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Overview: This is the first monographic exhibition in the United States of works by Gerard ter Borch (1617-1681), one of the finest Dutch genre and portrait painters, and an artist who greatly influenced Johannes Vermeer and Frans van Mieris. Some 50 of his best works, including his celebrated group portrait, Signing of the Peace of Munster, May 15, 1648 (1648), from the National Gallery in London, and his renowned genre scene, the so-called Paternal Admonition (c. 1654) from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, have been brought together from public and private collections. The paintings of Ter Borch are remarkably varied, and the selection represents each phase of his career-- the early pictures of the 1630s, the mid-career genre paintings, and the small portraits distinctive for their psychological intensity. Ter Borch was unrivaled in his ability to capture the elegance and grace of wealthy burghers and to express with subtlety the interactions between figures. He is renowned for his refined interior scenes, which typically depict two or three elegantly clad, full-length figures engaged in activities such as writing letters or making music. In addition to capturing the psychology of the sitters, the paintings show Ter Borch's mastery in rendering materials, particularly satins, which are notoriously difficult to paint. Accompanying the exhibition is the first major English-language publication on the artist, a significant contribution to the study of 17th-century Dutch art. Organization: The exhibition was organized by the American Federation of Arts, New York, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Sponsor: This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Schedule: National Gallery of Art, November 7, 2004 - January 30, 2005; The Detroit Institute of Arts, February 27 - May 22, 2005 Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.
Overview: This major exhibition of one of the most important 19th-century photographers will present approximately 91 photographs surveying all aspects of his short but groundbreaking career. All the Mighty World, the exhibition title, is a phrase from Wordsworth's poem about Tintern Abbey, where Fenton frequently photographed, and is suggestive of his great ambition for both his own photographs and the medium itself. Born in 1819, Fenton studied law and painting before turning to photography, probably in 1851. During the next decade, he produced a body of work that represents some of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the medium. He made ambitious studies of the English countryside, country houses, and cathedrals, as well as portraits of the royal family, a series of still lifes, and studies of figures in Asian costume. Early in his career he helped found the Photographic Society, which later became the Royal Photographic Society. Fenton's photographs documenting the Crimean War, among the first ever to depict war, are compelling studies of the chaos and bleakness of the front. While several of Fenton's photographs are distinguished by their daring formal compositions, others are notable for their evocative depictions of light, atmosphere, and place. For unknown reasons, Fenton announced his retirement from photography in October 1862 and sold his equipment and negatives at an auction the following month. He died in 1869 at the age of 50. All the Mighty World: The Photographs of Roger Fenton, 1852-1860, will be the first exhibition in the National Gallery's newly dedicated photography galleries, a suite of five rooms where photographs will be displayed on a rotating basis. Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Sponsor: The exhibition at the National Gallery of Art is made possible through the generous support of the Trellis Fund and The Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Schedule: National Gallery of Art, October 17, 2004 - January 2, 2005; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, February 1 - April 24, 2005; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 24 - August 21, 2005; Tate Britain, September 21, 2005 - January 2, 2006 Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.
Overview: Dan Flavin's career-long exploration of an art of light, situated outside the traditional mediums of painting and sculpture, established him as a progenitor and chief exponent of minimalism. Though Flavin (1933-1996) is one of the most important and influential artists of the late 20th century, this exhibition will be the first comprehensive retrospective of his work. It is the culmination of a major scholarly research effort, which includes the publication of the catalogue raisonné of Flavin's "complete lights." The exhibition will feature 44 works representing the artist's use of fluorescent light. These range from the simple to the complex, including six large-scale installations that articulate architectural space. the show will include the artist's early "icons," his celebrated series of "monuments" to V. Tatlin, corner pieces, and works that take the form of corridors and free-standing "barriers." Several galleries will be especially designed for installation pieces, which will demonstrate the expanding scale of Flavin's work. In addition, sketches, drawings, and early collage-constructions will reveal the development of Flavin's ideas and working process. Organization: The exhibition was organized by Dia Art Foundation, New York, in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Sponsor: The national tour is sponsored by Altria Group. The exhibition at the National Gallery of Art is made possible through the generous support of Lehman-Smith + McLeish. Additional support for the exhibition and its accompanying catalogue was provided by Lannan Foundation. Research for the exhibition and publication was supported by The Henry Luce Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Schedule: National Gallery of Art, October 3, 2004 - January 9, 2005; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, February 25 - June 5, 2005; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, July 1 - October 30, 2005 Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.
