Art Knowledge News
Fogg Shows Sargent, Homer, Whistler, Hopper : 1875-1950 |
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| Monday, 17 April 2006 17:01 |
 Cambridge, MA - The Harvard University Art Museums will present American Watercolors and Pastels, 1875-1950, at the Fogg Art Museum to June 25, 2006. The exhibition features 52 watercolors and pastels primarily drawn from the extensive holdings of the Fogg, as well as significant works lent by friends of the Art Museums. This will be the first showing of these treasures of American art since 1936, and will give the public an opportunity to examine a selection of works that are rarely put on display because of their sensitivity to light. The exhibition focuses on works created during what scholars consider the mediums golden age of experimentation and development. The period from 1875 to 1950 saw the status of the watercolor shift dramatically. Works on paper until that time usually served only as studies or preparatory works for finished oil paintings, but beginning in the late 19th century, drawings and watercolors were exhibited more regularly in their own right. Artists such as Winslow Homer began painting complete scenes in watercolor and exhibiting them as finished works in commercial galleries. Homer pushed the medium formally, scratching into the surface of the paper to create highlights and experimenting with washes, opaque applications of paint. John Singer Sargent also helped to establish the merits of the medium, preferring watercolor for its portability, and utilizing it on his travels to make informal sketches that stood on their own and did not necessarily serve preparatory ends.  By the early 20th century, gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz introduced modernism to a skeptical New York audience with exhibitions of watercolors by John Marin and Charles Demuth, drawings and watercolors by Georgia O’Keeffe, and pastels by Arthur G. Dove. American modernism contributed significantly to the evolution of the watercolor and helped to establish its status as an important American medium. O’Keeffe developed her signature style by exploring abstraction in watercolor and pastel, inexpensive and quick materials that lent themselves to experimentation. She and her contemporaries like Marin and Stuart Davis took advantage of this ease of experimentation to develop formal innovations, resulting in unique pieces that were displayed as finished works. Today, these watercolors are among the most highly valued objects of the American modernist period.
The exhibition was organized by Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Curator of American Art, and Virginia Anderson, Assistant Curator of American Art. " The exhibition came out of our work on a comprehensive collections catalogue of American painting, watercolor, pastel, and stained glass at the Harvard University Art Museums," said Stebbins. "As we compiled the list of objects for that catalogue project, it became clear that the Fogg's collection from this period and in these media was particularly strong and deserving of an exhibition." Anderson adds, "This is an opportunity to present to the public a wonderful selection of important American works, the majority of which are unpublished. Through this exhibition, we can bring these works to light so that they can receive critical and scholarly attention."  The Fogg Art Museum has long been known for its collection of works on paper and a significant portion of the collection includes some six thousand American drawings, watercolors, and pastels dating from the 18th through the early 21st century. This serious interest in American watercolors stems from the period of the 1910s and 1920s, a time when the medium was winning new levels of recognition in the U.S. The Fogg's collection was driven by two former directors and by the generous gift of an important collector. The Fogg's holdings of 19th century American watercolors and pastels were greatly enhanced with the bequest of the Winthrop Collection in 1943. Grenville L. Winthrop is best remembered for his magnificent collection of Asian art and for his superb holdings of French and British paintings and drawings, but he also collected extensively the work of a quartet of American masters of the late 19th century: Homer, LaFarge, Whistler, and Sargent. Winthrop's gift of 136 American drawings, watercolors, and pastels, along with 57 paintings and 35 sculptures, makes him Harvard's most important donor in this field to date.  Famous Works The exhibition features a comprehensive presentation of American artists in this field and includes a number of outstanding examples from the Fogg's collection. Homer's Mink Pond (1891), and Hunter in the Adirondacks (1892), Sargent's Group in the Simplon (1911), and La Farge's Chinese Pi-tong (1879) are significant works from the 19th century. From the 20th century, de Kooning's Reclining Woman (c. 1948-49), Demuth's Fruit and Sunflowers (c. 1925), Hopper's Highland Light (1930), two versions of Mt. Chocorua by John Marin from 1926, and Rothko's untitled (1944-46) are all notable works. In addition to presenting these highlights from the Fogg's collection, there are a number of significant works on loan from private collections, including Chase's Self-Portrait (c. 1884), Stuart Davis's Study for Eggbeater #3 (1928), Georgia O'Keeffe's Portrait-Black (1918), and Helen Torr's Zinnias (c. 1929-35). Brochure The exhibition will be accompanied by a brochure with 12 color reproductions, a checklist, and a short essay by curator Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. The brochure is made possible by the Bolton Fund for American Art, Gift of the Payne Fund. The Harvard University Art Museums The Harvard University Art Museums are one of the world's leading arts institutions, with the Arthur M. Sackler, Busch-Reisinger, and Fogg art museums, the Straus Center for Conservation, the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art, the HUAM Archives, and the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, in Turkey. For more than a century, the Harvard University Art Museums have been the nation's premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and are renowned for their role in the development of the discipline of art history in this country. Be sure to visit their website at : The Harvard University Art MuseumsClick on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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