The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Shows "The Etching Revival of the 19th Century"

Written by John Cummings Friday, 11 November 2011 23:47

Kalamazoo, Michigan.- The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is pleased to present "Shimmerings of Light, Mysteries of Shadow: The Etching Revival of the 19th Century", an exhibition of approximately thirty prints, now on view at the Institute.. Etching, the process of drawing on and printing from copper plates, emerged as an important art form in the 17th century. During this period, it reached its pinnacle in the works of Rembrandt, who exploited the medium's expressive possibilities to an unprecedented degree. Yet etching subsequently fell into decline as the Academies, with their strict adherence to the principles of Classical art, came to dominate the artistic life of Europe. By the1850s younger artists were rebelling against this tradition as they sought more personal forms of expression. They discovered that etching was ideally suited to capture the moods and textures of contemporary landscapes, both urban and rural. Drawing directly from nature rather than in the studio, etchers were the forefront of the dramatic changes that came to define 19th-century art.

This exhibition focuses on the artists of the "etching revival" that transformed etching into a modern, living art. It includes such masters of the medium as James McNeill Whistler, Charles Meryon, and Samuel Palmer. The works, drawn from the rich print collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, illustrate how etching, which required the artist to use line alone, introduced a new way of both drawing and perceiving the world. This view was strongly supported by a new and diverse audience that included poets and writers as well as middle-class collectors. What resulted was a new, "democratic" art market that freed the artist from being dependent solely on an endorsement by the academy. In conjunction with the exhibition, a 3-week mini-class will be offered as part of the Up Close series. 'Barbs, Beauty, and the Bite of the Print: James Whistler and the Etching Revival' will focus on Whistler's colorful character and creative genius, as well as explore the subjects and styles of 19th-century etchers. Taught by Greg Waskowsky, the KIA's Associate Curator of Collections, the class will also include a demonstration of how etchings are created and printed.

In 1924, the Kalamazoo Chapter of the American Federation of the Arts incorporated as the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts to present classes and establish legal responsibility for the ownership of art objects.  In 1947 the KIA gained a permanent home when it purchased and a renovated a Victorian mansion at 421 West South Street. In the 1930s and 40s, distinguished guest lecturers such as Diego Rivera, Thomas Hart Benton, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier challenged and informed local audiences about the contemporary art world. An eclectic schedule of exhibitions included work by Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee, Japanese prints and ceramics, African Art, Dutch old masters, and even an international kite collection that became a traveling exhibition. Annual juried competitions and exhibitions by local artists and students helped promote and encourage both new and established artists. In 1961, the KIA built a new facility, the Gilmore Art Center at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts at its current location. In 2006, the Art School was named the Kirk Newman Art School to recognize the artist and former Art School director who contributed so much to its development. Today over 100,000 visitors each year enjoy exciting temporary exhibitions, an outstanding permanent collection of nearly 4,000 works, programs, and events at the KIA. Nearly 3,000 students enroll annually in Kirk Newman Art School classes. The collection, originally developed to complement the KIA's art school, focuses on American painting, sculpture and ceramics, American and European works on paper from the 16th century onwards, photography and American art, from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century portraiture and landscape painting to modern and contemporary abstraction and figurative works, is the strength of the KIA's permanent collection. Significant works by Alexander Calder, William Merritt Chase, Dale Chihuly, Richard Diebenkorn, Janet Fish, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline and Andy Warhol are part of the collection. In recent years, the collection has been expanded to include Oceanic objects, Pre-Columbian gold and ceramics, African art and East Asian art. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.kiarts.org

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