ART-PRESENTATION: Embracing the Contemporary
The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents the exhibition “Embracing the Contemporary: The Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Collection”. The exhibition presents a collection which includes works by some of the most influential European and American artists since the mid-20th Century:, including Jasper Johns, Howard Hodgkin, Ellsworth Kelly, Jeff Koons, Brice Marden, Bruce Nauman, Gabriel Orozco, Charles Ray, and Cy Twombly.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archive
The exhibition “Embracing the Contemporary” presents a selection of 100 works from the Sachs Collection, reflecting their engagement with individual artists and the development of their collecting over time. A number of artists with whom the couple developed meaningful ties over the years are presented in depth, including Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, and Brice Marden. At the center of the exhibition is “Boy with Frog” (2008) by Charles Ray. The oversized nude figure extends his arm and holds aloft a captured amphibian, regarding it with a mixture of fascination and bewilderment that can be considered a metaphor for discovery. Among the large-scale photographs in the Sachs Collection are exceptional works by Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Clifford Ross, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, and Jeff Wall. Important examples of video and film work by: Francis Alÿs, Pierre Huyghe, and Steve McQueen are on presentation. Also included are artist’s portfolios, personal mementos, letters, photographs, and other items that document the history of the Sachs Collection. Among the works by Jasper Johns are a recent suite of paintings entitled “Five Postcards” (2011), and “Nines” (2006), an assemblage featuring the late ‘60s flagstone motif painted in red, yellow and blue, as well as “Voice II” (1982), a three-part, ink-on-plastic drawing. The exhibition reflects the variety and range of interests that distinguish the Sachs collection. It includes, for example, a work on paper by the Pennsylvania-born Abstract Expressionist painter Franz Kline, “Untitled” (c. 1956), which was among the couple’s first purchases. Also on view is the earliest work to enter their collection, “Portrait of Jean-Louis” (1947-49) by Louise Bourgeois, and one of the most recent, “Untitled” (2000-2013) by Peter Fischli and David Weiss.
Info: Curator: Carlos Basualdo, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Duration: 28/6-/9/16, Days & Hours: Tue, Thu & Sat-Sun 10:00-17:00, Wed & Fri 10:00-20:45, http://philamuseum.org
