Marica & Jan Vilcek

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Descripción del Profesional del arte

Dr. Jan T. Vilcek, research professor at New York University School of Medicine, was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), where he also received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. In 1964 he and his wife, Marica Vilcek, an art historian, defected from what was then communist Czechoslovakia. Upon immigrating to the United States in 1965, Dr. Vilcek joined the faculty of NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Vilcek has devoted his scientific career to the study of cytokines—hormone-like proteins produced in the body that control the immune system and host defenses. He was among the first scientists to investigate interferon, an important immune system protein. Subsequently, Dr. Vilcek focused his studies on another cytokine, called tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Dr. Vilcek’s contributions to the understanding of proteins that control the body’s defenses were instrumental in the development of the anti-inflammatory drug Remicade®, the first member of a new class of therapeutics called TNF blockers that are now widely used for the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, and other chronic inflammatory disorders. Dr. Vilcek has published more than 350 papers in scholarly journals, and he holds 46 U.S. patents. His honors include the Albert Gallatin Medal from NYU, and honorary degrees from Comenius University in Bratislava, the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City, and NYU. He received the J. E. Purkyně Honorary Medal from the Czech Academy of Sciences, and the Outstanding American by Choice Award from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In 2013, President Barack Obama named Dr. Vilcek a recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In 2000 Dr. Vilcek and his wife established the Vilcek Foundation, whose mission is to raise awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and foster appreciation of the arts and sciences. Dr. Vilcek’s memoir Love and Science was published by Seven Stories Press in 2016. In it, Dr. Vilcek tells the story of his two intertwined journeys—one personal, the other scientific. The personal story is about his and his parents’ survival during the Second World War, growing up in Communist Czechoslovakia, and arriving as a penniless immigrant in the U.S. The scientific story recounts how the vaunted cures for cancer that many saw in interferon and TNF never materialized, and how out of the ashes of that hope emerged treatments that revolutionized medicine and alleviated much suffering. Born in Bratislava, Slovakia (then Czechoslovakia), Ms. Vilcek earned advanced degrees in art history from the Comenius University in Bratislava and Charles University in Prague. Upon graduation, she began her professional career in a curatorial position at the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava. In 1965, Ms. Vilcek, with her husband, Jan Vilcek, immigrated to the United States. Upon arriving in New York, Ms. Vilcek accepted a position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, beginning what would be a 32-year tenure at the organization. As the Metropolitan Museum’s associate curator in charge of the Accessions and Catalogue Department, Ms. Vilcek dedicated the majority of her time with the museum to collections management and was responsible for processing and cataloguing the museum’s new acquisitions. Additionally, she authored the museum's procedural manuals on accessioning and cataloguing, and advised scores of curators, administrators, and students on collections management. Ms. Vilcek served as a consultant to nonprofit organizations including the Commission for Art Recovery of the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish Museum in New York City, and the Jordan National Gallery in Amman. She is the Chair of the NYU Institute of Fine Arts Board of Trustees, and a board member of the New York Youth Symphony and the Foundation for a Civil Society. Additionally, Ms. Vilcek serves as an honorary trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2005, Ms. Vilcek joined her husband, a biomedical scientist, in giving the New York University School of Medicine one of the largest gifts in its history. In recognition of their generosity, the school has named several programs, chairs, and facilities in their honor. In 2005, the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America recognized Dr. and Ms. Vilcek as Humanitarians of the Year, and in 2011 they received the Outstanding New Yorker award given by the Center for an Urban Future in New York City. In 2012, Ms. Vilcek accepted, on behalf of the Vilcek Foundation, the Steven K. Fischel Distinguished Public Service Award from the American Immigration Council in Washington, DC. Ms. Vilcek cofounded the Vilcek Foundation with her husband in 2000. The organization’s dual focus on biomedical research and the arts is derived from the couple’s respective careers and interests. Since the foundation’s inception, Ms. Vilcek has played an integral role in the conceptualization and administration of its programs She has also utilized her extensive knowledge of art history and collections management in the development of the Jan T. and Marica Vilcek Collection, a promised gift to the Vilcek Foundation, which includes an unparalleled group of American Modernist works, as well as a significant assemblage of Pre-Columbian art and Native American pottery. The American Modernist Collection, a promised gift to the Foundation, reflects the Vilceks’ love for the art of this country. Marica and Jan Vilcek have assembled an amazing collection of masterworks representative of a crucial moment in the history of American art. ABOUT THE COLLECTION This unparalleled collection of American Modernist art reflects the impact of immigrants on American art – eight of the twenty artists represented were born outside the United States. The collection includes seminal works by Oscar Bluemner, Ralston Crawford, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Georgia O’Keeffe, Morgan Russell, and Max Weber, among others. In addition to tracing the evolution of individual artists and American Modernism as a whole, the collection also explores developments within the broader movement, including American Cubism, Synchromism, and the impact of the Southwest. The breadth and depth of the collection is astonishing, comprising paintings, works on paper and sculpture, creating a multifaceted representation of American Modernist art. A portion of the American Modernist art collection belongs to the Vilcek Foundation and the rest of the collection is a promised gift of Jan T. and Marica Vilcek to the Vilcek Foundation. A catalogue of the collection, Masterpieces of American Modernism: From the Vilcek Collection, is available from Merrell Publishers. The book includes an essay by William C. Agee, entries on each work by Lewis Kachur, and an illustrated timeline that explores the connections between New York and New Mexico. The book is prefaced by a collector's statement from Jan and Marica Vilcek and has contributions by The Vilcek Foundation’s Executive Director, Rick Kinsel, and Associate Curator, Emily Schuchardt Navratil. To find a local or online retailer of this book, please visit Merrell Publishers.