By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — The embattled Chelsea Art Museum welcomed patrons back Thursday night with a show featuring early masters as well as young artists in the abstract expressionism genre.
The eight-year-old museum shut down in mid-August due to nearly $13 million of mortgage debt. Last week, the New York State Department of Education's Board of Regents revoked the museum's charter due to Keeser's decision to put her $2 million permanent collection up as collateral against a $350,000 loan.
After traveling Europe in search of a new backer, museum founder and director Dorothea Keeser has found an English foundation willing to help the museum survive for at least a year, albeit with significant cuts.
"We've all been very anxious to save the museum," said Elga Wimmer, curator for "Abstraction Revisited," who has been with the museum since its beginning.
"Abstraction Revisited" spotlights what Keeser called "the part of art that is nearest to my heart." Lee Krasner, Stephen Ellis, Jean Miotte and Robert Motherwell are among the artists with works on display.
The exhibit's well-attended opening comes on the heels of months of trauma for German-born Keeser, who dreamed of opening a museum in New York for decades.
One of the museum's patrons Thursday night, Norma Greenwood, came because she was excited to see painters of an older generation alongside newer abstract artists. A repeat visitor to the museum, Greenwood said she thought the presence of works by leading figures such as Krasner and Motherwell represented a step forward.
"Having name artists who are important in art history gives the museum a little bit more pedigree," said Greenwood, who operates an art studio in Union Square. "It needs a degree of pedigree that it certainly didn't have last year."
Another patron, SoHo-based artist Jacqueline Sferra Rada, agreed.
"This particular show puts them a little more on the map," said Sferra Rada, who was sad to hear of the museum's recent struggles.
Keeser kept a broad smile on her face while watching crowds of visitors wander through the museum's ground floor.
"This evening I couldn't be happier," she said. "After all we went through, that this is possible is absolutely extraordinary."
"Abstraction Revisited" will run through Nov. 27 at 556 W. 22nd Street.
