FALL 2004 - Memorial Art Gallery - University of Rochester

Exhibitions ‘04–’05KIMBERLY MCKINZIEFrom the DirectorThis publication is botha look forward at theupcoming exhibition yearand a look back at twoof the most challengingyet exhilarating years ofour long history.During the years 2002–04 (highlighted on pages7–9), the Gallery continuedto enhance its missionof “connecting peoplewith art:”• Temporary exhibitions ranged from the record attendanceof Degas to the scholarly significance of GeorgeBellows; from the historic (Augustus Saint-Gaudens)and contemporary (Finger Lakes) to the interactive andcollaborative (Protected for Eternity).• Educational programs engaged all ages—from youngstudents writing poems in response to works of art tomedical students understanding the “art of observation”(page 13).• Our Teacher Resource Center connected educatorswith art while Odyssey Online,* a collaboration withEmory University, connected their students with ourcollections of ancient art.• The Bellows Symposium, held in conjunction with theGallery-organized exhibition, brought scholars fromacross the country to explore the significance and legacyof the artist’s Woodstock years. As a result, students ofAmerican art were connected with a heretofore underappreciatedaspect of Bellows’s extraordinary career.The Gallery continued to thrive in a highly competitiveand challenging environment. And though difficult, evenpainful, budgetary decisions had to be made, we remainedcommitted to connecting our thousands of visitors to theriches of our artistic heritage. To this end, much creditgoes to an extraordinarily dedicated staff whose energy,creativity and “heart” make this a special place to visit.Above all, I want to thank Charlotte Herrera for herexceptional and exemplary leadership these past twoyears. Her tenure as Board president was distinguishedby energy, optimism and grace. She ended her termbeloved, admired and appreciated by Board andstaff alike.GRANT HOLCOMBMary W. and Donald R. Clark Director* http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/1The Walter O. EvansCollection of AfricanAmerican ArtOctober 10–January 9Grand GalleryGrowing up in the south inthe 1940s, Walter O.Evans studied great blackwriters and thinkers. But hehad no opportunity to visitmuseums and galleries.“Blacks simply were notallowed in these so-calledpublic facilities,” he writes.It was not until his college years that art became a passion,and not until the late 1970s that Evans, by then a physician,began collecting works by African American artists.Today, the Evans collection is one of the best of its kindin the world and one of the broadest-based, with morethan 200 works in all media by 19th- and 20thcenturyartists. Among these are the largest numberof privately-held works by two 20th-century icons,Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence. (More thana dozen, from the 1940s to the 1980s, will be onview at MAG.) In the 1990s Dr. Evans was namedby Art & Antiques magazine as one of the 100 topcollectors in the country.The 80 objects selected for this showrange from Barbizon-inspired landscapesto works from the HarlemRenaissance to Cubist abstractions.The earliest is an 1848 rural sceneby pioneering artist Robert ScottDuncanson; the most recent, a 1997bronze by renowned metal sculptor Richard Hunt.Programs and events include the Opening Party (October 9),lectures by Dr. Evans (October 10) and UR vice presidentPaul Burgett (December 2), a Family Day (October 17), anda performance by Garth Fagan Dance (November 7). For acomplete listing, see the September–October ARTiculate orvisit mag.rochester.edu.Organized by the Walter O. Evans Foundation for Art andLiterature. Sponsored in Rochester by Gleason Foundation,with additional support from the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Fund.The Evans Collection of African American Art (from top): Jacob Lawrence,Genesis Creation Sermon III (1989). Elizabeth Catlett, Homage to BlackWomen Poets (1984). Robert Scott Duncanson, Man Fishing (1848).The Paper Sculpture Show: Ester Partegas, Things You Don’t Like (2003).The View from Here: Yuri Avvakumov, Worker and Farmer International II(1999). Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Survival Series (1996).Finger Lakes: Old Friends, glass sculpture by Eric Dahlberg (2003 award winner).If Elected I Will Serve: William Gropper, The Opposition (1942). Gift of thePrint Club of Rochester.Better Things: Douglas Holleley, Hand and Ring (2004), detail of M. W.Hopkins, Pierrepont Edward Lacey and His Dog, Gun (1835–36).Japanese Prints: Kikukawa Eizan, Cooling Off: Beauties and PreciousChildren at Play.Alex and Ada: Alex Katz, Ada in White Hat (1990). Gift of Lewis Norryand Jill Katz Norry.