Get There First, Decide Promptly - The Richard Brown Baker Collection of Postwar Art

RichardBrownBaker(1912–2002)begancollectingworksbyemergingartistsinthe1940s,becomingoneofthefirstcollectorsto?embracebothAbstractExpressionismandPopArt.?Heeventuallyamassedacollection?ofmorethan1,600worksfromthepostwarperiod,?includingworksbysuchgroundbreaking?Americanartists?asJean-MichelBasquiat,ChuckClose,RoyLichtenstein,RobertMorris,JacksonPollock,RobertRauschenberg,andJamesRosenquist,aswellasEuropeanandAsianartistssuchasAlbertoBurri,JeanDubuffet,GeorgesMathieu,andKurtSchwitters.?BakerbequeathedthemajorityofhiscollectiontotheYaleUniversityArtGallery,andthebalancetotheMuseumofArt,RhodeIslandSchoolofDesign.Highlighting130works,thisisthefirstcompletehistoryofBaker'simportantcollection.Essaysbyrenownedarthistorians?contextualizeeachofthefivedecadesofBaker'scollectingefforts,whileentriesonindividualartistsillustratetheremarkablescopeofBaker'sholdings.Throughoutthepublication,firsthandaccountsfromBaker'sextensivepersonaljournalsdescribehiscollectingactivitieswithinthedynamicNewYorkartsceneoftheday.