"Rediscovering Slobodkina: A Pioneer of American Abstraction" will debut today at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, showcasing the work of Esphyr Slobodkina.
One of the first female American abstract artists, Slobodkina produced more than 500 works of art including the famous children's book "Caps for Sale."
Running through Sept. 6, the exhibit will showcase 66 works including paintings, drawings and abstract constructions made with dissembled everyday items.
Dulce Roman, the museum's modern art curator, said the exhibition was chosen to commemorate the recent purchase of Slobodkina's "Mural Sketch No. 1."
"The modern collection has so few works by women artists, making this an especially wonderful acquisition for the museum," she said.
Roman said the Harn lent the piece to the traveling exhibit before it could even be displayed in the museum.
The exhibition also displays a few of Slobodkina's major works from the 1940s including "Crossroad No. 2," on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
In 2002, two years before her death at the age of 93, Slobodkina established the Slobodkina Foundation to showcase her works. The touring exhibit is organized by the foundation in conjunction with the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, N.Y.
The first guided tour of the exhibit will take place Sunday at 2 p.m., followed by a more formal lecture on the life and works of Slobodkina.
