In Depth: A Closer Look at MMoCA’s Permanent Collection

Overview

In Depth explores seven areas of strength within the Museum’s Permanent Collection. It features more than one hundred paintings, prints, photographs, mixed-media works, and sculptures.

The Museum’s Permanent Collection traces its origins to a major gift from Rudolph and Louise Langer in 1968. The Langers became active supporters of MMoCA’s predecessor, the Madison Art Association, in 1927, when they moved to Madison from the East Coast. Their gift to the museum four decades later included a large collection of works on paper, including an exceptional group of modern Mexican prints from the post-revolutionary period.

Through donations and Museum purchases, the collection has grown to more than 5,000 objects and became an important community resource. It reflects the interests of donors, the exhibition history of the Museum, and the guidance of the board, director, and curatorial staff. Works span the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and represent many important art movements and artists in the modern and contemporary traditions. In Depth takes a closer look at Mexican Modernism, Midwest Landscape, Postwar American Photography, The Found Object, American Pop Art, Wisconsin Surrealism, and Contemporary American Photography.