The New Jersey State Museum in Trenton now presents “Recent Acquisitions: Fine Art.” The new exhibition presents some of the latest accessions to the Fine Art collection, many of which are on view to the public for the first time, including works by artists Robert Smithson, Cindy Sherman, Willie Cole, Melvin Edwards, Nancy Cohen, and Purvis Young. The exhibition is on view on the museum’s second floor Riverside gallery.

Since the establishment of the Fine Art bureau in 1964, the collection has grown to over 12,000 artworks that represent the museum’s commitment to broadening exploration of new narratives in American art history, while also highlighting New Jersey’s role in the context of a global art world.

According to the Museum’s Fine Art Curator Sarah B. Vogelman, “each of these newly accessioned works either addresses a gap or bolsters a strength in the museum’s contemporary holdings.” This includes the first acquisitions of works by important artists with New Jersey connections: Glen Ridge-born Cindy Sherman (b.1954) and Passaic native Robert Smithson (1938-1973); as well as Hillside resident Robert Duran (1938-2005) and Mount Holly’s Frank Dillon (1867-1954). Recently acquired works by artists Joseph Stella (1877-1946) and Purvis Young (1942-2010) build upon the collection’s strengths in American Modernism and Outsider art respectively, and expand the possibilities for understanding these movements within art history at the State Museum.

The New Jersey State Museum, located at 195-205 West State Street, Trenton, is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; closed on all state holidays. General admission is free. For more information, visit statemuseum.nj.gov.