MoMA to Show Abby Aldrich Rockefeller's Folk Art Collection
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City will host an exhibition featuring around 50 pieces from Abby Aldrich Rockefeller's folk art collection. Rockefeller, a founding member of MoMA alongside Lillie P. Bliss and Mary Quinn Sullivan, originally amassed the collection, which is now housed at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia. The exhibition will highlight notable works, including Edward Hicks's painting The Peaceable Kingdom. This event continues MoMA's exploration of folk art’s significance in early modernism, following its 2024 presentation of Lillie P. Bliss: Birth of the Modern.
Key facts
- Abby Aldrich Rockefeller was one of three founders of MoMA, with Lillie P. Bliss and Mary Quinn Sullivan.
- The exhibition showcases some 50 objects from Rockefeller's folk art collection.
- The collection is now held by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, one of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.
- Works from Rockefeller's collection were shown in the 1932 exhibition American Folk Art: The Art of the Common Man in America, 1750–1900.
- Several works entered MoMA's holdings in 1939 as a gift for its 10th anniversary.
- The exhibition follows MoMA's 2024 presentation of Lillie P. Bliss: Birth of the Modern.
- Highlights include Edward Hicks's painting The Peaceable Kingdom.
- Folk art was positioned as an important antecedent to modernism in MoMA's early history.
Entities
Artists
- Edward Hicks
Institutions
- Museum of Modern Art
- Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum
- Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
Locations
- New York City
- United States
- Williamsburg