NEW ACQUISITIONS
Dwight H. and Sue Emanuelson:
Collecting for Columbia
the cultural life of a city. Dwight H.
and Sue Emanuelson are such patrons.
Over the years, they have given pieces
to the Museum that only collectors of
true sophistication could have acquired.
Their willingness, indeed, their desire, to
share their passion with this community
is genuinely inspiring, and we take this
opportunity to salute Mr. and Mrs.
Emanuelson for all they have done and
continue to do for the CMA.
Dwight H. and Sue Emanuelson
At the end of 2012, the Emanuelsons gave
five more works of art to the CMA, further
enhancing our modern and contemporary
collection. To date, the couple has donated
44 works to the museum.
Will South, chief curator
Great museums are made by great patrons.
Think the Getty, the Whitney, the Frick,
the Smithsonian and the Hirshhorn.
All marvelous institutions energized
and amplified by people of vision. The
Columbia Museum of Art is fortunate to
have its own devoted group of benefactors
who support the museum in a variety of
ways. Some sponsor educational programs,
some social events, some give generously of
that most precious of assets—their time.
Then, there are those who understand that
the heart of any museum is its collection.
Programming, whether it be classes or selfguided tours, is fueled by the excellence of
an institution’s holdings. The CMA is no
exception. Building a collection takes time,
money, patience and no small degree of
luck.
It also takes individuals who believe in the
museum’s mission and who understand
intuitively the value of a museum to
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Among the recent five are James Brooks’
#10, a salient example of the artist’s ability
to sustain complex color organizations. In
1949, having observed Jackson Pollock’s
drip style, Brooks experimented with
pouring pigment on the back of un-sized
canvas, and became much lauded for
his achievement in balancing between
spontaneity and control.
In 1953, he abandoned that technique
for much more densely packed, tightly
controlled structure resembling Cubism.
In the early 1960s, he added linear
calligraphy to his painting. James Brooks is
an important Abstract Expressionist painter
and #10 is a very fine example of his work.
This piece joins four other works by the
artist in the CMA collection.
Another gift is John Little’s collage,
entitled Oblique, from 1958. A painter
and textile designer, John Little is best
known for gestural works filled with
boldly explosive color that reflect the
influences of his teacher Hans Hofmann
and for his involvement with the Abstract
Expressionist movement in East Hampton,
where he moved in the late 1940s.
There, he purchased a run-down house on
Three Mile Harbor Road and frequently
visited Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner.
In 1948 he had his first one-man show in
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