The Gibbes Museum of Art To Showcase Two New Exhibitions

Written by Leonard Cushing Tuesday, 18 October 2011 22:09

Charleston, SC.- The Gibbes Museum of Art is pleased to present two new exhibitions opening on October 28th and running through January 8th 2012. "Breaking Down Barriers: 300 Years of Women in Art", on view in the Main Gallery, will examine the challenges faced by women artists over the past 300 years. "Camera Works: Masters in Photography", on view in the Rotunda Galleries, features twentieth-century masters of photography selected from the Gibbes permanent collection and local private collections. Drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, "Breaking Down Barriers: 300 Years of Women in Art" highlights a number of extraordinary women working in a variety of media and artistic styles.

The exhibition pays tribute to those women who defied convention and paved the way for women to achieve success as professional artists. In the 1700s, women faced considerable obstacles to becoming professional artists, primarily caused by social pressures and the lack of access to formal artistic training. Henrietta Johnston moved to Charleston (then known as Charles Town) in 1708 when the Church of England’s Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts appointed her husband, Gideon Johnston, Commissary for South Carolina. The Johnston family faced considerable financial hardships upon arriving in Charleston, and to help support her family, Henrietta created and sold pastel portraits. Henrietta Johnston is considered to be the first female professional artist in America and the Gibbes Museum of Art houses the largest public collection of her work. Five pastel portraits by Henrietta Johnston are included in the exhibition. Women artists from the Charleston Renaissance period are also well represented in the exhibition.  During this period of time between the two World Wars, Charleston experienced a resurgence in all aspects of cultural life including literature, music, historic preservation, and the visual arts. Among the leaders of the Charleston Renaissance were artists Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, Elizabeth O’Neill Verner, and Anna Heyward Taylor, all of whom created numerous works depicting the historic architecture and beautiful landscape of Charleston and the surrounding Lowcounty region. The exhibition also recognizes the impressive cadre of female artists working in the region today from sweetgrass basket maker Mary Jackson to classically trained, realist painter, Jill Hooper, Breaking Down Barriers: 300 Years of Women in Art honors the achievements of past generations while acknowledging the creativity of professional female artists working in the 21st century.

In the early 20th century, New York-based artist and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz launched a photo journal, Camera Work, to promote the then-novel idea that photography could be an art form rather than simply a documentary medium or a lesser substitute for painting. The exhibition Camera Works features images captured by Stieglitz and his collaborator Clarence White, as well as Berenice Abbott, Alfred Eisenstaedt,Margaret Bourke-White, and other renowned 20th century American artists who embraced and explored the creative possibilities of early photography. Through careful composition, post-production manipulation, shedding light on new subjects, revealing the beauty of the everyday, or capturing striking patterns in unexpected places, the artists in this early circle of innovators pioneered styles and techniques that bravely exposed the potential of their chosen medium. These photographers figured out how to make a camera work. Writer Robert Marks, a Charleston native, collected works of this era and donated many of these pieces to the Gibbes in the 1970s. Much like Stieglitz’s initial push to move photography beyond the traditional, this donation expanded the Gibbes’s photograph collection beyond historical portraits, adding true art shots and catalyzing the museum’s enthusiasm for collecting photography. "Camera Works: Masters in Photography" showcases many of the photographs that Marks and others gave to the museum, as well as photographs of the period borrowed from private collectors.


Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the Gibbes Museum of Art opened its doors to the public in 1905. The benefactor, James Shoolbred Gibbes, donated $100,000 to the Carolina Arts Association upon his death in 1899 for the "erection of a suitable building for the exhibitions of paintings". Not receiving the money until 1903, the Association hired Frank Pierce Milburn to design the gallery. His design included a Tiffany-style dome, Doric columns and pediment capped windows and doors. The museum's collections include the work of numerous artists with connections to Charleston; among them are Henrietta Johnston, Mary Roberts, and Jeremiah Theus. Located in Charleston’s historic district, the Gibbes houses a premier collection of over 10,000 works, principally American with a Charleston or Southern connection, and presents special exhibitions throughout the year. In addition, the museum offers an extensive complement of public programming and educational outreach initiatives that serve the community by stimulating creative expression and improving the region’s superb quality of life. As Charleston’s only visual arts museum, the museum's programs are designed to foster the development of a personal relationship between our visitors and the works on view. We want to generate conversations on art and culture and we welcome all audiences – frequent museum visitors and first-time guests. As the aesthetic heart of the Low-country, the Gibbes serves the community by stimulating creative expression, increasing economic vitality through tourism, and improving the region’s superb quality of life. Visit the museum's website at ... www.gibbesmuseum.org

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