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g I N T E R N A T I O N A L C O U N C I L|T 0 3 T T , N B W Y O R K 1 9. N .V . T I L E P H O N I : C I R C L B B-8900

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFriday, September 2 0, 1957N o . 2

AMERICAN ARTISTS WI N RECOGNITION A T S A O PAULO BIENAL

increasing int ernatio nal reco gnitio n for the achievements o f American artists i s i ndicated b y the announcement o f awards a t the IV Bienal d o Museu d e Arte MOderna o fS&o Paulo which w ill b e formally opened b y the President o f Brazil, Dr. JuscelinoKubitschek o n September 2 2 a n d remain o n view until December 3 1. Th e t o p acquisitiorprize o f 100,000 cruzeiros [approximately $5* ^0 . 00 a t t he official rate o f exchange,$1,260.00 a t t he free r a t e ] , offered b y t he Jockey Club of S & o Paulo, went t o the N e *York sculptor Seymour Lip ton , o n e o f eight living artists featured in the UnitedStates repre senta tion . A one-man show o f paintings b y the late Jackso n Pollock whichconstituted the other section of the American exhibition at the Bien al, although n o teligible for a prize since only living artists m a y compete, w a s awarded a special"hors d e conc ours " citation from the International Jury o f critics from sixteen different cou ntr ies . Other non-B razil ian artists honored b y the International Jury i nclude Giorg io Mora ndi o f Italy, winner of the main S & o Paulo prize o f 300,000cruzeiros; B e n Nicholson o f Great Brita in, wh o w o n th e prize for the best non-Brazilian painter; Jorge d e Oteiza Embil o f Spain, judged the best foreign sculptor; a n dJapan*e Yozo H amaguchi, best non-Brazilian printmake r. The only other one-man showbesides that o f Pollock t o receive special citation from the jury was Marc C hagall o fPrance, w ho with B e n Nicholson o f Britain wa s chief contender for t he SS o Paulo Prizereceived b y Morandi.

The S & o Paulo B ien al, first inaugurated i n 1931, is regarded a s the most important international a r t exhibition in the Western Hemisphere a n d i s rivaled elsewhereonly b y the biennial art exhibitions a t Venice . Forty-two countries from all over theworld, i n addition t o the P a n American Union, participated i n this year's event a tvhich China, Colombia, Costa R ica , Czechoslovakia , Hond uras, Poland, Sweden , Turkeyand the Un io n o f South Africa were represented for the first tim e. T he United Statessection unlike those o f other countries w a s n o t government sponsored b u t was organized a t the Invitation o f the Bienal authorities b y the International Program of TheMuseum o f Modern Art, N e w York a n d presented under t he auspices of the newly established internati onal Cou ncil a t T he Museum o f Modern Ar t. Porter A . McCray, Directorof the International Program a n d o f the International Cou ncil, under whose supervision the exhibition was o rganized, traveled t o Brazil t o conclude arrangements fo r

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N o . 2Page 2tae presentation of the exhibition and attend the inauguration of the Bien al. AlfredH. Barr, Jr., Director of the Museum Collections at The Museum of Modern Art, is also in Brazil serving in the dual capacity of United States Commissioner for theBienal and a member of the International Jury.

Following a press view on September 2 0, the Bienal wil l be officially opened atnoon on Sunday, September 2 2 by President Kubitschek of Braz il. Leading ministersof the Brazilian Go vernment, officials of the State and of the M unicipality of SSopaulo under whose patronage the B ienal is arranged, and ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives from the participating countries are expected to take part inthe opening cer emonie s. The United States will be represented by its Charge d'Affaires, Woodruff Wallne r, and Lawrence Mor ris, Cultural Att ache of the American Embassy in Rio de Janei ro.

Thirty-four p aintings and 2 9 drawings by Jackso n Poll ock, leading avant-gardeAmerican artist who was killed last year in an automobile accident, comprise one section of the United States repres entation . This major retrospective including manyworks by the artist never previously exhibited and lent for the occasion by his widowLee Krasner Pol lock , will travel to Europe following the closing of the Bi enal in response to a number of requests from institutions eager to show Pollock's w or k. Theother section consists of approximately five work s b y each of the pai nters JamesBrooks, Philip Gus ton, Grace Hartigan , Franz Kline and Larry Ri vers and the sculptorsDavid Hare, Ibram Lassaw and Seymour Lipton . The work of these young artists, allregarded as of parti cular significance in contempo rary A meric an art , has previously-been seen only in isolated exa mples, if at all, in international exhibitions abroa d.Selection of the wor ks of art w as made by Frank O'Hara of the staff of the International Program of The Museum of Modern Ar t, in consultation w ith Mr. Mc Cray; JamesThrall Soby, Chairman of the Museum's Department of Painting and Sculpture; DorothyC. Miller, Curator of the Museum Collections; and Sam Hunter, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpt ure. Seven museums in the United States and one inBrazil, as well as 2 5 private collectors, 5 art galleries, a university and one ofthe artists represented were lenders to the exhibition.

