The Hyde Collection on June 10 opened its newly constructed Feibes & Schmitt gallery.
The museum hosted a community day to celebrate the gallery’s opening, with tours of the museum, children’s activities, art projects, artists at work throughout the campus, live music and farm-to-table food.
The Feibes & Schmitt Gallery is the result of a donation made last year from Werner Feibes and his late partner, James Schmitt, who gave the museum their modern and contemporary art collection valued at more than $10 million, and a $1 million leadership donation to build the 1,500-square-foot exhibition space. The collection establishes the museum as a regional hub for modern and contemporary art, and greatly increases its educational and programming opportunities, said Hyde Collection Director Erin Coe.
“I have visited The Hyde Collection many times and know how important it is to our community’s culture, as well as to our local economy,” said U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik. “This new gallery will make the Hyde an even stronger pillar of our Glens Falls community.”
The celebration marked the opening of the Feibes & Schmitt Gallery’s inaugural exhibition, “To Distribute and Multiply: The Feibes & Schmitt Gift,” which includes more than 40 works from the collection, representing some of the twentieth century’s most influential artists, such as Jean (Hans) Arp, Josef Albers, Ilya Bolotowsky, Keith Haring, Grace Hartigan, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol LeWitt, Man Ray, Louise Nevelson, Pablo Picasso, George Rickey, Bridget Riley, and Andy Warhol, among others.
“The Feibes & Schmitt Collection establishes The Hyde as a regional must-see for Modern art,” Coe said. “Without traveling to New York or Boston, or even Montreal, there’s nowhere else in the region where you can see the works of the twentieth century’s most influential artists just down the hall from Botticelli, Rembrandt, Degas, Hassam, and Homer.”
“The Hyde Collection is a jewel which now shines even brighter with the addition of the Feibes & Schmitt Gallery,” said State Sen. Betty Little. “Past visitors to The Hyde will want to come back to see the new gallery and those who have never been here will no doubt be astounded when they walk through the doors and see the breadth and the beauty and the cultural impact of this remarkable collection of artwork. I am very proud that my hometown of Glens Falls has this to offer.”