The North Carolina Museum of Art. Image courtesy of Flickr.

The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh has received a gift of modern and contemporary art from the collection of Jim Patton, the founder of a leading Washington, D.C., law and lobbying firm, and his late wife, Mary, an accomplished painter. The Pattons have had long-standing ties to North Carolina. Jim was born and raised in Durham and graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Mary grew up in Durham and attended the Woman’s College (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro). The couple’s passion for art and collecting began with Mary’s lifelong interest in painting and was rooted in their deep commitment to stewardship. According to a release from the museum, Jim Patton, said, “I am thankful we were able to collect this art and give it back to the world. I like the idea that these works that Mary and I enjoyed over the years will give pleasure to other people.”

The Pattons’ gift, which includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photographs, will significantly expand the breadth and scope of the North Carolina Museum of Art’s permanent collection. The donation includes works by mid- to late-twentieth-century American artists, including Milton Avery, Richard Diebenkorn, Helen Frankenthaler, Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Motherwell, David Park, and Frank Stella. The museum’s Board of Trustees accepted eighty-one of what will be a total of one-hundred works from the Pattons’ collection on December 10, 2014. Two pieces were given to the institution in 2013, and the remaining works are promised gifts to the museum and will be acquired at a later date.

Highlights from the Pattons’ collection include Avery’s Seaside Strollers (1963), a late, dream-like painting that alludes to the artist’s summers spent on Cape Cod; Untitled (1949), an early abstract painting by Diebenkorn, which features a patchwork of richly colored blocks; Frankenthaler’s luminous Captain’s Watch (1986), which was executed in her now-famous “soak-stain” technique; Kelly’s reductive Blue Panel (1980), which explores complex ideas of visual perception as well as pure abstraction; a collage by Motherwell entitled Royal Fireworks Music (1974), which bolsters the institution’s already strong collection of paintings and drawings by Motherwell; and Bus Stop (1952) a figurative work by Park, which exemplifies his disciplined signature style. A selection of works from the Pattons’ gift will be featured in a special exhibition titled The Patton Collection: A Gift to North Carolina, which opens March 28, 2015.

Linda Dougherty, the Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art, at the North Carolina Museum, said, “The Patton gift both adds additional works by artists currently in the collection and brings work by artists previously not represented. It enables the Museum to present a comprehensive picture of the significant trends and movements in modern and contemporary art.”