Roman Art Exhibition from the Louvre at IMA

Written by Ricardo Carleton Thursday, 13 January 2011 22:46

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The Indianapolis Museum of Art will premiere Roman Art from the Louvre, an exhibition of works from the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France, which will be on view from September 23, 2007 to January 6, 2008. Featuring 184 works drawn from the Louvre’s unparalleled collection of Roman art, the exhibition includes mosaics, frescoes, terracotta statuettes, monumental sculptures, sarcophagi, marble reliefs, glass and metal vessels, and gold jewelry, most of which have never traveled to the United States. Organized thematically, the exhibition examines everyday Roman public and private life through different lenses, including religion, urbanism, war, imperial expansion, funerary practices, intellectual life, and family.

The largest traveling exhibition of works ever drawn from the Louvre’s collections, Roman Art from the Louvre is organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Musée du Louvre. The exhibition is supported locally by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. Following its presentation in Indianapolis, the exhibition will travel to the Seattle Art Museum and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

“Roman Art from the Louvre gives us the remarkable opportunity to bring treasured works from the Louvre’s unrivaled Roman art collections to Indianapolis,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, Director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. “In addition to sharing these extraordinary antiquities with our audiences, we are collaborating on a number of great initiatives that will harness technological innovations, including streaming video and social computing, to create a more interactive, enhanced visitor experience.”

Roman Art from the Louvre traces the genealogy of the four main Roman dynasties – the Julio-Claudians, the Antonines, the Severans, and the family of Constantine – through an examination of works made between the first century BC and the early fourth century AD. The exhibition will include a section devoted to non-citizens of Rome: foreigners, freedmen, and slaves, and will also examine the role of women during this period. The exhibition will close with ancient statues that have been repeatedly repaired and altered since the Renaissance, reflecting both the ongoing interest in Roman art and the way in which it has been collected, interpreted and restored over the centuries.

 “This is the first exhibition in the IMA’s 124-year history to feature the fabled art of ancient Rome from the most renowned art museum in the world,” said Martin Krause, project manager for the exhibition at IMA. “From monumental sculptures to precious objects, the works will be sure to resonate with visitors, as the legacy of ancient Rome remains deeply embedded in our art, architecture, culture, and society even after 2,000 years.”

Related Exhibitions and Programming
The IMA will host a number of programs that will coincide with the Roman Art from the Louvre exhibition including classes, symposia, lectures, performances, and tours. In addition, IMA will be producing a series of two-to-three minute videos – shot on location at the Louvre and in Rome – that will bring to life various themes in the exhibition, including conservation, citizenship, craftsmanship, and architecture. These downloadable videos along with information, tickets, and programs will be available on a special Roman Art from the Louvre exhibition web site beginning July 1, 2007.

“We feel that it is important to present exhibitions that bring great works of art to Indianapolis that are not found in public collections in the region,” said Maxwell L. Anderson. “Roman Art from the Louvre will be presented alongside Egyptian, Greek and Roman works from the IMA’s permanent collection, providing a more comprehensive and nuanced appreciation of Roman art during the period.”

The IMA began collecting antiquities before World War I, when noted collector-missionary, the Reverend Chauncey Murch, donated various Egyptian objects that he had acquired while attached to the American mission in Luxor in the 1890s. Between World War I and World War II, a selection of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman ceramics and sculptures were purchased for the Museum in Europe and Africa by archaeologists, travelers, and collectors with Indiana ties. Currently, visitors to the Museum may view a sample of the collection in the newly renovated European art galleries.

Exhibition Organization and Catalogue
Roman Art from the Louvre was organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Musée du Louvre. It is co-curated by Daniel Roger and Cécile Giroire, curators in the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities Department at the Musée du Louvre. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The exhibition will subsequently travel to the Seattle Art Museum (February 19–May 11, 2008) and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art (June 19–October 12, 2008). It is supported locally by a $1.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Roman Art from the Louvre will be accompanied by an illustrated exhibition catalogue published by AFA featuring three major essays and individual catalogue entries written by the guest curators as well as other scholars of Roman art, including experts from the Musée du Louvre.

IMA Information
Encompassing 152 acres of gardens and grounds, IMA connects visitors to its unique and expansive view of art with its Indianapolis Museum of Art, the future Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park and Oldfields–Lilly House & Gardens. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is among the largest general art museums in the United States and features significant collections of African, American, Asian, European, contemporary, and decorative art, including paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings and photographs, textiles, and costumes.

The IMA completed a $74 million expansion project in May 2005 that featured three new wings, 50 percent more gallery space, expanded educational spaces, two new restaurants by Wolfgang Puck Catering, and an enhanced gift store. The expansion added 164,000 square feet to the Museum and included renovation of 90,000 square feet of existing space. In order to present major exhibitions of its own and to accommodate major traveling exhibitions such as Roman Art from the Louvre, the expanded Museum was outfitted with the new 10,000-plus square foot Clowes Special Exhibition Gallery on the Museum’s first level.

Located at 4000 Michigan Road, the IMA and Lilly House are open Tuesday -Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The IMA is closed Mondays and Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s days. For more information, call 317.923.1331 or visit www.ima-art.org .