Special exhibition celebrates gift of Rhoda Pritzker Collection of modern British art

A special exhibition highlighting the collection of modern British art formed by journalist Rhoda Pritzker (1914–2007) is currently on view at the Yale Center for British Art.

A special exhibition highlighting the collection of modern British art formed by journalist Rhoda Pritzker (1914–2007) is currently on view at the Yale Center for British Art.

The collection represents a major gift to the center from the Libra Foundation, established by the family of Susan and Nicholas Pritzker. Featuring more than 100 works of art, mostly drawn from Rhoda Pritzker’s intensely personal collection, “Modernism and Memory: Rhoda Pritzker and the Art of Collecting”also includes loans from the Pritzker family, presented alongside more than 50 related objects from the center’s extensive holdings of 20th-century British art. The exhibition aims to offer a richer understanding of Pritzker’s collecting style while showcasing developments in the work of a number of notable British modern artists.

Born in Manchester, England, Rhoda Pritzker was a writer of witty and gritty journalism and as a member by marriage of a Chicago-based family of financiers and philanthropists, a contributor to many fields of American endeavor. She never lost touch with her British roots, however, which remain reflected in a singular collection of 20th-century British paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Though works in her collection span the 20th century, with objects dating from 1903 to 1995, Pritzker was committed to supporting the careers of emerging artists, and focused primarily on contemporary art from the 1950s and 1960s. In so doing, she captured early snapshots of the careers of some of the most significant British modern artists. Loyal to no school, and admiring both abstraction and representation, Pritzker acquired important works by artists such as Michael Ayrton, Prunella Clough, Alan Davie, Ivon Hitchens, William Turnbull, and Keith Vaughan. She also occasionally looked to earlier years, acquiring significant pieces from the beginning of the century, including Duncan Grant’s portrait “Vanessa Bell at Her Easel”(1914), Walter Sickert’s portrait “Carolina dell’Acqua”(1903–1904), and Gwen John’s “Seated Woman in a Broad-Brimmed Hat”(undated).

Sculpture in the Pritzker collection includes examples of small-scale works by some of the most significant British artists working at the time, such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, as well as early pieces by sculptors who would later achieve international recognition, such as Kenneth Armitage, Bernard Meadows, Reg Butler, Anthony Caro, and Eduardo Paolozzi. These sculptures, which include Anthony Caro’s “Corner Boy”(1956) and F. E. McWilliam’s “Seated Woman with Hat”(1953), exemplify Pritzker’s commitment to contemporary art.

Pritzker particularly favored Northern artists, and she amassed a selection of paintings by L. S. Lowry, Alan Lowndes, and Helen Bradley that evoke scenes recalling Pritzker’s childhood in an industrial conurbation and on the Lancashire coast. Five works by Lowry that Pritzker held most dear to her heart are showcased in the exhibition. These paintings depict the eerie emptiness of seaside and rural scenes and the isolated figure in which this artist, famous for crowd scenes, became interested later in his career. The exhibition juxtaposes these works with Lowry’s major oil painting from 1952, “The Market Place,”which itself exemplifies one of Pritzker’s favorite themes — scenes of everyday life represented with a sprinkling of humor.

“Pritzker’s collection has a rare and special quality in that she did not chase big names or objects, did not spend vast amounts of money, and never dogmatically adhered to any particular trend,” observed Ian Collins, independent curator, writer, and curator of the exhibition. “Rather, she put together a representative and quietly rich collection that tells a compelling story of art in Britain after the Second World War and reflects her own warm, idiosyncratic personality.”

About Rhoda Pritzker: Rhoda Pritzker’s accomplishments as an art collector grew from her colorful and storied life experiences. As a hard-news journalist covering the Great Depression in northern England in 1931, she developed liberal political sympathies. Early in the Second World War, given the threat of Nazi victory, Pritzker (neé Rhoda Goldberg) fled Britain with 1,600 other travelers on the “SS Scythia.” This group included celebrity passengers, such as Roddy McDowall and H. G. Wells, whom she befriended. Upon arriving in the United States, she worked in a department store and as a blackjack dealer while relaunching her career in journalism. It was in America that she was introduced to Jack Pritzker of the Chicago business family that made its fortunes in real estate, manufacturing, industrial services, and finance. After they married, Rhoda became one of Chicago’s leading social and philanthropic figures, forging close friendships with iconic influencers such as Eppie Lederer, better known by her pen name Ann Landers. She acquired the majority of the work in her collection on regular return visits to England.

The exhibition runs through Aug. 21.

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Betsy Kim: betsy.kim@yale.edu, 203-432-2853