Records of the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center

The Grey Art Gallery is New York University's fine arts museum. Its function is to collect, preserve, study, document, interpret, and exhibit the evidence of human culture. Founded in 1974, by the philanthropist and art collector Abby Weed Grey, it is located in the Silver Center building at 100 Washington Square East and 33 Washington Place. The gallery distinguishes itself by emphasizing art's historical, cultural, and social contexts, with experimentation and interpretation as integral parts of programmatic planning. Thus, in addition to being a place to view the objects of material culture, the gallery serves as a museum-laboratory in which a broader view of an object's environment enriches our understanding of its contribution to civilization.

The Grey Art Gallery and Study Center was inaugurated on April 9, 1975. It is located on the site of the original New York University building (1835-1892). Here, in the early years of the university, the nation's first university art department, headed by Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, was established. In 1927 Albert E. Gallatin, son of an NYU chemistry professor, established what is considered to be the first museum of modern art in the United States on the same site. Originally called the Gallery of Living Art, it was later renamed the Museum of Living Art. The museum's collection consisted of contemporary paintings and drawings by creative and progressive artists. It was closed in 1943 for economic reasons.

In 1958, the New York University Art Collection was founded with the acquisition of Francis Picabia's "Resonateur" (ca.1922) and Fritz Glarner's "Relational Painting" (1949–50). Overseen by the NYU Art Committee and its head, curator Ruth Bowman, the collection continued to grow over the next decade and a half with the aid of alumni, artists and friends of the university. By the middle of the 1970s, the collection consisted of over 2000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and photographs, with heavy concentration in modern art. It included works by such artists as Picasso, Leger and Hofmann. Many of the collection pieces were hung at separate locations throughout the university, with new acquisitions exhibited each year at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Loeb Student Center. However, due to the lack of available space, most of the artwork was kept in storage when not part of a special exhibition.

In 1974, Abby Weed Grey donated one million dollars for the establishment of The Grey Art Gallery and Study Center. Most of the donation funded construction of the gallery space. The remaining funds were set aside as a permanent endowment for the maintenance, display and exhibition expenses of the collection. New York University agreed to cover basic operating expenses in return. Mrs. Grey also donated a large collection of Middle Eastern and Asian art which she had assembled over the course of her life. This donation joined the New York University Art Collection, all of which was then housed in the newly established gallery. Mrs. Grey remained a frequent supporter of the gallery, giving another large donation in 1977 for the construction of the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center Library of Fine Arts, with the stipulation that selections previously donated by the Ben and Abby Grey Foundation would be constantly exhibited in the library.

Upon its establishment, the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center was administered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, with Kenneth L. Mathis appointed its first director and Joy L. Gordon serving as its first curator. The Gallery showcased large exhibitions in the main hall of the building, with smaller exhibits staged in the small gallery and the gallery windows. Many of its programs and exhibitions have been made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Humanities, and the New York State Council for the Arts. Among the more popular and unique exhibitions put on by the gallery are the Parviz Tanavoli exhibit of Persian art, sponsored by the Iranian government in honor of the American Bicentennial in 1976, and a series of exhibitions relating to AIDS in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In the late 1970s, administration of the Grey Art Gallery shifted to the Office of External Affairs. When External Affairs was disbanded in the early 2000s, the gallery was administered by University Development and Alumni Relations (UDAR), until being transferred to its current home in the Office of the Provost in the late 2000s.

Sources: 1. Grey Art Gallery, "History and Mission," accessed July 20, 2015, available online at http://www.nyu.edu/greyart/info/info.html. 2. Grey Art Gallery, "About the Collection," accessed July 20, 2015, available online at http://www.nyu.edu/greyart/collection/collection.html.