Winter 2011 - Museum of Art and Archaeology - University of Missouri

Winter 2011 | Number 58Museum of Art and ArchaeologyUniversity of Missouri

ContentsMission StatementThe Museum of Art and Archaeology advancesunderstanding of our artistic and cultural heritagethrough research, collection and interpretation. Wehelp students, scholars and the broader communityto experience authentic and significant art andartifacts firsthand, and to place them in meaningfulcontexts. We further this mission by preserving,enhancing and providing access to the collectionsfor the benefit of present and future generations.© Copyright 2010 Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia25678101213141617A Midwestern View: The Artists of theSte. Genevieve Art ColonyLove, Life, Death and Mourning:Remembrance in Portraits byGeorge Caleb BinghamCIA: Counterfeits, Imitations andAlterations of Ancient CoinsSpecial ExhibitionsEvents CalendarMissouri Folk Arts ProgramRan In-Ting’s Watercolors: East andWest Mix in Images of Rural TaiwanNew AcquisitionsFrom the EducatorMuseum AssociatesSpotlight: Bakongo Power FigureMuseum Galleries:Tuesday through Friday: 9am to 4pmThursday Evenings until 8pmSaturday and Sunday: noon to 4pmMuseum Store:Tuesday through Friday: 10am to 4pmThursday Evenings until 8pmSaturday and Sunday: noon to 4pmClosed:MondaysUniversity of Missouri Holidays and Christmas Daythrough New Year’s DayAdmission is FREE and open to the publicThe Museum is ADA AccessibleMuseum AssociatesIn Support of the Museum of Art and ArchaeologyOfficers:Robin LaBrunerie, PresidentGary Upton, TreasurerDirectors:Emilie AtkinsMarcela ChavezJuanamaria Cordones CookRobert DoroghaziJeannette FrenchKen GreeneEx Officio Directors:Alex Barker, Museum Director and Executive Vice-PresidentBruce Cox, Assistant Director, Museum OperationsMary Pixley, Curator, European and American ArtAnne Stanton, Chair, Department of Art History and ArchaeologyIngrid Headley, Docent RepresentativeHonorary Directors:Patricia Atwater, Libby Gill, Osmund Overby, Betty Proctor and Patricia WallaceMuseum of Art and ArchaeologyEditorial Office: 1 Pickard HallUniversity of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211Phone: (573) 882-3591 Fax: (573) 884-4039Visit us online: http://maa.missouri.eduEditorial Staff: Bruce Cox, EditorKristie Lee, Graphic DesignerTerri Rohlfing, SecretaryPam HuffstutterMark KochElizabeth KraatzJennifer LarmieGail MetzVicki OttJennifer PerlowKathleen PitzerSusan ReynoldsAnnette SobelScott SouthwickGil StoneAnne TuckleyThe magazine is published biannually by the Museum of Art and Archaeology,University of Missouri-Columbia, and is paid for through membership fees,donations and gift contributions to Museum Associates.Museum galleries display art and artifacts from six continents and more than fivemillennia. Lectures, seminars, gallery talks and educational programs associatedwith permanent and temporary exhibitions provide a wide range of cultural andeducational opportunities for all ages.The Museum of Art and Archaeology is located in Pickard Hall on historic FrancisQuadrangle, at the corner of University Avenue and S. Ninth Street, on the Universityof Missouri campus in Columbia, Mo.MU does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, nationalorigin, age, disability or status as a Vietnam Veteran. For more information, call Human ResourcesServices at: (573) 882-4256 or the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights.University of Missouri is an equal opportunity/ADA institution.[Cover]IGeorge Caleb Bingham (American, 1811–1879)Portrait of Thomas Withers Nelson (detail), ca. 1844–1845Oil on canvas(2003.5)Gilbreath-McLorn Museum Fund

