The UBS Art Gallery

Max Velthuijs Frog and the Stranger, 1993 Ink and Gouache

Internationally acclaimed illustrators Dick Bruna, Fiep Westendorp and Max Velthuijs employ distinctive styles and clever narratives in their picture book art. Bright primary colors and boldly contoured forms are hallmarks of Dick Bruna’s work. In Miffy at the Museum (1997), Bruna’s most famous character is shown gazing at the work of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, whose abstract minimalism has influenced Bruna’s illustrations. The work of Max Velthuijs features harmonious and simple compositions. In Frog and the Stranger (1993), the bright palette and clearly defined forms set a lighthearted and cheerful tone. Fiep Westendorp uses strong graphics and iconic silhouettes in her whimsical and humorous collages of the young troublemakers Jip and Janneke.

Dick Bruna Miffy at the Museum, 1997 Collage and ink on paper Mercis bv

Fiep Westendorp Summer, 1979 Mixed Media Fiep Westendorp Foundation

Works on view by Dieter and Ingrid Schubert, Hans de Beer, Annemarie van Haeringen, Philip Hopman, Yvonne Jagtenberg, Ceseli Joephus Jitta and Thé Tjong-Khing depict scenes of fantastical and everyday adventures. The Schuberts’ impressionistic watercolor illustrations show anthropomorphic creatures exploring their environment, allowing a glimpse into the secret lives of animals. Hans de Beer employs light and shadow for dramatic effect and captures the mysterious and frightening aspects of exploration in Alexander the Great (2000), the tale of a brave mouse challenging a menacing cat.

Dieter and Ingrid Schubert My Hero, 2004 Pencil and watercolor

Hans de Beer Alexander the Great, 2000 Pencil, ink and watercolor NordSud Verlag AG

Creative depictions of physical movement often appear in the illustrations of Friso Henstra, Jan Jutte and Sylvia Weve, who create characters and scenes brimming with energy and activity. Friso Henstra’s Mighty Mizzling Mouse (1983) pictures a crowd of people, an alligator, an ostrich and other beasts running across the page in a moment of spontaneous and frenetic action. Jan Jutte’s comic strip style images are also often packed with figures in motion. In Get Up! (1998), Jutte juxtaposes the kicking, yelling and prodding of two small boys against the tranquility of the elephant they are attempting to rouse.

Friso Henstra Mighty Mizzling Mouse, 1983 Watercolor and ink

Jan Jutte Get Up!, 1998 Mixed Media

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA is the first full-scale museum in America devoted to exploring the role of visual art in children’s literature from around the world. Founded in part by Eric Carle, the renowned author and illustrator of more than 70 books printed in 30 languages, including the 1969 classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the non-profit Museum offers exhibitions and programming that foster connections between visual and verbal literacy and that provide visitors of all ages and backgrounds with the opportunity to explore their own creativity and the confidence to appreciate and enjoy art of every kind. The Museum houses three galleries dedicated to rotating exhibitions of picture book art, as well as a hands-on art studio, reading library, auditorium, café and museum shop.

This exhibition has been made possible in part by generous support from UBS, and by a grant from the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam. Additional support has been received from The Consulate General of The Netherlands in New York and the Foundation of Production and Translation of Dutch Literature.

UBS has a longstanding and ongoing commitment to the support of the arts and culture. UBS sponsors four exhibitions each year in The UBS Art Gallery, located in the lobby of its building at 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York City. Through its exhibition program, the Gallery offers non-profit arts and cultural organizations a midtown Manhattan exhibition space and the opportunity to introduce their programs to a new audience. The UBS Art Gallery enables many institutions to organize and mount exhibitions that might not otherwise be seen. These exhibitions encourage interest in the arts among the hundreds of employees, clients and members of the general public who pass through the UBS building each day.

UBS also has its own art collection. Recognized internationally as one of the most important corporate collections of contemporary art, The UBS Art Collection comprises more than 900 paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures by many of the world's leading artists from 1950 to the present. UBS is proud of this heritage of collecting and embraces the Collection as a treasure to be shared with our employees, clients, shareholders and other individuals passionate about art through international loans and tours of selected works. The firm recently announced a dynamic three-year partnership with Tate Modern. The partnership, which officially launches in May 2006, will enable the Tate to rehang its permanent Collection for the first time since it opened in 2000. In addition, Tate Modern curators are to be given access to works from The UBS Art Collection for a special series of featured displays that will complement and strengthen the gallery’s own permanent Collection. A major exhibition of selected works from the Collection was recently on view at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, celebrating UBS’s gift and loan of works to the Museum. Works from the Collection are also the focus of exhibitions this fall at the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland and the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. To further share our Collection with the public, UBS provides permanent online access to works in the Collection, information on the artists and online exhibitions via an interactive web museum at www.ubs.com/artcollection.

UBS, one of the world’s leading financial firms, is the largest wealth manager, a top tier investment banking and securities firm, a key asset manager and the leader in Swiss retail and commercial banking. Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, UBS employs over 70,000 people and has offices in 50 countries. It is a Swiss public company listed on the SWX Swiss Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). In the U.S., UBS is one of the biggest private client businesses with a client base of nearly 2 million private clients and approximately 7,500 financial advisers in over 350 offices.

Exhibitions at The UBS Art Gallery

Great Pots: The Vessel as Art, 1900-2000
Organized by The Newark Museum
March 9 – May 19, 2006

Selected for Myself: American Etchings of the 1880s
Organized by The Parrish Art Museum
June 1 – August 11, 2006

Walker Evans
Organized by Yale University School of Art
August 24 – November 9, 2006



Hours and Admission
The UBS Art Gallery is located in the UBS Building at 1285 Avenue of the Americas (between 51st and 52nd Streets) in New York City. The Gallery is on the ground floor of the building and exhibition hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Admission is free.


**For recorded exhibition information: (212) 713-2885**