SOUTHAMPTON, NEW YORK.- "Recent Acquisitions: Framing the Collection," an exhibition of new works from The Parrish Art Museum’s permanent collection, opened at the museum. Showcasing both gifts and purchases that have come to the museum within the past three years, the exhibition demonstrates some of the ways in which collections are built. Museum Director Trudy C. Kramer notes, “This group of remarkable works highlight the range and breadth of the museum’s collecting interests. We look forward to sharing these particular pieces that have enriched the institution and illustrate The Parrish’s ongoing commitment to collect and present works by artists who have lived and worked in the region.”

With a focus on donors whose ongoing gifts to the museum ensure the vitality of the collection and secure its future, "Recent Acquisitions: Framing the Collection" will present works by many well-known East End artists including Alice Aycock, Lynda Benglis, Nell Blaine, Oscar Bluemner, Peter Busa, Jimmy Ernst, Gertrude and Balcomb Greene, Lee Krasner, Paton Miller, Charlotte Park, Ray Parker, Clifford Ross, Esteban Vicente, Jane Wilson and Joe Zucker.

One of the works in the exhibition that will be of special interest to museum visitors is William Merritt Chase’s "Self-Portrait." On extended loan from Louis M. Bacon, this painting is one of numerous self-portraits executed by the artist and an example of Chase’s remarkable artistic legacy in the region.

Another one of the exhibition’s highlights is a recent gift by Parrish Trustee Dorothy Lichtenstein—"the nominal three (to William of Ockham)" (1963)—an important work by celebrated Minimalist artist Dan Flavin. Employing only commercially available fluorescent lights in his work, Dan Flavin (1933-1996) devised a radical new art form that circumvented the limits imposed by frames, pedestals or other conventional means of display. His use of the bare fluorescent fixture as an aesthetic object placed him at the forefront of a generation of artists whose use of industrial materials and elementary forms became the hallmarks of the Minimalist movement. "the nominal three (to William of Ockham)" exemplifies his use of the fluorescent tube as a basic building block.

Additional noteworthy pieces that have come to the collection within the past year and will be on view include "Sardinian Shepherd" (1953), a sand and plaster sculpture by Costantino Nivola; "Waterloo" (1965) a painting by Norman Bluhm that is one of an important series produced by the artist in the ’60s; "The Complete Works of Barbara Bloom" (1989), an edition from Bloom’s installation piece the "Reign of Narcissism"; and works by contemporary East End artists Matthew Satz, Michelle Stuart and T.J. Wilcox, all of whom participated in the Parrish’s celebrated summer exhibition "North Fork/South Fork: East End Art Now."

The exhibition opening takes place on Saturday, November 20 at 6 p.m. and features a discussion with two collectors—Barbara Toll and Lawrence Dubin—who will each discuss their passion for collecting and their recent gifts to the Parrish. Moderated by Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator, Art and Education Alicia Longwell, the talk will be followed by a reception in the museum’s galleries. Admission to the opening is free for museum members and $7 for non-members.

In addition, the museum will host an artist talk with Paton Miller on Saturday, December 4 at 6 p.m. Miller, who has lived in Southampton for more than 20 years and who worked in the South Main Street Studio of Fairfield Porter, will discuss his figurative, expressionistic paintings which often depict the exotic landscapes and people he encounters on his travels about the globe. For more information on the museum’s public programs, please call 631-283-2118, ext. 20.

"Recent Acquisitions: Framing the Collection" will be on view through January 2, 2005. The presentation of this exhibition has been made possible, in part, through generous support from The Cowles Charitable Trust.