From the DirectorThis past semester I’ve been teaching a graduate seminar in museum studies.As their final project the students designed exhibitions, presenting them (anddefending them) to the rest of the class. I placed no major constraints on topicsor design, except that they needed to be able to justify the choices they madein terms of the technical constraints on particular kinds of objects, the needs ofaudiences, and the didactical limitations of exhibition labels. I think—I hope—they learned a lot. I know I did.The students addressed a wide range of topics, from the ambiguity of gender and identity in the works of contemporaryartist Cindy Sherman to the effects of pesticide and prospects for controlling pests using natural means, and from cuisine inancient Rome to a powerful and disturbing treatment of racism and lynching. All of them had areas of special strength, andeach of them had one or more “aha!” moments of resonance and wonder.Stephen Greenblatt—one of my favorite authors—argues that this is the proper role of museums; we are purveyors ofresonance and wonder, and these are the currencies by which value in museums is measured. “Resonance,” he argues, is theability for an exhibition to engage us, to find a way to connect with us at an immediate and human level. It’s the commonground that makes an exhibition relevant to us as individuals or communities. “Wonder” is the magical ability of exhibitionsto transport us out of our time and place to appreciate new ways of seeing, to experience ancient worlds long faded to dust,or to imagine new worlds not yet born.Over the next year the Museum of Art and Archaeology will mount a series of exhibitions that offer the chance to travel tofaraway or long past worlds, to see the world through other eyes, and to return to our own with a fresh perspective—inother words, exhibitions of resonance and wonder. We begin with A Midwestern View: The Artists of the Ste. GenevieveArt Colony, which examines an influential but now little-known art colony in southeastern Missouri. Next is Ran In-Ting’sWatercolors: East and West Mix in Images of Rural Taiwan, an exhibition of watercolors by one of the most acclaimedTaiwanese artists of the 20th century. And we follow that exhibition with an examination of commerce in the ancient world.The Mediterranean Melting Pot: Commerce and Cultural Exchange in Antiquity traces the far-flung trade connections thatmade the economics of the Greco-Roman world profoundly international in both scope and character.We’ll also be offering a smaller numismatic exhibition curated by collections specialist Kenyon Reed. CIA: Counterfeits,Imitations and Alterations of Ancient Coins looks beyond more traditional presentations of ancient coins and examines theways they were faked, altered, and manipulated in antiquity. This exhibition and Benton Kidd’s Mediterranean Melting Pot inFall 2011 bring into sharper focus similarities between the ancient world and our own. And along the way we’ll also mount asmall exhibition celebrating the life of George Caleb Bingham, examining themes of sentiment and loss in his portraits.We have ourselves experienced losses that leave all of us saddened. Herb Brown, husband of the late Betty Brown and afamiliar face at Museum functions, passed away earlier this year. And Jean McCartney, an active Museum docent and regularpatron of all of the arts institutions of the area, died suddenly in December. Both will be very deeply missed; both remind usto hold our friends and family—another source of resonance and wonder—all the more tightly.See you at the Museum!Alex W. BarkerDirector

A Midwestern ViewThe ArT isT s of T h esTe. Genevieve ArT ColonyJanuary 29 – May 15, 2011From 1932 until 1941, several like-minded artists gathered every summer tocreate art in Ste. Genevieve, the oldest town in Missouri. The time the artistsspent at the Colony was often one of experimentation. While in many such coloniesartists frequently worked in a similar style, the artists at Ste. Genevieve showed theirindividualism and wide-ranging artistic knowledge as they worked in numerousmanners. This exhibition explores the diversity of these artists and the richness of theirart, as well as the important role of Missouri in Midwestern art.Located only 65 miles south of St. Louis on the west bank of the Mississippi River,Ste. Genevieve was a peaceful refuge, which still provided access to a major urbancenter with talented artists who could serve as faculty. In addition, the area provideda bountiful supply of local art students as well as audiences for group exhibitions.The numerous examples of picturesque French Colonial architecture and the town’sproximity to the river, farmlands, and lime industry promised a variegated landscapewith differing qualities of light and air.2

Jessie Beard Rickly (1895–1975)Still life, Lilies and FruitCa. 1930WatercolorLent by the John and SusanHorseman CollectionE. Oscar Thalinger (1885–1965)The Old Rock House, orSte. Genevieve in WinterCa. 1932Oil on canvasLent by the John and SusanHorseman Collection Left to right: Martyl Schweig (b. 1918) Erosion, ca. 1942, oil on masonite; MiriamMcKinnie (1906–1987), Women Gathering Greens, ca. 1937, oil on canvas; BernardE. Peters (1893–1949), untitled (landscape), ca. 1930, oil on canvas; all lent by theJohn and Susan Horseman collection.This atmosphere would have appealed to Aimee Schweig andJesse Rickly, the founders of the Ste. Genevieve Summer Schoolof Art, who had learned the plein air (French for open air oroutside) method of painting under Charles Hawthorne at theProvincetown art colony in Massachusetts. With a programinspired by that of Provincetown, they hoped that their schoolwould increase the appreciation of art in the Middle West as wellas “perpetuate Midwestern life by the preservation of its scenesand types in paint.”While much of the art produced at Ste. Genevieve showedAmerican life portrayed in a naturalistic vein, to categorize thecolony as a center for only Regionalist and Social Realist art deniesthe artistic pluralism that thrived there. The artists at the colonywere often well traveled and aware of artistic trends on the EastCoast, in the American Southwest and Mexico, as well as muchof Europe including Madrid, Paris, and Munich. They used theirknowledge to paint scenes of the Midwest in a variety of deeplypersonal styles.A view of the riverfront in St. Louis by Joe Jones shows himpainting in a temperate modernist vein. The hard edged andsimplified forms with smooth surfaces and restrained modelingreflect his knowledge of the Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka,Georgia O’Keefe, and the pure geometric forms of precisionist art.Miriam McKinnie was also known for her moderate modernism,but her painting Women Gathering Greens reveals a remarkablesculptural quality as she transforms a Renaissance triangle constructioninto a powerful composition showing women hard atwork outside on their knees.3

