Nearly 800 works on paper by Polish-American artist Theodore Roszak were recently gifted to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) by the artist’s daughter, Sara Roszak, from the artist’s estate. “This generous gift will help Mia to tell a more dynamic story of modernist drawing and sculpture in the United States, especially because Roszak was a tireless innovator, open to new forms and techniques,” says Robert Cozzolino, Mia’s Patrick and Aimee Butler Curator of Paintings. Cozzolino, who specializes in American modernism, worked closely with Sara Roszak on the selection of materials for the museum and has long admired Roszak’s work. “Even though his approach and philosophy overlapped with styles ranging from constructivism and abstract expressionism to surrealism and realism, he always remained an independent.”
Theodore Roszak (1907-1981), Sammy, 1933. Ink on paper, 12¼ x 9½ in. Gift of the estate of Theodore Roszak. Minneapolis Institute of Art 2020.80.66. © Estate of Theodore Roszak/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
Among the items in this massive gift are a total of 727 drawings, 63 prints and three photographs by the abstract expressionist, who also produced many modernist sculptures throughout his career.
Cozzolino continues, “We are very excited to study and display Roszak’s works in dialogue with those by his contemporaries in our collection, including Alberto Giacometti, Henry Moore, George Rickey and Louise Nevelson. I am particularly interested in showing his late political and satirical drawings with works by a much younger generation. It is an important part of his career that is not well known.” —
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