Library to House Art Collection

he City College Library will shortly receive from the estate of Charles Z. Offin a collection of 111 works of art, including paintings, prints, sculpture, and African masks, for inclusion in the collections of the Archives and Special Collections Division of Cohen Library.

Mr. Offin was a member of the CCNY class of 1920, and he earned a diploma from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in France in 1923. He was an instructor in art in the School of Education at the City College from 1933 to 1936, an art critic for the Brooklyn Eagle, and director of the Etchers Guild. He served as editor and publisher of the magazine, Pictures on Exhibit, from 1937 to 1976. And he collected art for many years, filling his Manhattan apartment to overflowing.

The gift, which includes impressionist paintings by Auguste Renoir, Georges Rouault, Henri Le Sidanier, and Raoul Dufy, also includes twentieth century works up through the early 1970s. Sprinkled through the collection are lithographs and prints by Camille Pisarro, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miro. Fully one quarter of the collection is three-dimensional objects in various media.

Gifts which enrich the aesthetics of the City College are not a common occurrence. Fortunately, Mr. Offin’s firm belief that art should be shared with everyone, especially students, led him back to his alma mater.

Mr. Offin also made his own etchings, most of street scenes and everyday life in Majorca. A number of these works will also be coming to the college from the estate. In 1989 the library received the first portion of Mr. Offin’s bequest--his personal library of nearly 600 books on art and history.

Plans are almost complete for the creation of a gallery space in Archives and Special Collections. Renovation should begin early in 1998.

Pamela Gillespie
Chief Librarian
prgcc@scisun.sci.ccny.cuny.edu

^{Go to next page}