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Media Contact•Kiley Brodeur, Marketing and Communications Associate
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Degas, Renoir, Modernist Jewelry by Art Smith, and
American Gothic!
(May 20, 2013—Cincinnati, OH)
From the poetic pastels of Degas and Renoir to Modernist jewelry by Art Smith, the Cincinnati Art Museum will take visitors on a journey to experience works of art more delicate in nature for the 2013-2014 Exhibition Season. Modern and contemporary Japanese prints and ceramics, Cincinnati Silver, and new works of fashion and craft showcase the softer side. Visitors will experience yin and yang in Realm of Immortals and works of German Expressionism in Cries in the Night. And for the very first time, the iconic American Gothic will appear in Cincinnati alongside the Cincinnati Art Museum’s own Daughters of Revolution.
“The Art Museum will be a visual wonderland, with everything from fairy tales from far-off lands to American Gothic; the diversity and beauty of the art we will have on display will highlight the breadth and depth of the collections we have inherited from our predecessors and hold in trust for future generations,” said Cincinnati Art Museum Director, Aaron Betsky.
Realm of Immortals: Daoist Art in the Cincinnati Art Museum
October 12, 2013—January 5, 2014
Realm of Immortals is designed to introduce the important concepts of Chinese Daoism as both a philosophy and as a folk religion. Daoism has a deep and lasting influence on the cultures and arts of China, Japan, and Korea. The art objects selected here, except for a small number of loans, are all from the Cincinnati Art Museum’s collection and most have never been on public display before.
Originating in China, Daoism started as a system of cosmology and philosophy. The Chinese word dao means “the way.” According to Daoism, the universe is filled with a primal cosmic energy composed of the complementary forces of yin and yang. The constantly shifting and balancing of these energies explain all happenings in the universe and the inevitability of change. The yin/yang concept continues to be the guiding principle for all forms of Chinese art, including astronomy, architecture, medicine, martial art, music, calligraphy, and painting.
As the Cincinnati Art Museum’s collection represents the “folk religion” aspects of later Daoism more heavily, the Daoist immortals emerged as a major focus. Typically associated with longevity or self-cultivation, the Daoist immortals, including individuals of all ages, gender, and social classes, were idolized for their unconventional views, humor, and instinctive wisdom. The most popular and frequently depicted of these are the “Eight Immortals.”
Taming the Elements: Contemporary Japanese Prints and Ceramics
October 12, 2013—January 5, 2014
This exhibition of approximately 35 works will pair modern and contemporary Japanese prints from the Art Museum’s permanent collection, including the Howard and Caroline Porter Collection, with Japanese ceramics of the same era lent by Jeffrey and Carol Horvitz. Shown together, these works disclose a brilliant dialogue through shared rhythms, patterns, textures, emotions and ideas.
What’s New: Fashion and Contemporary Craft
September 7, 2013—January 19, 2014
Our curators are continually on the lookout for just the right objects—objects of the highest quality and impact that build on our current collection or take it in a new direction. This exhibition will showcase 26 recent additions to the Cincinnati Art Museum’s permanent collection in the areas of fashion and craft. These works, all created since 1950, will be paired to highlight shared affinities that document the diverse trends, ideas, events and characters of our time.
*Degas, Renoir, and Poetic Pastels
October 26, 2013—January 19, 2014
For artists like Degas and Renoir, pastel could be used quickly and without the fuss of wet paint that might take up to a year to dry. The artist could either spread the pastel in silk-thin layers or in dense, dynamic strokes of saturated color built up into thick crusts that rivaled the brushwork of an oil painting. Degas, Renoir, and Poetic Pastels will feature a selection of works from the Art Museum’s very strong permanent collection. From Alfred Sisley’s vibrant winter landscape to Degas’s poignant ballet dancers to Odilon Redon’s majestic flower still-life, this exhibition will highlight the bold achievements of French artists working with pastels in the second half of the nineteenth century. Not only will the works by these renowned artists be placed in their historical context, but issues of conservation and materials will be addressed.
