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Neuberger Museum of Art

backstory50: Happy Birthday, Roy!

This past Sunday, July 21, was the 121st anniversary of Roy R. Neuberger’s birthday. This week it seems fitting to focus on one of the most wonderful sets of objects in the Neuberger’s collection, what we lovingly call the “Birthday Books.”

Display cases filled with artworks and letters for Roy R. Neuberger's 50th and 75th Birthday Books. Installation image of objects from the “Birthday Books” on view during the Neuberger Museum of Art's 2011 exhibition For the Love of Art. Additional objects from the books are now on view in the 1974-2024 portion of the anniversary exhibition, The Making of a Museum: 50 Years.For Roy’s fiftieth birthday, his wife, Marie, asked various artists to contribute a “page” to a book of greetings she was secretly assembling for him. In his 2003 memoir The Passionate Collector, which he wrote at the age of 100, Roy described the project as “the book I treasure above all others.”

Twenty-five years later, on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, a second Birthday Book was compiled, this time including artists that are now represented in the collection of the Neuberger Museum of Art, artists who had exhibited at the Museum, and artists who were then teaching in the Visual Arts program at Purchase College.

A selection of objects from the two books is currently on view in the 1974-2024 portion of the exhibition The Making of a Museum: 50 Years and in this online profile.

If Roy were with us today, I know he would be so pleased to know that the Museum has reached its golden anniversary and that our visitors are still enjoying the works of art he collected.

Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director, Neuberger Museum of Art

Orange square with a white border and large numbers 50 with small letters neu overlapping the top of the 5 and the word Years beneath

Watch for a new backstory every Wednesday and follow us on social media as we share stories about the Museum’s history, our evolution to the present day, and look ahead to our exciting future. Stay up-to-date with the latest news and “NEU 50 Years” updates on our anniversary webpage.