SAMA Collections: Contemporary Art

Ocean

1976
Oil on canvas
78 x 116.5 in.

San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Brown Foundation

78.1280

The Museum’s contemporary collection reflects the richness and diversity of art of the recent past. Included are significant works by pioneering abstract artists of the 20th century, among them Hans Hofmann, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Philip Guston, Richard Diebenkorn, Alberto Mijangos,  Robert Tiemann, and Mark DiSuvero. Contrasting with these examples of modern and contemporary abstraction are figurative works by Philip Pearlstein, George Segal, and Manuel Neri, and representational views of urban cities by the photorealist Richard Estes and the Bay Area painter Wayne Thiebaud. 

The collection is also rich in narrative works that tell stories, including a recently acquired “story quilt” by the distinguished African American artist Faith Ringgold and provocative works by a host of painters, among them Derek Boshier, Robert Gordy, Ed Blackburn, and James Cobb. 

Many of the sculptural works in the collection were made from everyday objects. Examples include sculptures by Donald Lipski, Ken Little, and Henry Stein. 

The Museum is in possession of several significant works that address socially relevant issues.  Artists who work in this vein include Michael Ray Charles, Kara Walker, and the contributors to a collaborative sculpture known as the ACT UP Art Box:  Ross Bleckner, Louise Bourgeois, Mike Kelley, Simon Leung, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, and Nancy Spero.