Fairfield U. Art Museum receives gift of Stephen Pace artwork

The Fairfield University Art Museum has been given more than 130 works by the prominent American abstract expressionist painter Stephen Pace (1918-2010).

The gifted works, which were presented by the Stephen and Palmina Pace Foundation, will be displayed at the museum on a rotating basis and be used by the university in teaching across disciplines, including studio art and art history classes. This is the largest gift of artwork, by value, in the museum”™s 10-year history.

Pace was born in Missouri into a farming family and began his formal art training at 17 under the tutelage of Works Progress Administration artist and illustrator Robert Lahr.

After serving in World War II, he studied art on the GI Bill at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel Allende, Mexico, and later moved to New York City to continue his studies at the Art Students League and with the noted artist Hans Hoffman. During his career, Pace was praised for his contributions to abstract expressionism and his work is part of major collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.