MoMA Acquires Deborah Roberts and Mel Casas Works as MFAH Adds Géricault Study
This fall, the Museum of Modern Art welcomed two Texas artists into its permanent collection. On October 7, Deborah Roberts shared that her mixed-media piece, Have a seat, this may take a while (2025), measuring 125 x 55 inches and depicting a young Black girl, was acquired by MoMA. She described this acquisition as a "possibility" for aspiring Black artists. Later, on October 19, Ruiz-Healy Art announced that Mel Casas's 1973 acrylic work, Humanscape 68 (Kitchen Spanish), also joined MoMA's collection, marking his debut in the museum. Additionally, in 2026, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston obtained hundreds of artworks, including Théodore Géricault's double-sided study and Tamara de Lempicka's Her Sadness (1923).
Key facts
- MoMA acquired Deborah Roberts's Have a seat, this may take a while (2025), a 125 x 55 inch mixed-media collage on canvas
- The Roberts work is on view in MoMA's 53rd Street entrance lobby
- MoMA acquired Mel Casas's 1973 acrylic Humanscape 68 (Kitchen Spanish), his first work in the collection
- Ruiz-Healy Art announced the Casas acquisition on Monday, October 19
- The Whitney Museum of American Art acquired another Casas Humanscape, subtitled San Antonio Circus, shown in Sixties Surreal
- MFAH acquired Géricault's c. 1818 double-sided study for the Raft of the Medusa
- Eugène Delacroix served as model for a figure in the Raft of the Medusa painting
- MFAH's 2026 acquisitions also include a Medici-commissioned marble table, Joshua Johnson's Lady on a Red Sofa, and Tamara de Lempicka's Her Sadness [Sa tristesse]
Entities
Artists
- Deborah Roberts
- Mel Casas
- Théodore Géricault
- Eugène Delacroix
- Cosimo II de' Medici
- Joshua Johnson
- Tamara de Lempicka
- Ruben Cordova
- Mia Lopez
Institutions
- Museum of Modern Art
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Ruiz-Healy Art
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- Texas Cultural Trust
- Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
- McNay Art Museum
- Hyperallergic
- Glasstire
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Houston
- Texas
- San Antonio