The Museum was founded in 1969 with a promised gift of 300 works by Roy R. Neuberger—one of the leading[citation needed] private collectors, philanthropists, and arts advocates of the 20th century.

The majority of Neuberger's acquisitions, made at the height of his collecting from the early 1940s through the 1960s, were purchased within a month to a year or two of their execution, reflecting his commitment to support living artists working in the United States, particularly during the formative stages of their careers.

Its collection has grown to nearly 7,000 objects and includes works by some of the world's most well-known—and emerging—contemporary artists, including Milton Avery, Romare Bearden, Stuart Davis, Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Arthur Dove, Helen Frankenthaler, Marsden Hartley, Hans Hofmann, Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and David Smith.

The Neuberger Museum of Art is one of 14 sites on the African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County.

[2] Previous directors include: List of university art museums and galleries in New York State