, and Alexis Smith donated by Cade and Waileia Roster; Georgia O"Keeffe's charcoal on paper Drawing II, a gift from The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation; Jennifer Bartlett's monumental painting and sculpture work House with Open Door given by Sharon and Thurston Twigg-Smith; two self-portrait works by Robert Arneson donated by Dr. Ed and Jeannine E. Bernauer, and Arneson's study drawing for Forged Earth, a gift from Sandra Shannonhouse, being shown with the final ceramic sculpture which is on loan from a private collection.

TCM's collection of ceramics, wood and metal has been enhanced by several works: Beverly Mayeri's ceramic sculptures The Toddler, a gift of the Peter G. Drewliner Trust in honor of Charles E. Higa; Nicholas Arroyave-Portela's ceramic Tall Zig Zag Form and Robert Butts' turned milo wood Tall Vessel, both gifts from Helen Drutt English; Michelle Holzapfel's carved wood Black and White Bowl #2, purchased with funds donated by the Greenberg Foundation and members of the Renwick Alliance; and Junko Mori's forged steel Propagation Project, purchased in memory of Dr. Alan Pavel with funds donated by his friends and family.

The exhibition ends with a group of TCM's acquisitions of works by emerging artists. Tam van Tran's Vegetarian Summer, painted in spirulina and chlorophyll on paper, and Jaume Plensa's mixed-media work on paper Father, Mother, Brother... were both purchased with funds given by the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation, and Yuri Masnyj's charcoal drawing Undertow, was a gift from Stephen and Suzanne Diamond.