1977/Art/New Museum

Marcia Tucker, April 11, 1940 – October 17, 2006

Marcia Tucker founded the New Museum (of Contemporary Art) on 1 January 1977. The impetus for doing so was her firing from role of curator of painting and sculpture at the Whitney Museum of American Art. A role she had held since 1967(9?).
The circumstances that led to her dismissal was Tucker's final curatorial gig at the Whitney. The now infamous Richard Tuttle exhibition, in 1975. The art critic Hilton Kramer (among others) then writing for the New York Times, gave the exhibition such a scathing review that the Whitney was eventually forced to give Tucker the sack.

The New Museum's inaugral exhibition was 'Memory'. Curated by Marcia Tucker and the New Museum. It was held at C Space, 81 Leonard St, New York, NY. According to the New Museum, "The exhibition reflected on connections between personal and collective memory, [and was] a meditation on the function of the museum and the making of cultural history."

Memory

A reconstruction: 'Memory: at C-Space Catalog'

Hilton Kramer's infamous article
Hilton Kramer

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External Links

Marcia's archives: (93.51 Linear Feet (205 boxes, 3 flat file folders))

Marcia Tucker papers: at the Getty Research Institute

Marcia Tucker, 66, Founder of a Radical Art Museum, Dies By ROBERTA SMITH OCT. 19, 2006

THE WHITNEY CONTEMPORARY by Jerry Saltz

Memory: at C Space

Rhizome.org has been affiliated with the New Museum since 2003.

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