Modern and Contemporary American Art

Rockford Art Museum's collection of Modern and Contemporary American Art represents approximately a third of the entire collection.  The collection first started to develop in the late '50s and early '60s with purchases made in exhibitions such as 50 States/50 Artists and Art in Other Media. Over the following decades the collection expanded and kept pace with emerging trends thanks to a number of donors and purchases. In 1994, the collection gained a tremendous boost from the promised gifts of June and Francis Spiezer whose collection of Chicago artists represents the largest collection of Chicago artists in the region. In 2009, Rockford Art Museum will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Spiezer's donation. visit Spiezer Collection page.

Ed Paschke
Like Frankenstein's monster, Ed Paschke's work represents an amalgamation of persons. Through his early career in the late '60s and early '70s, he combined of various features of real people often from photographs, advertisements and observational experience with imagined flamboyant dress and exaggerated characteristics to serve two purposes. more...

Warrington Colescott
Internationally known for his trademark style of blending several printmaking techniques into one image, Warrington Colescott draws from a diverse range of pop culture influences and personal experiences to create each piece. Throughout his body of work, Vaudeville theater and burlesque shows, radio and early filmmaking (Westerns, B-gangster films, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers), as well as the pomp, rhetoric and violence of war (he served as World War II company commander), all make appearances. more...

Nicolas Africano
Chicago artist Nicolas Africano's work during the 1980s connects powerful, often singular, figures in dramatic compositions. These figures often appear isolated and confused, powerfully accentuated by monotone backgrounds and modeling the characters three dimensionally on the canvas. The viewer is compelled to look at the figure with no distraction from the background. more...

Phyllis Bramson
These works represent the second phase of Bramson's professional artistic career. During her first period, between 1973 and 1980, she created many mixed media doll-like sculptures with resemblances to many artists she knew personally and drawings using pastels, crayons, watercolors and collage materials. Entering into a new phase in 1980-81, her primary mode of working shifted to painting. more...

The Francis & June Spiezer Collection 
Rockford Art Museum expresses deep and enduring gratitude for the passionate vision and extraordinary generosity of Francis and June Spiezer.  In the 1970s the Spiezers became inspired patrons and collectors of emerging Chicago artists.  Their enthusiastic collaborations produced a definitive collection including many of the city's most important artists.  The gift to the Rockford Art Museum represents an incomparable legacy destined to enrich generations of viewers. more...

Local Artists
Rockford Art Museum continues in its long tradition of supporting and representing local artists in its collection.  The museum actively seeks out established artists in the community to add to its collection.  Furthermore, through the Rockford Midwestern Biennial purchase awards, in the '90s from Jessica Holt and from the Dean Alan Olson Foundation in the new millennium, have added to the museum's holding of local artists.

home | visit | exhibition | collection | education | support | museum store | calendar & events | contact