NEW YORK, NY.- The Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation, owner of 72 Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, makes its collection accessible to everyone with the launch of pearlmancollection.org.

Daniel Edelman, President of the foundation, says: “Our aim is to share these works of art with those who cannot view them in person. This website, independent of the spatial, geographical, environmental and political constraints of exhibition, is designed to provide the virtual means for visitors to explore, study and enjoy our collection. Some of these tools would be challenging, or impossible, to replicate in the real world. It is our hope that this website, and other virtual collections of art, present new learning opportunities by lowering some of the barriers that have historically defined public accessibility to art.”

The website, developed by Bluespark Labs, allows visitors to enjoy individual artists and works as a private collector would – intimately and over time; to examine each work at the brushstroke level of image resolution and right up to the unframed edges of each canvas; to create their own galleries from the collection; and to save those galleries privately or share them socially.

At the heart of the Pearlman Collection are 33 works by Cézanne including 16 watercolors that are rarely exhibited because of their sensitivity to light. A masterpiece by Van Gogh, two iconic Modigliani portraits and a limestone head, seven oil paintings by Chaim Soutine and works by Gauguin, Manet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas complement each other and comprise a personal collection that reflects a modernist eye.

Henry Pearlman collected from the mid-1940’s up until his death in 1975. In the words of John Rewald, “he remained true to his discovery that art is meant to be lived with.” The pearlmancollection.org site includes excerpts from Pearlman’s reminiscences, providing context about how the collection was assembled. Conservator’s notes also highlight the techniques and circumstances of artists at work, and links to related documents held at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art deepen our understanding about the interaction between artist and collector.

The Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection is on long-term loan to The Princeton University Art Museum, where many of the major works are on display. A five-city tour of the collection’s masterpieces - organized in conjunction with Princeton – is planned for 2014-15. While individual works are often loaned to special exhibitions around the world, the collection has not been seen outside of the New York area for more than 35 years.