BUFFALO, NY.- Over the past few years the nationally regarded private collection of abstract art, including paintings, sculpture, and works on paper owned by Natalie and Irving Forman of Santa Fe, New Mexico has been gifted to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. In 2005 the Gallery exhibited many of the paintings and sculptures. This year’s exhibition will present an intimate look at more than 130 works on paper by 40 artists including Stuart Arends, John Beech, Erika Blumenfeld, Rudolf de Crignis, Marcia Hafif, Winston Roeth, and Mark di Suvero.

Works on Paper: The Natalie and Irving Forman Collection opens Friday, August 15 at 3 p.m. and continues on view through October 19, 2008. The opening program, Words on Paper: Readings by Artists from the Forman Collection with introduction by Susana Tejada, Head of Research Resources, will begin at 6:30 p.m. A selection of letters from the Forman’s personal archive will be read, revealing the couple's acute sense for acquiring the art of their time, as well as the close relationships they have built over the years with many of the artists represented in their collection.

With more than 150 paintings and sculptures and more than 150 works on paper, the Forman gift to the Gallery is the single largest gift to be donated at one time in the museum’s history. “This collection is especially remarkable because of its relevance and significance to our renowned collection of abstract art,” said Director Louis Grachos. “We are honored and grateful that the Formans have been so extraordinarily generous to the Gallery and the community.”

Natalie Forman explains that while their collective “sensibilities [are] very much tuned into the idea of area and space,” her own attraction to abstraction lies in “[the] moment where [one can] enter into [an artwork] and have a dialogue with it, without being told a story.”

Many of the works in this exhibition have graced the walls of the Forman’s New Mexico home. These are works that museum visitors are meant to spend time with and absorb, just as one might in a private home. The works evoke pause and reflection in the viewer, for they have delicate subtleties best appreciated after extended and repeated observation.

Throughout the past four decades, the Formans have cultivated relationships with many of the artists in their collection. While they did select many of the works intentionally, artists also gifted works to them for special occasions or as expressions of gratitude. Warmly personal, these works on paper are treasures that attest not only to the Forman’s collecting habits, but also to their kindness and generosity.

Curatorial Assistant Anna Kaplan worked with Natalie and Irving Forman to organize this exhibition.