*This is the first exhibition by Esther Bell, new Curator of European Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture.
Elizabeth Nourse: Rites of Passage
November 23, 2013—March 2, 2014
This exhibition celebrates the acquisition of The First Communion (La première communion), a masterpiece by Cincinnati favorite Elizabeth Nourse (1859–1935) painted in 1895 from studies she made in the Breton village of Saint Gildas. Born in Mt. Healthy, Ohio, Nourse studied at the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati before moving to France, where she enjoyed a successful career. Acquired from the Cincinnati Catholic Women’s Association in whose headquarters it hung for more than 70 years, The First Communion explores one of her signature themes: the spiritual lives of women and their participation in religious rituals. The painting will appear in context with fourteen works by Nourse from the holdings of the Art Museum and several loans from local collections.
From the Village to Vogue: The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith
February 22—May 18, 2014
Organized by the Brooklyn Museum of Art, this exhibition features 24 pieces of silver and gold jewelry created by African American artist, Art Smith, as well as select pieces by his contemporaries. Inspired by surrealism, biomorphism, and primitivism, Smith was one of the leading modernist jewelers of the mid-twentieth century. His work is dynamic in both size and form. The presentation is enriched by archival materials from the artist’s estate, including sketches, tools, and model photos. Smith was an active supporter of black and gay civil rights, an avid jazz enthusiast, and a supporter of early black modern dance groups.
Cries in the Night: German Expressionism around World War I
June 21—August 17, 2014
Expressionism developed during a period of intense social and aesthetic transformation in Germany and Austria. This exhibition of prints traces the avant-garde and the concurrent renaissance in the graphic arts, particularly printmaking, with the founding of the Brücke in 1905, through the devastating and transformative impact of the artist’s careers after Germany entered World War I in August 1914, and its aftermath during the early years of the Weimar Republic. Among the German printmakers featured are Erich Heckel, Ernst Kirchner, Georg Macke Käthe Kollwitz, Max Beckmann, Max Pechstein and Otto Dix.
Cincinnati Silver
June 14—September 7, 2014
Cincinnati was not only a center for art pottery and furniture; it was also a significant hub for the production and trade of luxury silver wares. In the years prior to 1850, Cincinnati boasted the largest concentration of silversmiths, jewelers, watch and clockmakers in the Midwest. This exhibition will showcase 150 to 200 objects, ranging from elegantly wrought soup tureens to tea sets that represent the city’s earliest activities in the trade (about 1795) through the Art Deco period. Displayed with related account and sample books, archival photographs, portraits, and furnishings of the period, the nature and riches of Cincinnati’s history in silver will unfold.
Wood, Benton and Curry: Conversations around American Gothic
August 30–November 16, 2014
The Cincinnati Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago will collaborate in a historic loan exchange involving Grant Wood’s two masterpieces: American Gothic and Daughters of Revolution. For the first time, the iconic American Gothic will appear in Cincinnati alongside the Art Museum’s own Daughters of Revolution; then the two paintings will travel to Chicago. In Cincinnati, Wood’s paintings will be brought together into dialogue with those of his colleagues John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton. From 1934, the watershed moment when these Midwesterners were hailed in Time magazine as the greatest American artists of their era, the three have been inextricably bound together. Visitors will be encouraged to compare their works, stimulating lively conversation about the definition of “realism” as an artistic style, small town and rural life, stereotypes, nationalism, and what it means to be an American.
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About the Cincinnati Art Museum
Hours of operation are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Art Museum is closed on Mondays. The Art Museum is FREE, EVERYDAY! The Art Museum is located at 953 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45202. For general information, call (513) 639-2995 or visit www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org.
The Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to the Arts Wave. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Cincinnati Art Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Cincinnati Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the City of Cincinnati, as well as our members.