January 17 – May 24, 2025

The Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University presents Volume 2 of an exhibition in celebration of its 40th anniversary revealing a complete refresh for spring 2025.

The Big 4-0, Vol. 2: New Views of the Collection reimagines the Haggerty Museum of Art’s six lower galleries for the spring semester, presenting an entirely new installation of outstanding works from the Museum’s own holdings. The exhibition expands on collection favorites such as Keith Haring and Salvador Dalí paintings, with rarely seen works on paper brought out for the special anniversary. The show of modern and contemporary art contains distinct themes within each gallery such as artistic composition through chance, the role of personal biography, artistic use of commercial printing, and artistic creation following wartime.  

This spring installation includes the work of more than 40 artists, including Georg Baselitz, Ray Johnson, Ellsworth Kelly, Nam June Paik, Sigmar Polke, Andy Warhol, and May Wilson, as well as important early works by Louise Nevelson and Man Ray that have been newly conserved for this 40th-anniversary exhibition. In addition, many of the works in the spring show have also benefited from new research, shedding additional light on their creation, their display histories, and their importance to the course of contemporary art. Of particular importance is the recent discovery that Louise Nevelson's sculpture Distant Land was included in the artist's 1956 solo show, the first occasion when Nevelson painted all of her scavenged wood pieces uniformly black. 

The Big 4-0, Vol. 2 is the second of a two-part installation of the exhibition galleries. Vol. 2 features a completely new display to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the Museum’s collection. In combination, the fall and spring anniversary exhibitions feature more than 100 works of art. Both installations are curated by Dr. Kirk Nickel, Marc and Lillian Rojtman Curator of European Art.  

Support for this exhibition is generously provided by the Emmett J. Doerr Endowment Fund and in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Contributing Sponsors Betty L. Arndt, Grogan Family in memory of Katherine Grogan, John K. Shannon and Jan Serr. 

Thursday, January 16, 2024, 6 to 7 p.m.
Please join us for an opening reception in celebration of 40 years of outstanding programming. Register here.