Overview: The manufactured colored chalks known as pastels began to be made in the 16th century, but their full potential for producing full-color, finished drawings was first realized only in the 18th century. In the past decade the National Gallery of Art has acquired outstanding pastels by some of the foremost 18th-century masters of pastel. Seven of these works will be on view on the ground floor of the East Building. Please note that "Pastels of the Eighteenth Century: Recent Acquisitions" exhibition space is occasionally used by Gallery educational programs and may be temporarily closed. We regret any inconvenience this may cause to our visitors. Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Schedule: National Gallery of Art, Washington, August 6 - December 15, 2004 Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.
Overview: The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London has one of the most renowned Islamic art collections in the world. Over 100 works from the V&A, many exhibited for the first time outside that museum, convey the richness of Islamic art on a scale and quality hard to find in any collection outside the Middle East. The exhibition's themes start with "The Written Word," featuring calligraphy from the 10th to 18th century. Considered the noblest and most distinctive form of Islamic art because of its association with the Qur'an, beautiful calligraphic writing pervades Islamic art. "Courts and Courtiers" introduces art made for the secular realm of the ruling elite. Two royal courts that flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries will be featured--the court of the Ottoman dynasty that ruled from Istanbul and the Safavid dynasty in Iran. "Mosques, Shrines, and Churches" will examine works created for religious establishments, including a 20-foot high pulpit (minbar) made for a mosque in Cairo in the 15th century. The section also includes works produced by Islamic artists for Christian churches, reflecting the religious tolerance that has characterized Islamic culture from its beginnings in the 7th century. "Artistic Exchange," the final section, includes works of Islamic, European, and Chinese manufacture. As the textiles and ivories demonstrate, the wealth of interaction between the Islamic Middle East and Europe was such that some works of art cannot be easily assigned to one culture. Timothy Stanley, senior curator, Middle East, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, is exhibition curator and the principal author of the book that accompanies the exhibition, Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East. Organization: This exhibition was organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Sponsor: The exhibition at the National Gallery of Art is generously sponsored by H.R.H. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States. The international tour of this exhibition has been made possible by the generosity of Mohammed Jameel, the benefactor of the V&A's Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art, which is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Abdul Latif Jameel, the late founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, and his wife Nafisa. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Schedule: National Gallery of Art, July 18, 2004 - February 6, 2005; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, April 3 - September 4, 2005; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, October 22 - December 11, 2005; Millennium Galleries, Sheffield, January 14 - April 16, 2006 Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.
Overview:Showcasing one of the most important private collections of 19th-century American art, the exhibition consists of fifty-one works of art by twenty-six American artists. Works by such masters as George Caleb Bingham, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Eakins, Alvan Fisher, William Stanley Haseltine, Martin Johnson Heade, Fitz Hugh Lane, John Marin, John F. Peto, and William Trost Richards represent four decades of collecting in an area of particular scholarly interest to Wilmerding. The works in the exhibition reveal a variety of American art such as landscapes, marine painting, portraits, genre scenes, still lifes, and figure paintings, including a group of drawings and watercolors of the scenery of Mount Desert Island, Maine, by artists--among them Fisher, Lane, Haseltine, Richards, and Marin--who worked there from the 1840s until the early 20th century. Highlights from the collection include Lane's Western Shore of Gloucester, Outer Harbor (c. 1857), a radiant view of sailing vessels on calm water that is particularly notable for its superb state of preservation. Another notable work is one of Bingham's rare genre pictures, Mississippi Boatman (1850), which depicts a rugged-looking man guarding cargo on the riverside. In addition to the paintings by Lane and Bingham, there are superb examples by Heade, Church, Peto, and Eakins, such as Heade's Sunlight and Shadow: The Newbury Marshes (c. 1871-1875) and his Still Life with Roses, Lilies, and Forget-Me-Nots in a Glass Vase (1869), Church's Newport Mountain, Mount Desert (1851), Peto's Take Your Choice, 1885, and Eakins' Portrait of Dr. William Thomson (c. 1907) and his watercolor Drifting (1875). Organization: The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition. |
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