JERUSALEM.- In 2017, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem continued to grow its collections and program with a series of acquisitions and major exhibitions that resonate with local and universal themes. With attendance of more than 900,000 visitors throughout the year, 2017 saw such landmark presentations as No Place Like Home, which traced the artistic appropriation of domestic objects from the early 20th century through today; Ai Weiwei: Maybe, Maybe Not, examining notions of individuals’ relationship to their social culture; as well as bodies of work by acclaimed Israeli photographers Ilit Azoulay and Micha Bar-Am.

The new works to enter the Israel Museum’s collection in 2017 deepen the Museum’s representation of pivotal artists who have made meaningful contributions to the canon of 20th and 21st-century art, as well as antiquities that extend the narrative of world culture reflected across the Museum’s holdings. Ranging from contemporary works by artists Frank Stella and Thomas Hirschhorn, to Israeli designer Dan Reisinger’s personal archive, the recent acquisitions reflect a diversity of genres, mediums, and perspectives from Israel and around the globe.

“As we reflect on the accomplishments of 2017, we are excited to usher in a new year of thought-provoking exhibitions, programs, and installations that deepen engagement with human expression throughout the ages,” said Isaac Molho, Chair of the Board of the Israel Museum. “We look forward to sharing these latest acquisitions with our visitors and building upon our holdings with pivotal works in the years to come.”

“The ending of one year, and the beginning of the next, is a great time to reflect upon the treasures of the Israel Museum. These treasures are apparent when viewing the Museum’s exceptional collections, but even more so when considering its loyal and generous patrons and visitors that are always at the heart of our activities,” said Ido Bruno, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum. "The gifts and acquisitions added to the collection in 2017 allow us to enrich and diversify the story of culture and creative expression which we display through our continuosly growing holdings.”

Highlights include:

• Frank Stella’s Double Scramble: Ascending Spectrum Descending Green Values / Ascending Green Values Descending Spectrum (1978). This work, which belongs to Stella’s early series of compositions of concentric squares, is a reaction against the loose, gestural and loaded brushstroke associated with Abstract Expressionism.

• The personal archive of Israeli graphic designer Dan Reisinger, which is comprised of more than 1,500 items, including sketches, drawings, and presentation boards for clients such as El Al, Teva, Iscar, Habima national theater, the Maccabiah games, and Yad Vashem.

• A rare Money-Shaking Tree from Han Dynasty, China (25-220 CE). Considered to be symbols of good fortune, models of these were placed in graves to ensure prosperity of the deceased on their journey to the afterlife; today only about 70 surviving examples are known.