The William Benton Museum of Art Celebrates "The Year of Science 2009"

Written by rubin Friday, 13 March 2009 01:27

Storrs, CT - The William Benton Museum of Art’s schedule of Spring exhibitions opens March 17th with Anatomically Correct: Medical Illustrations, 1543-2008. New Exhibition Presents Medical Illustrations from 16th-century Prints and Drawings to Present-day Digital Photography and 3D Images. The exhibition will be celebrated with a reception on Friday, March 20th, 5-7:30 pm and will remain on view through May 10, 2009.

Anatomically Correct chronicles the development of medical illustration through a selection of prints, drawings, computer graphics and animation from the 16th century to the present. Each piece articulates a unique union of art and anatomy, the works together reflecting the ways that union has evolved over the centuries and continues to thrive in an era of digital photography and 3-D imaging. Anatomically Correct and the events listed below are the Benton’s contributions to the University of Connecticut’s celebration of 2009 as “The Year of Science.”

The works in Anatomically Correct come out of a pictorial tradition that began with the Belgian anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), who was the first anatomist to conduct his own dissections and reformed scientific illustration by insisting upon anatomical accuracy and precision for the plates for his 1543 work De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body). With his brilliant integration of image and text, illustration began to serve a crucial function in the communication of scientific information, initiating the role of scientific illustration as a record of the progress of science in general.

Jumping ahead 200 years, Anatomically Correct presents illustrations from William Hunter's The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus (1774), which played a vital role in establishing obstetrics as a field of medicine rather than a practice of midwives. Advancements in print technology are represented by color lithography that premiered in the oversized plates of Jean Marc Bourgery's Atlas of Anatomy (1831-1854). A shift in the role of illustration from works of art in themselves to didactic tools can be seen in Henry Gray's Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical (1858), and the increased role of the computer in contemporary illustration is evidenced in the 3-D animation of XVIVO.

Anatomically Correct commemorates the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. The exhibition is particularly relevant to this moment of celebration as a reflection on the advancement in the field of anatomy as a basis for the theory of evolution and as an acknowledgement of the role of art as critical to the way these advancements were visualized. For a University calendar of The Year of Science 2009 events, visit http://clas.uconn.edu/yearofscience/events.html

The annual MFA exhibition showcases works by degree candidates in the School of Fine Arts, Department of Art and Art History.  This year’s graduates are sculptor/printmaker Michael Donovan, photographer/sculptor Bruce Myren, printmaker Jacob Saunders, painter/printmaker Elizabeth Talbot, and painter/photographer Erin Wiersma.

Luigi Lucioni’s American Countryside is a presentation of twenty etchings by the popular American artist (1900-1988). They were chosen from a generous gift of 103 Lucionis received from Richard Schimmelpfeng.The 2009 Master of Fine Arts Exhibition and Luigi Lucioni’s American Countryside will open April 4th with a reception April 3, 5-7:30 pm.

The William Benton Museum of Art is the State Art Museum, located on the University of Connecticut, 245 Glenbrook Road, Storrs, CT 06269. Ph 860.486.4520. Benton Gallery hours: Tues-Fri 10-4:30, Sat-Sun 1-4:30. The Museum will be closed April 11-13. Free Admission to the galleries and the events listed here. Donations are appreciated. For more about the Benton, visit www.thebenton.org .

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