Joseph Paul Vorst (1897–1947)Sharecroppers’ RevoltCa. 1940Oil on panelLent by the John and SusanHorseman CollectionJoseph Vorst used an expressive style, reflective of his studywith Thomas Hart Benton (Benton spent only one day teachingat the colony), to portray and call attention to poverty along theMississippi. His Sharecroppers’ Revolt painted in 1939 shows theplight of jobless tenant farmers. Evicted from their housing, theymust now live in a makeshift house made of quilts during thecold of winter. In The Old Rock House of 1932, Oscar Thalingershows unemployed workers huddling for protection near anabandoned residence at the river’s edge as they wait for daylabor on a barge. He exhibited at the Museum of Modern Arta year later. The richness of his coloring, which so effectivelyevokes the ambience of this scene, reflects his study withHermann Groeber in Munich.Several of the artists chosen for this exhibition were of majorimportance to the success of the art colony. Bernard Peterswas at the colony from the beginning, encouraged by FrankNuderscher, who also painted at Ste. Geneieve and served asDirector of the Ozark School of Art. A highly educated artist,Peters had studied in England, France, at St. Louis University, andat Harvard University. His studies at Gloucester in Massachusetts,however, perhaps proved the most influential as he adopted thesimilar broken application of paint used by Frederick Mulhaupt(also from Missouri), who was a leading painter of this port city.Both Schweig and Rickly hoped that the colony and schoolof Ste. Genevieve would help focus the artistic ambitions of theparticipants and provide opportunities for collegial gatheringsand interesting artistic discussions, as well as encourageinterest in the art and artists who participated. The art colonysucceeded in achieving these goals and its vitality can be seen inthe diversity of themes and responses to contemporary artisticand political issues. The works chosen for this exhibition, whilenot all produced at the colony, illustrate the creativity andexperimental nature of many of the participating artists, whosaw beauty just as readily in the commonplace as in the artisticprocess itself. This exhibition illustrates the diversity of the artproduced in Missouri, the reality of which has been cloudedby the dominance of the style of Regionalism propounded byBenton and his circle.Even though the colony thrived and was viewed as a notableaddition to the artistic scene, the summer school disappearedafter 1938. Schweig and other artists from St. Louis continuedto visit Ste. Genevieve, but they did so in diminished numbers,and with the entry of the United States into World War II thecolony disintegrated. Fortunately, the story does not end there.Several of the artists associated with Ste. Genevieve continuedto have very productive careers, as they won prizes in paintingcompetitions, were selected for important exhibitions, andsometimes even had solo exhibitions in important cities. Despitethe continued prominence of the artists of the Ste. Genevieve ArtColony, they are not widely known today.4

Love, Life, Death and MourningRemembrance in Portraits by George Caleb BinghamFebruary 1 – April 17, 2011Mary PixleyAssociate Curator ofEuropean and American ArtThe portraits selected forthis exhibition commemoratefamily, love, andlife. They were created onvarious occasions to celebratea conjugal union or to mournthe passing away of a beloved.While traditional statements ofposition, power, and the socialinstitution of marriage, they alsoreveal the sentimentalism of anage in which death of familymembers—especially wives andchildren—was a familiar part ofthe social landscape.Bingham combined a uniquemixture of accuracy and idealism in his portraits, which madehim a very popular portraitist throughout his career. He typicallyarranged his subject in a three-quarter pose with the persongazing directly at the viewer. Looking back at the viewer,Bingham’s sitters establish a personal and vivid link with us.Whether painted early or late in his career, Bingham’s portraitsshow a frank and unpretentious likeness that defined theAmerican character.The representations of single individuals shown in this exhibitrelate in differing ways to associated portraits of family members,both living and deceased. In pendant or paired portraits, thetorsos of the husband and wife typically turn toward each otherPhotos: above, left to right, Mr. and Mrs. Henry SheffieGeyer (details), both ca. 1839, oil on canvas, lent bythe University of Missouri School of Law; Mrs. and Mr.Robert Beverly Price (details), both ca. 1862, oil oncanvas, lent by Albert M. and Margaret J. Price; center:Mrs. George Caleb Bingham and son Newton, 1842,oil on canvas, lent by Dr. Robert M. Doroghazi.as they represent the core of the family.While the 1839 portraits of Mr. andMrs. Henry Sheffie Geyer (Joanna EastonQuarles) clearly mirror each other, thoseof Mr. and Mrs. Robert Beverly Price(Emma Prewitt) do not. Emma’s face isnot turned toward her husband’s to thesame degree. With a subtle change inangle, Bingham indicated a disharmonybetween the two family members, whichin this case signaled the fact that Emmahad passed away three years prior to thepainting of these two portraits.A posthumous or mourning picture ofa deceased family member was fairly common in the nineteenthcentury. In an interesting twist, the portrait of Thomas WithersNelson (pictured on the cover) shows the sitter wearing apiece of mourning jewelry featuring a large piece of jet. Whilehusbands were not expected to wear mourning clothes as wiveswere, Thomas chose to have himself portrayed respectfullymourning the loss of a loved one. Bingham’s double portrait ofhis first wife Sarah Elizabeth and their son Isaac Newton firstserved as a lasting memorial of his recently deceased son, andsix years later as a remembrance of his deceased wife. Capturingand preserving glimpses of family life and history, these portraitsserved as mementos in life and in death.5

