The Manhasset Collection

At the time of his death in December of 2004, Sam Goldberg’s work was moved by his son, Daniel, to a storage facility in Suffolk County. The collection of roughly 1100 paintings, ranging in size from 2’x3’ to 8’x5’, were haphazardly stacked in two large storage units, where they remained undisturbed for more than a decade.

Daniel Goldberg emptied the storage unit in 2018 and had the collection transported to the basement of his home in Manhasset, NY. The canvasses were subsequently stored in Daniel’s unheated garage, where they were exposed to the elements. Many became damaged and infiltrated with mildew.

In December 2021, Daniel Goldberg was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a very aggressive form of brain cancer. He passed away 11 months later at the age of 60. Daniel left a portion of his estate, including close to 900 of Sam’s paintings, to his sister, Elaine Kleinberg.

With Daniel’s home set to be sold, and no way to distribute or sell off Sam’s work, Elaine was forced to make a very difficult decision concerning the fate of her late father’s paintings. Unable to move or store them all, Elaine selected a small number to save.

On May 26, 2023, workmen entered the garage in Manhasset. Roughly 200 paintings were loaded on to a truck and destroyed. Two member of the demolition crew hired that day were so taken with the work, they selected pieces to save for themselves.

The digital images in this collection are all that remain of the paintings destroyed on May 26, 2023