The Fitchburg Art Museum Presents the "World of the Graphic Novel"

Written by Norman Rossington Sunday, 13 May 2012 22:13

Fitchburg, MA.- The Fitchburg Art Museum is proud to present "LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel", on view through January 1st 2012. The exhibition is organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum and is making its only traveling New England appearance at the museum. "LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel" will examine the use of this dynamic form of visual communication, and place specific emphasis on the art of the contemporary graphic novel, which is an internationally recognized artistic and literary genre. This special exhibition will feature over 200 original art works, including paintings, drawings, storyboards, studies, books, photographs, and a documentary film, offering insights into the lives of the artists and the nature of their work. The impact on art discourse and the surrounding public community will be deepened and heightened by the powerful literary element of the exhibition.

Focused on subjects as diverse as the nature of relationships, the perils of war, and the meaning of life, graphic novels comprise the fastest-growing sections of many bookstores, according to the Norman Rockwell Museum. Graphic novels employ the technique of cinematographic narrative, developed by comic-book artists, telling the story through metaphors and visual images, particularly images of action. "An increasing number of artists are choosing to express themselves through graphic novels, which have received increased recognition in the popular sector and have started to gain the interest and consideration of the art and literary establishment," said Peter Timms, director of the Fitchburg Art Museum. "Noted periodicals including The New York Times and The New Yorker have covered the phenomenon, and graphic novels are increasingly popular in classrooms, libraries, and bookstores throughout the United States and abroad." Beyond the quality of the exhibit and prestige of the Norman Rockwell Museum, Timms said that the Fitchburg Art Museum is using the LitGraphic show as a springboard to launch an aggressive marketing program to promote the museum itself. "Founded in 1925, we are a world-class, family-friendly museum with a permanent collection spanning 5,000 years," Timms said, "yet we remain very much a hidden treasure. Working closely with the City of Fitchburg, area businesses and other regional and community stakeholders, we have bold plans to engage the public in ways that are as distinctive as the museum itself."

Fitchburg Art Museum is North Worcester County's oldest and most treasured cultural institution, founded in 1925 through a bequest of artist and educator, Eleanor Norcross. Fourteen galleries house a diverse collection of American and European paintings, prints, drawings, ceramics and decorative arts as well as Greek, Roman, Asian and pre-Columbian antiquities. The Museum's collection of European and American paintings is distinguished by its portraits and landscapes from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Masterpieces by artists such as John Singleton Copley and Joseph Wright of Derby are powerful examples of the ability of portraiture, to communicate the private social, and economic status of people from other times and places. A choice selection of scenic landscapes, impressionistic portraits, and interiors by Eleanor Norcross, the Museum's founder, and luscious still lifes from the late nineteenth century round out the Museum's permanent exhibition of exceptional works of art by American, French and English artists. On display throughout the painting galleries is the Museum's collection of bronzes by import American Sculptors, among them, Anna Hyatt Huntington, William MacMonnies, and Willaim Zorach. The dynamic world events and scientific advances that marked the beginning of the twentieth century are reflected in the Museum's exhibition of modern paintings. The shift in twentieth-century art towards pure abstraction and highly personal symbolism are illustrated in two, brilliantly-hued paintings permanently on view: Morgan Russell's pure color abstraction "Synchromism (Eidos)" and Joseph Stella's radiant "Full Moon, Barbados" are classic examples of early- and mid-century Modernism. Finely wrought ritual bronzes, ceramic tomb figures, and Buddhist art on loan from the esteemed Sackler Foundations, New York, represent three thousand years of Chinese culture and religious practices. Complementing the Chinese Buddhist art is an exemplary collection of Indian sculpture and Tibetan bronzes that show the transmission of Buddhist imagery across East Asia. The life of ancient Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans and their indelible legacy is explored through stunning objects from the Museum's collection and long-term loans from the Harvard University Art Museums and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Marble portraits, bronze statuary, ceramic vessels, and modern paintings of Egyptian tombs illustrate the beliefs and customs of these influential cultures.  Of the eight countries represented three - the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Nigeria - offer several examples of complexities and stylistic diversity of African art. Precious gold and richly-embellished ceramic vessels are just a few of the Meso-American and South American treasures on view from the Museum's Collection and long-term loans from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Through these extraordinary objects discover ancient civilizations and complex ritualized societies that flourished on the American continents hundreds of years ago. With well over twelve hundred objects, Prints and Drawings comprise the largest single holding in the Museum's collection. Works of art dating from the fifteenth century to the present include engravings by Albrecht Dürer and Jacques Callot, lithographs by Kathe Köllwitz, and drawings by John Singer Sargent. Prominent twentieth-century works of art include watercolors by Edward Hopper and Charles Burchfield, and a pastel by Georgia O'Keeffe. Also contained in Prints and Drawing is the Museum's growing collection of photographs, highlighted with prints by Berenice Abbott, Paul Caponigro, and Duncan McCosker. Also contained in the Museum's collection of photographs are historic prints from the 1860's to the present, including an important Civil War image by Alexander Gardner; 20th century Modernist photographs by Charles Sheeler, Walker Evans, and Bernice Abbot; landscapes, and 21st century work. The collection features a broad overview of 20th century photographs. In addition to exhibitions organized by the Museum or drawn from its permanent collection, the Museum hosts traveling exhibitions from other institutions. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.fitchburgartmuseum.org

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