In the century since its founding as a public institution, the Morgan’s collections have grown dramatically, deepening the core assembled by J. Pierpont Morgan and his librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, who became the first Director of the institution. This growth is made possible through the support of members and donors who expand and enrich the historical, artistic, and literary contexts of the Morgan’s holdings, and this exhibition commemorates a notable selection of purchases, gifts, and promised gifts made in honor of the Morgan’s Centennial. Ranging from the Middle Ages to the present, the Centennial acquisition highlights include two manuscripts related to the publication of Leonardo da Vinci’s Treatise on Painting; Renaissance and modern bookbindings of exceptional craftsmanship; an extraordinary group of manuscripts related to Queen Elizabeth I, Marie de’ Medici, Edgar Allan Poe, and John Coltrane; groups of photographs by Emmet Gowin and Frederick Sommer; and drawings by Parmigianino, Annibale Carracci, Cy Twombly, Helen Frankenthaler, Giuseppe Penone, and Bridget Riley.
Organized by John McQuillen, Associate Curator of Printed Books & Bindings.
A Celebration: Acquisitions in Honor of the Morgan's Centennial is made possible by the Sherman Fairchild Fund for Exhibitions, the Charles E. Pierce Jr. Fund for Exhibitions, and the Lucy Ricciardi Family Exhibition Fund.
Leonardo da Vinci, Trattato della pittura : manuscript, fair copy produced in the workshop of Cassiano dal Pozzo. MA 23865.
