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MoMA Announces Major Gift from the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

The Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art announced that it has received a major gift from the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, which will add more than 100 works of modern art by major artists from Latin America to the Museum’s collection, and establish the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Research Institute for the Study of Art from Latin America. The Cisneros Institute will be dedicated to an expansive approach to the study and interpretation of modern and contemporary art from Latin America.

The gift includes 102 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, made between the 1940s and the 1990s by 37 artists working in Brazil, Venezuela, and the Río de la Plata region of Argentina and Uruguay, including Lygia Clark, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape, Jesús Rafael Soto, Alejandro Otero, and Tomás Maldonado. They join 40 works previously given by Patricia and Gustavo Cisneros over the last 16 years; Mrs. Cisneros is a longtime MoMA Trustee and a member of several acquisitions and funding committees, including the Latin American and Caribbean Fund, of which she is chairman and founder.

The Cisneros Institute, to be located on MoMA’s Midtown Manhattan campus, will offer opportunities for curatorial research and travel, host visiting scholars and artists, convene an annual international conference, and produce research publications on art from Latin America. It is poised to become the preeminent research center in the field, building on MoMA’s history of collecting, exhibiting, and studying the art and artists of the region, dating back to 1931. Today, MoMA’s collection includes more than 5,000 works by artists from Latin America.

The breadth of this gift is unprecedented, and the accompanying research initiative devoted to the study of the works and their integration into the overall narrative of modern art will greatly enrich MoMA’s collection and scholarly activities. As an integral program of The Museum of Modern Art, the Cisneros Institute represents a singular commitment to the region, and will foster intensive research on and engagement with the region’s art and artists.

For more information and a full list of works, please visit: www.moma.org/collection/works/groups/cisneros

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Waldemar Cordeiro, (Brazilian, 1925–1973). Visible Idea, 1956. Acrylic on wood, 23 9/16 × 23 5/8″ (59.9 × 60 cm)

Geraldo de Barros, (Brazilian, 1923–1998). Diagonal Function. 1952. Lacquer on wood. 24 3/4 × 24 3/4 × 1/2″ (62.9 × 62.9 × 1.3 cm)

Willys de Castro, (Brazilian, 1926–1988). Active Object (Red/White Cube). 1962. Oil on canvas over wood. 9 13/16 × 9 13/16 × 9 13/16″ (25 × 25 × 25 cm)

Tomás Maldonado, (Argentine, 1922). Development of a Triangle. 1949. Oil on canvas, 31 3/4 × 23 3/4″ (80.6 × 60.3 cm)

Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt), (Venezuelan, born Germany, 1912–1994). Eight Squares. 1961. Painted iron, 66 15/16 × 25 3/16 × 15 3/4″ (170 × 64 × 40 cm)

Alfredo Hlito (Argentine, 1923–1993). Curves and Straight Series. 1948. Oil on canvas, 27 3/4 × 27 3/4″ (70.5 × 70.5 cm)

Judith Lauand, (Brazilian, born 1922). Concrete 61. 1957. Synthetic polymer paint on wood, 23 5/8 × 23 5/8″ (60 × 60 cm)

Raúl Lozza, (Argentine, 1911–2008). Relief N° 30. 1946. Casein on wood and painted metal, 16 1/2 × 21 1/8 × 1 1/16″ (41.9 × 53.7 × 2.7 cm)

Juan Melé, (Argentine, 1923–2012). Irregular Frame no. 2. 1946. Oil on composition board, 28 × 19 3/4 × 1″ (71.1 × 50.2 × 2.5 cm)

Hélio Oiticica, (Brazilian, 1937–1980). Painting 9. 1959. Oil on canvas, 45 5/8 × 35″ (115.9 × 88.9 cm)

Alejandro Otero, (Venezuelan, 1921–1990). Board 1. 1976. Lacquer on wood, 78 1/8 × 21 9/16 × 1″ (198.4 × 54.8 × 2.6 cm)

Lygia Pape, (Brazilian, 1927–2004). Untitled. 1956. Acrylic on wood. 13 3/4 × 13 3/4 × 3 1/8″ (35 × 35 × 8 cm)

Carlos Cruz-Diez, (Venezuelan, born 1923). Project for an Exterior Wall. 1954-1965. Painted dowels and synthetic polymer paint on wood, 15 3/4 × 21 3/4 × 2 1/2″ (40 × 55.2 × 6.4 cm)

Ivan Serpa, (Brazilian, 1923–1973). Untitled. 1954. Oil on canvas, 45 3/4 × 35 1/4″ (116.2 × 89.5 cm)

Jesús Rafael Soto, (Venezuelan, 1923–2005). Displacement of a Luminous Element. 1954. Vinyl on plexiglass and tempera on board and wood, 19 11/16 × 31 1/2 × 1 5/16″ (50 × 80 × 3.3 cm)

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and Glenn D. Lowry, Director, The Museum of Modern Art, stand next to Alejandro Otero, (Venezuelan, 1921–1990). Colored Lines on White Background. 1950. Oil on canvas,51 1/4 × 38 1/4″ (130.2 × 97.2 cm)

Glenn D. Lowry, Director, The Museum of Modern Art, and Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, in front of Raúl Lozza’s Relief N° 30 (1946) at The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Scott Rudd

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and Glenn D. Lowry, Director, The Museum of Modern Art, stand next to Hélio Oiticica, (Brazilian, 1937–1980). Painting 9. 1959. Oil on canvas, 45 5/8 × 35″ (115.9 × 88.9 cm)

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

Photo Credit: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

Photo Credit: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

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