The United States representation at Sao Paulo is the first important projectundertaken under the sponsorship of The International Council at The Museum of ModernArt which assumed responsibility for the Museum's International Program on July 1this year. The Co uncil , a membership organization of art patrons and community lead-ers throughout the country, has entered into an agreement wit h the Museum and the

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rockefeller Brothers Fund, donor of the origina l grant u nder which the Internationalprogram has operated since its estab lishment in 1952. With the aid of continuingcontributions from the Fund and by dues from its members and other do natio ns, theCouncil will continue and if possible expand the P ro gr am ^ activities during thenext five-year perio d. In organizing the exhibitions it sends abroad the International Program wi ll continue to rel y heavily on the experience and staff of TheMuseum of Mode rn Art but w ill a lso p ursue the pol icy inaugurated durin g its firstfive years of enlisting the a id of other institutions throughout the United Stat es.

In accordance with an agreement for co llaboration in cultural exchanges signedbetween The Museum of Modern Art and the Museu de Arte Moderna, S&o Paulo in 1950,the New York museum has been closely associa ted with the Bienals since their inception. For the I Bienal in 1951 it organized a Selection Committee of experts froma number of museums in the United States and sent to Sao Paulo 12^ works of painting, sculpture and prints by 58 American art ist s. At the II Bienal the Museum itselfunder the International Pro gram organized the United States p articipation which consisted of a one-man show of the wor ks of Alexander Cald er, 52 pain tings , drawingsand prints by 16 artists and an architectural exhibition BUILT IN U.S.A.: POSTWARARCHITECTURE. In 1955 the invitation from the Bienal authorities wa6 transmitted byThe Museum of Modern A rt to the San Francisco Museum of Art which in cooperation withthe Los Angeles Cou nty Museum and with assistance from the InternationalProgram arranged for a showing at the III Bi enal of the work of 88 Pacific Co ast artists *

(See attached list s: 1. Lenders to the United States Representati on2 . Countries participating in the IV Bienal do Mus eu de ArteModerna, SSo Paulo, Brazil)

For further information call Eli zabeth Shaw, Publicity Direc tor, Museu m of Modern ArtU West 53 Street, New York City. Circle 5-89OO.

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University:PrivateCollectors:

f, LENDERS TO THE UNITED STATES ^PRESENTATION, IV BIFNAL DO MUSEU DE kktt MODERNA,SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, 19$7Museumst Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania? Dallas Museum of Pine Arts, Dallas, Texas; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York; Museu de Arte Moderna,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York;San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California; WhitneyMuseum of American Art, New York, New York.Collection of Washington University, St # Louis, Missouri.

Richard Brown Baker, New York, New York; Mr, and Mrs. Walter Bareiss,Greenwich, Connecticut; Mrs. Leo Castelli, New York, New York; ArthurCinader, New York, New York; Mr. and Mrs, Morton Feldman, New York,New York; Philip Goodwin, New York, New York; Clement Greenberg, NewYork, New York; Mr. and Mrs. Ben Heller, New York, New York; Mrs.Frederick W. Hilles, New Haven, Connecticut; Boris and Sophie Leavittof Lana Lobell, Hanover, Pennsylvania; Linda Lindeberg, New York, NewYork; Mrs. H. Gates Lloyd, Haverford, Pennsylvania; Mr. and Mrs.Peter Matthiesen, Springs, Long Island, New York; Mr, and Mr s. PatrickB, McGinnis, Boston, Massachusetts; Daniel T. Miller, Springs, LongIsland, New York; Dr, and Mr s. Fred Olsen, Guilford, Connecticut;Miss Katharine Ordway, Westport, Connecticut; Mr, and Mrs, GeorgePoindexter, New York, New York; Lee Krasner Pollock, Springs, LongIsland, New York;*Mrs, John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, New York;Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, New York; Mr. and Mrs. Albert F.Sperry, Evanston, Illinois; Joseph F. Smith, Summit, New Jersey; Mrs.Emily Walker, Ridgefield, Connecticut,*Penelope Potter, Amagansett, Long Island, New York;Artist; Seymour Lipton, New York, New York,

Galleries: Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, New York; Kootz Gallery, New York,New York; Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, New York; Stable Gallery,New York, New York; Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, New York,

II, COUNTfJES PAxtTICIPATING IN THE IV BILNAL DO MUSBU DE kiTE MODERNA, SAO PAULO,BRAZILNorth America ( 2 ): Canada; The United States of AmericaLatin America (16): Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica;

Cuba; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Haiti; Honduras; Panama;Paraguay; Peru; Uruguay; Venezuela(In addition a separate representation has been arranged bythe Pan American Union)

Europe ( 18) :

Africa (1 ) :Near East (2 )Far East ( 3) :

Austria; Belgium, Czechoslovakia; Finland; France; Germany;Great Britain; Greece; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands;Norway; Poland; Portugal; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland;YugoslaviaUnion of South AfricaIsrael; TurkeyChina; Japan; Viet Nam

Total: U2 , plus the Pan American Union