The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center

Excerpt: Selections from the Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn Collection

About the show

In 2002, independent curator and art advisor Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn (Vassar class of 1989) opened Salon 94, an experimental project space devoted to emerging and mid-career contemporary artists. The 1,500 square-foot exhibition space is on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on the first floor of the home of Jeanne and her husband Nicolas Rohatyn where much of their own private collection can be found in the living quarters just upstairs from the gallery. Ms. Rohatyn, who studied Art History at Vassar College and went on to earn a graduate degree from New York University's Institute of Fine Art, became familiar with contemporary art at very young age. Her father is a prominent art dealer and her mother is an art educator who writes books on art, and as a result, she is completely at home with the notion of living with art. Ms. Rohatyn’s collection, which includes artist portraits of her and her family, reflects a personal connection to the artists she supports and reveals how her passion for art permeates both her private and professional life. In a recent interview about art collecting she said, “Regardless of which medium you choose to start with, the most important thing is to buy art that moves you.” This exhibition demonstrates her belief in that statement by featuring a selection of paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and videos by a wide range of artists working today. Artists under consideration include Barry X Ball, Huma Bhabha, Glenn Brown, Benjamin Edwards, Katy Grannan, David Hammons, Sarah Lucas, Julie Mehretu, Marilyn Minter, Wengechi Mutu, Aïda Ruilova, Laurie Simmons, and others. While the work shows evidence of a diverse set of social, political, ethnic, and intergenerational interests, it is bound together in this distinguished collection, which not only illustrates the personal preferences of an experienced collector with a well-trained eye, but also reveals a rare intimacy and deep understanding of the power of the art of our time.