' Victorian romance and tragedy to life ' at Cincinnati Art Museum

Written by Administrator Friday, 06 October 2006 10:49

CINCINNATI, OHIO - Mystery and romance unfold this fall at the Cincinnati Art Museum through the exhibition, Waking Dreams - Experience the Enchantment.  Visitors will delve into an online and in-museum journey exploring the secret lives and torrid love affairs of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a band of notoriously rebellious artists in Victorian England.

The Art Museum’s first-ever integration of technology and art begins at www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org, where an adults-only Web journey challenges visitors to search for clues and symbols that reveal the true love of Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  “The sensual voices of Rossetti’s lovers, the challenging clues and puzzles, the lush artwork and the mysterious stories create a truly interactive experience,” said Betsy Wieseman, curator of European painting and sculpture.  “Visitors to the website will feel privy to some of the things that went on behind closed doors in the artist’s studio and boudoir.”

Clues and symbols continue within the exhibition at the Art Museum as visitors follow a path of discovery through more than 130 objects, including paintings, drawings and decorative arts. Upon completing the in-museum quest, visitors have the chance to return to the Web in the final gallery and cast their vote for who they think was Rossetti’s true love and to enter into the drawing for a Romantic Valentine Weekend prize package.

“At the Art Museum, we encourage visitors to immerse themselves in the sensual historical surroundings we’ve created to evoke these artists’ secret lives and highlight their art and inspiration,” said Wieseman.  “These remarkable artists had idealistic beliefs which led them to create heartfelt and extremely beautiful works that we’re excited to be able to share with visitors.”

Rejecting the formal training they had received at London’s art academies, the Pre-Raphaelite artists looked to the direct study of nature and the simpler art and craft of the Middle Ages, for inspiration.  They created art that was honest and heartfelt, and more responsive to social problems.  A close union between literature and the visual arts imbued Pre-Raphaelite art with rich symbolism, sentiment and narrative; an idealistic quest for beauty resulted in some of the most lush and sensual art ever created.  Themes in the exhibited works are drawn from classical mythology, Arthurian legend and literature ranging from Shakespeare and the Bible to the Romantic poetry of Tennyson and Keats.  The exhibition also includes a broad selection of applied arts produced by the Pre-Raphaelite influenced Arts and Crafts movement including furniture, textiles, stained glass, jewelry and metalwork.  Among the artists represented in Waking Dreams – Experience the Enchantment are Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Homan Hunt, Edward Burne-Jones, John Everett Millais and William Morris.

This exhibition is organized and circulated by Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia and comes from the Delaware Art Museum.  Media sponsor is Cincinnati Magazine. A special thanks to Lucrum Inc., project technology partner, and to the Northern Kentucky University Department of Theater and Dance.

Located in scenic Eden Park, the Cincinnati Art Museum features an unparalleled art collection of more than 60,000 works spanning 6,000 years.  In addition to displaying its own broad collection, the Art Museum also hosts several national and international traveling exhibitions each year.