newly expanded cornell
fine arts museum launches season with art treasures on view
Winter Park, Fla. ―
Rollins College’s newly expanded Cornell Fine Arts Museum, one of
America’s top college art museums, launches its inaugural season January
22 with a slate of four exhibitions that reflect the Museum’s diversity
and showcases its elegant new galleries. From Renaissance masters to
cutting-edge contemporary artists, the Cornell Museum offers a rich
palette of the finest art. Three of the exhibitions are drawn from the
Museum’s collection ― one of the oldest and most distinguished in
Florida ― and one includes important loans.
● Eye to Eye,
organized by Curator Luanne McKinnon, will be on view January 22 through
April 23. With works dating from 1561 to 2005, the wide-ranging show
examines the powerful relationship between the direct gazes of the
portrait’s subject (the sitter) and the viewer. For example, the
Cornell’s Tintoretto, Portrait of a Gentleman (c.1580), is
seen within the context of contemporary portraits by Chuck Close, Alex
Katz, Cindy Sherman, William Beckman, Y. Z. Kami, Richard Phillips, and
others. Three public lectures will address creative and theoretical
issues raised by the exhibition. The first will be Luanne McKinnon’s
gallery talk “Witnessing the Gaze/The Gaze as Witness” on Sunday,
February 5, at 3 p.m.; Deli Sacilotto, director of research at
Graphicstudio in Tampa, will present the second lecture, “Making Chuck,”
on February 26, at 3 p.m. about creating Chuck Close’s most recent
Self-Portrait; and Anne Collins Goodyear of the National Portrait
Gallery will present “The Conundrums of Contemporary Portraiture” on
Tuesday, March 14, at 7 p.m.. The films “Alex Katz Five Hours” and
“Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress” will be shown on Thursday ―
February 2, March 16, and April 6 ― at 7 p.m. in the Museum.
● Important
works from the Cornell collection offer a visual feast in
Director’s Choice: European Art, 1345 to 1901, organized by
Cornell Director Arthur Blumenthal and on view January 20 through August
13. The exhibition offers a glimpse of the depth of the Cornell’s
European art collection, with works from the Italian Renaissance to
French Realism. Rarely shown and recently acquired works ― ranging from
Felipe Vigarny’s retablo panels of The Apostles (c.1515)
to Gustave Brion’s Crossing the Rhine (c.1855) ― will be
on display in two new galleries, along with recently restored works,
such as an 18th-century Italian Baroque oil painting of
The Adoration of the Magi (c.1710). Blumenthal will present
two gallery talks on the exhibition on Sunday, January 29 and Sunday,
April 9, both at 3 p.m.
●
As part of a special installation of
the Cornell Museum’s recent acquisition of Sir Robert Burton
Coynynham by Gilbert Stuart, Carrie Rebora Barratt, curator of
American paintings and sculpture and manager of the Luce Center for the
Study of American Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,
will lecture on Tuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. Barratt co-curated and
co-authored the exhibition and catalogue Gilbert Stuart that
premiered at the Metropolitan Museum and traveled to the National
Gallery of Art in Washington.
● Winslow Homer
Illustrating War, drawn from the Cornell’s 230 wood engravings
by Homer (1836-1910), was organized by Curator McKinnon and will run
from January 20 through August 25. Homer’s work as a Civil War
artist-correspondent brought scenes from the battlefield and country at
large to the wide readership of Harper’s Weekly. An original,
high-definition video accompanying the exhibition will expand our
understanding of Homer’s war etchings by exploring their relationship to
the extensive journalistic coverage of the national struggle by
photographers Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O’Sullivan, and
George N. Barnard. Related events include the Oscar and Cannes
award-winning film, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” an adaptation
of the classic American short-story by Ambrose Bierce will be shown on
Sunday, February 19, March 26, and June 4, at 3 p.m.
● The work of
graduating Rollins art majors will be highlighted in the 2006
Senior Art Show, slated for April 28 through May 15. The
students exhibit paintings, prints, video, photographs, drawings,
sculpture, and installations completed during the last four years.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday,
and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. The admission fee is $5 for adults.
There is no charge for Cornell Museum members; Rollins College faculty,
students, and staff; and for all students with identification. For
additional information, please call 407-646-2526 or visit
www.rollins.edu/cfam.
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