The Room resulted in the immediate acquisition of masterworks by Paul Cézanne, Giorgio de Chirico, Paul Klee, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Amedeo Modigliani, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Henri Rousseau, and Chaïm Soutine. It also helped to facilitate the museum’s acquisition of Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure, 1935–36, the first work by the British sculptor to enter the collection of an American art museum.
The last artwork purchased through the Room of Contemporary Art was in 1957, but in July 1996, the museum launched the New Room of Contemporary Art, an exhibition program named after the historic Room that highlighted important contemporary art. Its inaugural project was an exhibition of works by the German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher.