Taft Museum of Art Offers Variety of Special Exhibitions

Written by Dan Laskowski Friday, 08 July 2011 22:42

CINCINNATI, OHIO - The art featured in the new season of special exhibitions at the Taft Museum of Art offers a window onto other cultures and times. From contemporary Chinese paintings to opulent Elizabethan costumes, these exhibitions offer an escape from the ordinary and a chance to connect with the extraordinary.  The exhibition Views from the Uffizi: Painting the Italian Landscape continues into the fall, offering regional audiences their only chance to view dramatic landscapes from one of the most famous museums in Italy. The artists featured in the show, including Botticelli, Guercino, Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Frans Hals, and Canaletto, inspired later works by European masters included in the Taft’s collection.

In November, Brush, Clay, & Wood: The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection of Chinese Art presents works by contemporary Chinese artists —many never before publicly exhibited in the United States—which are all usually housed in the Rosenthals’ Cincinnati home. The exhibition traces developments in Chinese art, with Neolithic pottery and Ming dynasty furniture presented alongside contemporary paintings by artists trained just after the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Among the artists represented in the collection are Chen Yifei, Mao Yan, Xue Song, Pan Maokun, He Datian and Zhang Hongtu.

  You won’t want to miss the chance to see the historic house decorated for the holidays and celebrate with friends and family during Antique Christmas. This beloved holiday tradition returns in time for Thanksgiving. This year, visitors will find dazzling ornaments, delicate paper decorations, and fun activities for the whole family.

Oscar season will be in full swing at the Taft this year when Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen opens. This exhibition from the Trust for Museum Exhibitions in cooperation with Cosprop, Ltd., features costumes worn by Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and many others. The sumptuous costumes span four centuries of clothing design and four decades of filmmaking, with the represented films, including Titanic, Evita, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Ever After.

The season concludes with The Last Emperor’s Collection: Paintings from Liaoning, China. These rare and beautiful centuries-old scroll paintings, which were sold in the early 20th century by the last emperor, Pu Yi, have been painstakingly reassembled by the Liaoning Provincial Museum. This exhibition provides an extraordinary opportunity to see some of these treasures in the United States.

The Taft Museum of Art is known as one of the finest small art museums in America. A National Historic Landmark built in about 1820, the Taft is home to an extensive art collection that includes European and American master paintings; Chinese porcelains; and European decorative arts.  Visit : www.taftmuseum.org/

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