Download Report - National Gallery of Art

entire career. Through one of the most turbulent periods
in European history that included two world wars, the
Spanish Civil War, and the decades-long dictatorship of
Francisco Franco, Miró maintained a fierce devotion to
his native Catalonia in northern Spain. Miró developed
a visual language that reflected his vision and energy in a
variety of styles across many media. A critical work in the
exhibition was The Farm, 1921–1922, a painting Miró
regarded as a key work in his career that combines memories
of his home in Mont-roig with elements of cubism,
abstraction, and primitivism. Ernest Hemingway purchased
The Farm shortly after it was painted, and in 1987,
Mary Hemingway donated it as a gift to the Gallery. Ten
of Miró’s lyrical constellation series works were installed
on a specially constructed, gentle-curving wall painted
midnight blue. A series of forty lithographs were juxtaposed
with one large-scale triptych, making an interesting
contrast in scale. A fully illustrated catalogue and film
accompanied the exhibition. Made possible by The HRH
Foundation, the thirty-minute film was produced by the
Gallery, narrated by Ed Harris, and shown at the Gallery
and on PBS television stations. With original footage shot
in Barcelona and at the Miró family farm in the Catalonian
countryside, it chronicled the artist’s longing for escape
from the chaos of war into pure creativity.
Another Gallery-owned work formed the centerpiece
of the exhibition Deacon Peckham’s “Hobby Horse.” When
The Hobby Horse, c. 1840, was given to the Gallery in
1955 by Colonel Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler
Garbisch, the artist’s identity was unknown. Decades of
research by Gallery staff led to a formal attribution to
EXHIBITING
26
George Bellows
Robert Peckham (1785–1877) in 2009. Along with this
important painting, eight of the most vibrant and arresting
of Peckham’s portraits of children from four museums and
several private collections were exhibited together for the
first time. The exhibition also featured a rare nineteenthcentury
rocking horse similar to the one depicted in The
Hobby Horse. Related works from the permanent collection
were included in an adjacent gallery. A brochure
published on the Gallery’s website contained an essay on
Peckham’s career, a catalogue of the works on view, and a
chronology of all known paintings by the artist.
The first comprehensive exhibition of the career of
George Bellows (1882–1925) in more than three decades
premiered at the Gallery this fiscal year. Bellows painted the
world around him. He was also an accomplished graphic
artist whose illustrations and lithographs addressed a wide
array of social, religious, and political subjects. Including
some 130 paintings, drawings, and lithographs, George
Bellows presented his full range of remarkable artistic
achievement thematically and chronologically throughout
nine rooms in the West Building. A fully illustrated catalogue,
an audio-tour, and a thirty-minute film produced
by the Gallery accompanied the exhibition. Narrated by
Ethan Hawke with original footage shot in New York
and Maine, the film captured the breadth of Bellows’
interests, from the rapidly growing modern city to the rugged
beauty of the Maine seacoast. Made possible by The
HRH Foundation, the film was screened at the Gallery