(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- On July 15, 2026, the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, announced a gift of more than 70 modern and contemporary works from the collection formed by longtime benefactors Anne and Arthur Goldstein. Spanning painting, sculpture, photography, and an exceptional selection of works on paper, the gift of art features established artists Tauba Auerbach, Darren Bader, Mark Bradford, Nicole Eisenman, and John Waters, alongside emerging voices, including Ever Baldwin, Troy Lamarr Chew II, and Lamar Peterson, as well as artists only now receiving broader institutional attention, such as Alice Mackler and Kunié Sugiura.
The gift builds on a decades-long relationship with the Zimmerli that began when Arthur Goldstein, a Rutgers Law alumnus, first visited the Museum in the late 1990s. Since then, he and his wife, Anne, have donated significantly to the museum, including works by Vito Acconci, Laura Aguilar, Lee Friedlander, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Rauschenberg, Collier Schorr, Cindy Sherman, and Hannah Wilke, many of which were previously absent from the collection. With now more than 160 artworks gifted to date, the Goldsteins have transformed the museum’s modern and contemporary art collection and expanded its ability to represent a broader, more inclusive history of American art.
"Anne and Arthur are visionary collectors who have long championed artists of color, women artists, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. This gift represents their enduring relationship with the museum and a remarkable synchronicity with the values that are at the heart of our mission to reflect the nation's most diverse public university," said Maura Reilly, Director of the Zimmerli Art Museum.
The Goldsteins began collecting contemporary art in 1992 during their travels, first focusing on photography before expanding into other media. Passionate and self-taught, they were largely guided by a dedication to supporting living artists, including many whose work preceded wider critical recognition. In addition to the Zimmerli, they have supported museums across the country, donating artworks to the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, among others.
“Art collecting has been one of our greatest joys. Much of the collection is a record of our travels and our shared commitment to championing undersung artists,” said Arthur Goldstein. “We view this collection as an achievement,” he continued. “The law has been a deeply meaningful career; collecting has enriched our lives in ways we never expected.”
With work by 65 artists across generations and disciplines, from canonical figures to rising stars, the recent gift encompasses a broad spectrum of contemporary practices. In addition to signature works by the artists above, highlights include:
* Mark Bradford’s Miss China Silk (2005), a four-part photographic series featuring Asian models with African-inspired hairstyles, mining the mutability of identity in the era of hyper-globalization;
* Troy Lamarr Chew II’s Corrlinks and Jaypay/Free My Dawgs (2021), a painting that blends references to Andy Warhol with a hip-hop lexicon;
* Untitled (1992) by Nicole Eisenman, a multi-figure mixed media drawing that explores power dynamics, persecution, and mob mentality;
* Juliana Huxtable’s iconic Untitled in the Rage (Nibiru Cataclysm) (2015), a self- portrait that challenges preconceived notions of identity, gender, queerness, and sexuality;
* Takeshi Kawashima’s New York M-33 (1966), from the artist’s series featured in MoMA’s landmark 1966 exhibition The New Japanese Painting and Sculpture;
* A rare double-sided trace monotype by Hedda Sterne, Untitled (1949), to which the artist added pencil drawing; as well as
* Signature drawings by Polly Apfelbaum, Katherine Bradford, Trenton Doyle Hancock, and Elizabeth Murray, among others.
Goldstein’s gift will be featured in the upcoming exhibition Mashup: New Acquisitions from the Zimmerli, opening February 2027. Amplified by other key acquisitions, such as a suite of paintings from the Alex Katz Foundation, the exhibition will foreground the evolving relationships new acquisitions catalyze across the collection.
Added Jeremiah William McCarthy, Chief Curator and Curator of American Art, "The Goldstein gift will form the conceptual spine for Mashup, where unexpected connections will emerge across time periods, mediums, and the museum’s collecting areas. Anne and Arthur’s gift not only expands the scope of our American collection but also enables us to represent histories, perspectives, and artistic lineages that were previously beyond our reach.”
Anne and Arthur Goldstein began collecting contemporary art in 1992. Works from their collection have been featured internationally, including the Venice Biennale (2015), the Whitney Biennial (2012), and included in major retrospectives for such artists as Mel Bochner, Rackstraw Downes, Nicole Eisenman, Dana Schutz, and Kara Walker. The Goldsteins’ photography collection has been the subject of two exhibitions organized by the Zimmerli: An Eye for Photographs: Gifts from Anne and Arthur Goldstein (2025) and A New Reality: Black and White Photography in Contemporary Art (2007), which traveled nationally.
Arthur Goldstein graduated with high honors from Rutgers Law School (J.D., 1973). He was awarded the Anthony Engelbrecht and Alumni Awards for Outstanding Scholarship, and he also served as an adjunct professor at Rutgers Law School—Newark. He has been affiliated with CSG Law and its predecessors as an associate, senior litigation partner, and now, of counsel, since 1978. Prior to his work at the firm, Goldstein served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is one of the largest and most distinguished university-based museums in the country. Its far-reaching exhibitions and public programs explore creative expression from antiquity to the present day, with a focus on underrepresented artists and overlooked historical narratives. The institution stewards more than 75,000 works of art across all media, with strengths in post- war American art, nineteenth-century French art and cabaret culture, Soviet nonconformist art, and global Japanism. As a teaching museum and public collection, the Zimmerli is a critical educational hub for over 60,000 visitors annually. Rutgers stands among America’s highest-ranked, most diverse research universities. Founded in 1766, it is the nation’s eighth-oldest institution of higher learning.
TOP IMAGE CREDITS (LEFT to RIGHT): Mark Bradford, Miss China Silk, 2005. Series of four c-prints, 14 x 11 in. Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Gift of Arthur Goldstein © Mark Bradford, courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth; Trenton Doyle Hancock, Miracle Machine #3 or the Destiny Drop, 2005. Graphite, ink, and acrylic on paper, 8 × 9 1⁄2 in. Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Gift of Arthur Goldstein © Trenton Doyle Hancock, courtesy of the artist and James Cohan, New York; Takeshi Kawashima, New York M-33, 1966. Acrylic on canvas, 68 x 68 in. Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Gift of Anne and Arthur Goldstein © Takeshi Kawashima. All photos © Bruce M White.
