The Fitzwilliam Museum - University of Cambridge

Special Displays
The programme of exhibitions and special displays resumed in June 2004 with the
Museum’s relaunch following the Courtyard Development.
The Normans: Three centuries of
achievement, 911-1204
1 June – 12 September 2004
Octagon
In this exhibition, the rise and fall of the Normans
was explored principally through the medium of
coinage. From their origins as Viking ‘Northmen’
who left Scandinavia in search of adventure and
wealth in western Europe, it charted their settlement
in Normandy and development as a thriving
French duchy. Their opportunist involvement in the
affairs of southern Italy created an exotic
Mediterranean kingdom, while cool, calculated
ambition and good fortune gave them the rich prize
of England. Yet the tables were turned when, 800
years ago in 1204, the Norman duke cum English
king saw the duchy annexed by force at the hands
of the king of France.
Other Men’s Flowers
Recent acquisitions of contemporary prints
1 June - 24 October 2004, Shiba Room
This special display featured a selection of prints
made in series by leading contemporary artists,
including Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Michael
Landy, Christopher Le Brun, Hughie O’Donoghue
and Marc Quinn. Each artist brings a very different
approach to printmaking, employing a variety of
traditional and high-tech printmaking techniques. In
contrast to these individual sets, the mixed portfolio
Other Men’s Flowers came about when Joshua
Compston commissioned a miscellany of Londonbased
artists each to create a text-based work using
letterpress or screenprint. The artists in the portfolio
include Don Brown, Helen Chadwick, Matt
Collishaw, Tracey Emin, Andrew Herman, Gary
Hume, Max Wigram and Sam Taylor-Wood.
© The artist courtesy of The Paragon Press
15
Exhibitions
Marc Quinn (b. 1964),
Garden , 2000