LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Hammer Museum announced today an important promised gift of almost 70 post-War works on paper by important international artists, including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, and Ellsworth Kelly. This gift, from the outstanding collection of Colorado-based Susan and Larry Marx, lays a foundation for contemporary drawing at a very high level, with works in today's market that would be impossible for a museum to acquire except through gift.

“This gift will be the cornerstone for the Hammer Museum ’s collection of contemporary post-War drawings, a solid foundation for decades to come,” said Ann Philbin, Director of the Hammer Museum . “We are delighted to announce this very generous gift from Susan and Larry Marx, which confirms their commitment to the Hammer Museum .”

This collection is founded on Abstract Expressionist artists, including important drawings by Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, and Ad Reinhardt, with groups of works by de Kooning and Guston that are particularly outstanding. Also included are a group of four paintings by Joan Mitchell and an early key painting by Eva Hesse. The collection goes forward with prime examples of works of artists, both American and European, associated with Pop Art from the 1960s, including Claes Oldenburg and Sigmar Polke. Drawings by abstract artists including Robert Mangold and Richard Diebenkorn are represented, including a particularly strong group of works by Brice Marden.

“Larry and Susan Marx have assembled their collection carefully and deliberately over many years, with passion and knowledge, so that each work is of exceptional quality and the collection as a whole is distinguished by its coherence and the richness of relationships between individual works,” stated Gary Garrels , Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs at the Hammer.

“Susan and I have always thought of our art in personal terms and a very important part of our lives,” said Larry Marx. “About a year ago Annie and Gary made the trip to Aspen to see the collection and discuss a gift to the Hammer. No other institution of the Hammer’s stature was able to come close to the case made to us as to how the collection would be utilized, and we are thrilled that the pieces they chose will end up there.”

Many of the works in this gift were first presented to the public in the exhibition From Pollock to Marden: Post-War Works on Paper from the Collection of Susan and Larry Marx in 2004-2005 at the Aspen Art Museum , where Susan Marx is a board member. Since then the collection has continued to develop with many notable works added by artists including Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Tobey, and Blinky Palermo. Neal Meltzer at Neal Meltzer Fine Art in New York has been instrumental in assisting with the collection.