Benefit preview of the renowned realist collection is on Friday, April 22
The New York Academy of Art is staging the first public exhibition of the renowned international collection of contemporary realist painting put together over the last twenty years by corporate lawyer Gregory Peterson. Peterson, who was also an early contributor to artcritical magazine, is a noted supporter of the arts; he is a trustee of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut.
The exhibition, titled Persistence of Vision, opens at the Academy’s Tribeca headquarters at 111 Franklin Street on Friday, April 22 with a gala preview reception from 6 to 8.30 pm. Tickets for this event are still available from the Academy.
85 works from Peterson’s collection are included in the show which has been curated by Peter Drake, the Academy’s Dean of Academic Affairs. These include a rarely seen work by veteran photorealist Richard Estes, who is a friend of the collector’s, and several portraits of Peterson, including one by the celebrated neo-classicist David Ligare.
Peterson sees a keen connection between the old masterly contemporary realists he collects and the teaching aspirations of the Academy. “The New York Academy was founded in the 1980s with the principal goal of perpetuating the tradition of training artists to produce figurative works of the highest quality. That is why I am so pleased to support the Academy by presenting highlights of my collection.”
The exhibition continues through May 8.
