The Bradley Collection of Modern Art

The Bradley Collection includes nearly 400 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, by groundbreaking artists across the 20th century. Accompanies an exhibition at Milwaukee Art Museum, 26 September 2025 to 18 January 2026.

The Bradley Collection comprises the core of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s holdings of modern art. With nearly 400 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, it features works by groundbreaking artists across the 20th century, including Pierre Bonnard, Georges Braque, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Hepworth, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Gabriele Münter, Georgia O’Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, and Mark Rothko.

This book tells the story of how Peg Bradley built the collection--and then how she gave it away, transforming her hometown museum and community. The first comprehensive catalog of the collection, it brings together new research and insights by international scholars to shed light on works that have been long admired but little studied. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with highlighted works and an illustrated checklist, allowing readers to visualize every work in the collection. In addition to focusing on this extraordinary gift, the essays will appeal to anyone interested in the larger arc of modern art.

Elizabeth Siegel is Chief of Curatorial Affairs at the Milwaukee Art Museum. With contributions by Eleanor Clayton, Caitlin Haskell, Sarah Kelly Oehler, Nikki Otten, Nikki Ranney, Marta Ruiz del Árbol, Catherine Sawinski, Thomas Schlesser, Elizabeth Siegel, Elizabeth A. T. Smith, and Marin R. Sullivan.