The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is located in

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 25,033 at the 2020 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough ...

. The Aldrich has no permanent collection and is the only museum in Connecticut that is dedicated solely to the exhibition of

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

. The museum presents the first solo museum exhibitions by emerging artists, significant exhibitions of established and mid-career artists whose work is under recognized, thematic group exhibitions exploring topics in contemporary art and society, and newly commissioned work.

History

The Aldrich was founded in 1964 by Larry Aldrich (1906–2001) with the purpose of being one of the first truly contemporary art museums in the United States. Using money he raised from selling his own art collection (which included works by Picasso, Miró, Chagall,

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...

, and others), Mr. Aldrich bought an 18th-century former church and general store known as "Old Hundred" and converted it into the Larry Aldrich Museum. The museum was originally located in the historic "Old Hundred" building on Main Street in Ridgefield, Connecticut, constructed in 1783 by Joshua King and James Dole, two lieutenants in the Revolutionary War. During its history the building has served as a grocery and hardware store, a residence, a church, and now houses The Aldrich's administrative offices. The museum, whose original board of trustees included

Alfred Barr Alfred Hamilton Barr Jr. (January 28, 1902 – August 15, 1981) was an American art historian and the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. From that position, he was one of the most influential forces in the development of ...

Joseph Hirshhorn Joseph Herman Hirshhorn (August 11, 1899 – August 31, 1981) was an entrepreneur, financier, and art collector. Biography Born in Mitau, Latvia, the twelfth of thirteen children, Hirshhorn emigrated to the United States with his widowed moth ...

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...

, and Vera List, was renamed The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in 1967. To better focus on its founding mission to exhibit only the very newest art, the museum's board voted in 1981 to deaccession the museum's permanent collection. Mr. Aldrich stayed active and involved with the museum until his death in 2001, shortly prior to which The Aldrich's board of trustees, with their chairman emeritus in attendance, had voted to proceed with a major renovation and expansion. Groundbreaking took place in April 2003, and the galleries reopened to the public in June 2004 with a new name, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. The new building was designed by architect Charles Mark Hay, design principal at Tappé Associates, Boston, and is based on an abstraction of traditional New England architecture. The facility received a design award from the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

(AIA). In June of 2022, Amy Smith-Steward was named the chief curator of the museum, becoming the first woman to hold this position since its founding.

Exhibitions

The Aldrich Museum features works by national and international emerging and mid-career artists. Larry Aldrich said in a 1986 interview: "Almost all the well-known American artists you can think of have been seen here at early stages of their careers. Among them

Jasper Johns Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker whose work is associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and pop art. He is well known for his depictions of the American flag and other US-related top ...

, Robert Rauschenberg,

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York City. Biography Frank Stella was born in Ma ...

, and

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly is said to have influenced younger artists such as ...

." Additional notable names include:

Eva Hesse Eva Hesse (January 11, 1936 – May 29, 1970) was a German-born American sculptor known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. She is one of the artists who ushered in the postminimal art movement in the 196 ...

, Ann Hamilton,

Robert Smithson Robert Smithson (January 2, 1938 – July 20, 1973) was an American artist known for sculpture and land art who often used drawing and photography in relation to the spatial arts. His work has been internationally exhibited in galleries and mu ...

, Jack Whitten,

Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...

Huma Bhabha Huma Bhabha (born 1962) is a Pakistani-American sculptor based in Poughkeepsie, New York. Known for her uniquely grotesque, figurative forms that often appear dissected or dismembered, Bhabha often uses found materials in her sculptures, includi ...

KAWS Brian Donnelly (born November 4, 1974), known professionally as Kaws (stylized as KAWS), is an American artist and designer. His work includes repeated use of a cast of figurative characters and motifs, some dating back to the beginning of his c ...

Mark Dion Mark Dion (born August 28, 1961) is an American conceptual artist best known for his use of scientific presentations in his installations. His work examines the manner in which prevalent ideologies and institutions influence our understanding ...

, and Shazia Sikander. Recent notable exhibitions include ''Material Witness, Five Decades of Art'' by Harmony Hammond (2019); ''The Domestic Plane: New Perspectives on Tabletop Art Objects'' (2018); ''A Roll in the Way'' by Kate Gilmore (2014); ''Six Story Gathering Boxes'' by

Mary Beth Edelson Mary Beth Edelson (born Mary Elizabeth Johnson) (6 February 1933 - 20 April 2021) was an American artist and pioneer of the feminist art movement, deemed one of the notable "first-generation feminist artists." Edelson was a printmaker, book art ...

(2014); ''Underscore'' by Xaviera Simmons (2013); the first solo museum exhibition of

(2010); ''50,000 Beds'': A Project by Chris Doyle (2007); ''Velimir Chlebnikov'' by Anselm Kiefer (2006); ''No Reservations'': Native American History and Culture in Contemporary Art (2007); ''Cameras'' by

Tom Sachs Tom Sachs (born July 26, 1966) is an American contemporary artist who lives and works in New York City. Life and early career Sachs was born in New York City on July 26, 1966. He grew up in Westport, Connecticut, attending high school at Green ...

(2009); ''Under the Westside Highway'' by

Rackstraw Downes Rackstraw Downes (born 1939) is a British-born realist painter and author. His oil paintings are notable for their meticulous detail accumulated during months of plein-air sessions, depictions of industry and the environment, and elongated compo ...

(2010).

Education

In 1993, former director Harry Philbrick, while director of education, started The Aldrich Museum’s currently discontinued Student Docent Program. Student Docents from local schools were trained to lead their classmates through the galleries while discussing contemporary art and concepts like structure, content, form, symbolism, abstraction and metaphor. Students also got to see the installation process of the exhibitions on view and meet the artists. In an interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Philbrick said: "It begins to get them to think critically about the process—making the work of art and hanging an exhibition. They know there's a real live human being who makes these things, and can relate what they learn to a work of art." The program was adopted by museums across the United States.

Directors

* Dorothy Mayhall * Carlus and Ruth Dyer * Robert Metzger * Ellen O'Donnell Rankin * Barry Rosenberg * Jill SnyderWilliam Zimmer
"In Stamford, a Decorous Annual"
''The New York Times'' (April 14, 1996). Retrieved November 7, 2011. * Harry Philbrick * Alyson Baker * Cybele Maylone

Notable board members

* Alfred H. Barr, Jr. *

* Vera List * Ruby Lerner * Michael Joo

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, The Buildings and structures completed in 2004 Contemporary art galleries in the United States Art museums established in 1964 Buildings and structures in Ridgefield, Connecticut Museums in Fairfield County, Connecticut Art museums and galleries in Connecticut 1964 establishments in Connecticut Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in the United States