The Poindexter Collection of New York Abstract Expressionist art came to the Yellowstone Art Museum in several lots over many years from the family of George and Elinor Poindexter. In the 1940s, George Poindexter developed a passion for abstract art that began with confusion about the new trends in art that was so powerful that it drove him to learn, understand, and champion this era of art, the first in American history that has tremendous influence on artists abroad.  George Poindexter’s deep ties to Montana led him to wish to bring this intellectually rich work to a region of the world that he believed would benefit.

Poindexter gifts enrich both the Yellowstone Art Museum and the Montana Historical Society in Helena.  In Billings, the Poindexter collections number 382 works of which just over half are paintings and the balance works on paper.  Artists represented include Robert Adler, Nell Blaine, Herman Cherry, Robert DeNiro Sr., Earl Kerkam, Robert Natkin, Felix Ruvolo, Hyde Solomon, Nora Speyer, Albert Stadler, Joseph Stefanelli, Teiji Takai, Jack Tworkov, David Von Schlegell, James Weeks, Emerson Woelffer, and Manoucher Yektai.

A well illustrated catalog on the Poindexter collection, The Most Difficult Journey: The Poindexter Collections of American Modernist Painting, is available for purchase through the Yellowstone Art Museum.