NEW YORK, NY.- Did you know that the modern American museum was invented in Newark in 1909? The Newark Museum’s vast and diverse collections will be highlighted at the 61st annual Winter Antiques Show, which will take place at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City from January 23-February 1, 2015.

From traditional to contemporary, from ancient to modern, the Museum’s collections showcase a broad range of works that explore the past, inspire the present and provide a glimpse into the future. Selected as the Winter Antiques Show’s annual loan exhibition, Ahead of the Curve: The Newark Museum, 1909-2015, will feature pieces from the Museum’s American, as well as Asian, African, Ancient Mediterranean, and Native American objects. The 2015 loan exhibition sponsor is Bessemer Trust.

Celebrating its 106th year, the Newark Museum has been at the forefront of collecting and exhibiting since the opening of its inaugural exhibition of The Eight (Robert Henri, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, George Luks, and William J. Glackens) that was organized by the Macbeth Gallery in New York that mounted the first “Eight” show.

“The Newark Museum was one of the first to acquire an oil painting by Ernest Lawson (1910), the first to exhibit folk art (1930), and the first to give a one-man show to a living American artist--Max Weber--in 1913,” said Ulysses Grant Dietz, the Museum’s Chief Curator and Curator of Decorative Arts. “Additionally, the Museum possesses the first abstract painting ever completed by an American artist, a work done by Arthur Dove in 1910. The Museum has continued to build on this solid American foundation, while looking outward towards the world. It was the first to seriously explore the art of Tibet, and the only museum whose holdings represent the Arts of Africa from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope.“

The Winter Antiques Show is America’s most distinguished antiques show, featuring exceptional objects exhibited by 73 specialists in American, English, European, and Asian fine and decorative arts from antiquity through the 1960s, all vetted for authenticity. The Show’s 2015 Presenting Sponsor is Chubb Personal Insurance.

All net proceeds from the Show benefit East Side House Settlement (ESHS), which provides access to quality education and technology training as gateways out of poverty to students in the South Bronx, one of the nation's poorest congressional districts. ESHS’s goal is to help motivated students graduate from high school, enroll in college, and build the skills necessary to secure good jobs.