The Lloyd Cotsen & Neutrogena Collection

The Neutrogena Collection, from Lloyd E. Cotsen

After exercising his childhood collecting impulses with matchbooks, stamps, and baseball cards, Lloyd Cotsen began to collect in earnest while on a tour of duty with the Navy in Asia during the 1950s. The former CEO and President of Neutrogena Corporation eventually carefully selected more than 6,000 art objects from around the world, and gave more than 3,000 of those to the Museum of International Folk Art in 1994. “All of these objects…,” wrote Lloyd E. Cotsen, “appeal to my curiosity, to the thrill of discovery of the extraordinary in the ordinary, to my sense of humor, to my love of pattern, color, and texture, to my search for the beauty in form and simplicity, and to my perceiving beauty in and behind the object.” The Neutrogena includes numerous remarkable textiles, and particular focus on works from Asia.