Summer Afternoon
dal 21/5/2004 al 11/10/2004
Segnalato da
Suzanne Augugliaro - Williams College Museum of Art
21/5/2004
Summer Afternoon
Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown
American Watercolors from the Collection. The exhibition will showcase works that capture the spirit of summer, from lush landscapes to delicate still lifes to scenes of frolicking children, culled from the museum's strong collection of American works on paper.
from the Collection
Williamstown, MA - Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) is pleased to present
Summer Afternoon: American Watercolors from the Collection. The exhibition
will showcase works that capture the spirit of summer, from lush landscapes
to delicate still lifes to scenes of frolicking children, culled from the
museum's strong collection of American works on paper. Including
approximately forty-five works, the show will feature the work of Maurice
Brazil Prendergast, a leader in American watercolor painting, with a special
display of his rarely exhibited sketchbooks that show his working method and
the studies that would provide the foundation for later works. WCMA's
collection of the works of Maurice Prendergast is the largest of any museum,
thanks to the generosity of his sister-in-law Eugénie Prendergast.
This exhibition will bring together many of WCMA's finest watercolors,
allowing viewers to compare and contrast various styles in the medium, from
the flowing colors of Prendergast to the tautly defined planes of color used
by Charles Demuth. Other artists exhibited include the acknowledged masters
of American watercolor: Winslow Homer, John Marin, and Charles Burchfield.
Summer is often thought of as a time of indulgent leisure. Henry James
mused, 'Summer afternoon‹Summer afternoonŠthe two most beautiful words in
the English language.' Although many of the works suggest this idea of the
ease of a lazy summer day, careful observation of the paintings reveals many
layers of construction in which the artists tightly controlled and
manipulated the interplay of paper and paint. Among the representations of
lighthearted beach scenes and the vibrant green passages of a summer
landscape, the artists struggled with questions of formalism and technical
precision.
This exhibition was organized by Ellery Foutch, Curatorial Assistant, with
Nancy Mowll Mathews, Eugénie Prendergast Senior Curator of 19th and 20th
Century Art and Lecturer in Art. It will remain on view through October 11.
Related Events
WCMA has planned several programs in conjunction with the exhibit. At the
museum's Summer Reception on July 17, curator of the exhibition Ellery
Foutch will give a brief gallery talk on selected works, beginning at 5:00
pm. On August 5 at 2 pm, Prendergast expert Nancy Mowll Mathews and Leslie
Paisley, conservator of works on paper from the Williamstown Art
Conservation Center, will speak on the studio practices and historical use
of the watercolor medium.
Children on a Fence, Maurice Brazil Prendergast's Fiesta-Venice-S. Pietro in
Volta, and Charles Ephraim Burchfield's Summer Afternoon. They can be found
at www.wcma.org/press.
The Williams College Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Admission is free and the museum is wheelchair accessible.
Contact: Suzanne Augugliaro, Public Relations Coordinator 413.597.3178
Williams College Museum of Art
15 Lawrence Hall Drive, Ste 2 MA 01267
Williamstown
tel 413.597.2429 - 413.597.3178