About the Dodge Collection

The donation by Nancy and Norton Dodge, the largest single gift in Rutgers’ history, makes the museum the world’s principal site for studying and exhibiting the most vital, diverse, and daring strains of art produced throughout the USSR over four decades.

Norton Dodge and his mission

“My husband, Norton, and I felt it was our mission to bring to light these remarkable works that had been consigned to obscurity, and to honor artists of exceptional talent who had been suppressed and defamed. We entrusted Rutgers with an initial gift from the collection because we believed the university deeply understood our goals and had both the scholarly resources and the institutional will to realize our purpose. Now, more than a quarter of a century later, I know our confidence was well placed. I am very pleased to donate the collection in its entirety to Rutgers, as the best and only place for it to reside.”

- Nancy Ruyle Dodge

The Story

Interior (artist's studio) with black spots

Exhibitions

Black and white photograph showing two individuals wearing face masks, with one person administering an injection to the other's arm. Both individuals wear glasses, and the person receiving the injection is dressed in a checkered shirt and jacket

Artists

Text, green rectangle on the grided background and laundry hung

Research

Facts and Figures

Over 20,000 works by more than 1,000 artists reveal a culture that defied the strict, state-imposed conventions of Socialist Realism.

A Center for Scholars

Extensive archives of documents, correspondence, audio and video interviews with artists, and documentary photographs, as well as a noncirculating library of related books accompany the collection and are continually being updated.