Brooklyn Museum Hosts Pearlman Collection Art Exhibition

The show features over 50 works by legendary artists including Paul Cézanne and Amedeo Modigliani.

Updated on Oct. 24, 2026 in Fine Art

Brooklyn Museum Hosts Pearlman Collection Art Exhibition

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The Brooklyn Museum has opened an exhibition titled Cézanne to Modigliani: Gifts of Modern Art from the Pearlman Collection. The display showcases more than 50 works of art created by artists who lived and worked in Paris during the 20th century.

Why it matters

This exhibition provides a rare public look at the collection formed by Henry Pearlman, the founder of the Eastern Cold Storage Insulation Corporation. It highlights a significant personal archive that captures the aesthetic spirit of the early 1900s.

The collection features more than 50 works by various masters, including pieces from artists such as Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Henry Pearlman initially acquired his first Soutine painting for $825 in 1945.

The players

Brooklyn Museum

This is a prominent art institution located in New York City that hosts major rotating exhibitions.

Henry Pearlman

He was the founder of the Eastern Cold Storage Insulation Corporation and an avid collector of modern art.

The details

The exhibition, which previously traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, includes a variety of influential pieces by Parisian artists. Among the featured items are works by Amedeo Modigliani, who died at age 35, and Chaïm Soutine, who grew up as one of 11 children in his family.

1916: Amedeo Modigliani painted a portrait of Léon Indenbaum.
ca. 1918: Chaïm Soutine painted a self-portrait.
1943: Chaïm Soutine died.
1945: Henry Pearlman purchased his first painting.
October 24, 2026: The exhibition is currently open for public viewing.

Industry Dynamics

This exhibition follows a pattern set by the 20th-century Parisian art movement by curating works from artists who resided in the city during that era. It illustrates the growing trend of private collections transitioning into public institutional displays.

Visitors can view the works firsthand at the Brooklyn Museum following the collection's previous residency in Los Angeles. The exhibition provides the public with direct access to a significant private collection that spans several decades of modern art.

The takeaway

Art enthusiasts can use this exhibition to study the evolution of painting styles from the early 1900s through the mid-century. The collection serves as an educational resource on how private acquisitions can eventually broaden public artistic knowledge.