CIA: Counterfeits, Imitations andAlterations of Ancient CoinsKenyon ReedCollections SpecialistEvery object in the museum tells astory, and this is especially true ofcoins. Most of the coins on permanentdisplay in the Museum tell a similar story,one that is short, sweet, and relativelysimple: they were struck at a mint, passedthrough a relatively small number of hands,and then were lost or hidden away untilthey came to be on display in the Museum.Their stories are often of luxury and privilege,beauty and grace, refinement and class. But thecoins in this exhibition tell a different story. Their storiesare often longer, more convoluted, and complex, and are oftenfull of trickery and deceit, envy and imitation, violence and pain.The exhibition CIA: Counterfeits, Imitations and Alterationsof Ancient Coins examines these coins in greater depth in anattempt to better tell their stories.Counterfeit coins tell the story of trickery, deceit, and greed.Counterfeits have been around as long as coins, and counterfeitbullion was one of the reasons coinage was invented. Ancientcounterfeits were designed to cheat the ancient consumer.Fouree coins, with a base metal core encased in either silveror gold, could circulate for years until their true worth wasdiscovered, while mold cast coins were mixed into bagscontaining official currency, and probably went unnoticed by thegeneral population (Fig. 2). With the renewed interest in antiquitythat occurred during the Renaissance came a renewed interestin counterfeiting ancient coins, this time to cheat collectors, anactivity that, unfortunately, continues to this day.Imitations tell the stories of desperation, impersonation,and hope. Coins were imitated for a number of reasons. Somecoins were imitated because of their popularity and respectin international trade, a respect the issuers hoped to gainby copying these revered types. Others were imitated out ofdesperation, in order to provide coins in regions where theywere lacking. Some imitations tell the story of cultural influence,others the story of cultural or political changes, and still othersof a yearning for the good old days. Imitations of ancient coinsFebruary 19 – July 31, 2011made during the Renaissance speak bothof helping collectors fill gaps in theircollections and of the maker’s ideasabout coins that should have existed inantiquity, but didn’t.Alterations tell the story of violenceand pain inflicted by a wide variety ofphysical changes made to coins afterthey left the mint. Some alterations werepractical, such as test cuts to determine thepurity of the metal (Fig. 1); halving a coin toprovide much needed small change; countermarking torevalue or confirm the coin’s legitimacy; and overstriking, whichwas used to recycle worn coins, to revalue earlier issues, andto reinforce imperial authority (Fig. 4). Not all alterations wereutilitarian in nature; some were aesthetic. Large bronze coinswere sometimes hammered around the edge to create protocontorniates,which were then used as decoration on armor orcontainers, or as pieces for board games. Coins of all metals wereturned into pieces of jewelry. Bronze and silver coins were oftenjust pierced through so they could be suspended from a chain,but gold coins and medallions were usually provided with at leastan added loop, and were sometimes set as the centerpiece forextremely elaborate creations (Fig. 3).All of the stories told by the coins in this exhibition are rarelytold in regular displays. Some of the stories overlap, some mergetogether, but all help to bring to life the vivid and intriguing lifeof ancient coins.Fig. 1. Silver Stater of Datames, Greek, minted at Tarsus, ca. 373–368 BCE (69.234),Museum purchase and partial gift of Mrs. Mary Frances Osborne Davis and Mrs. SusanAnn Davis Aulgur in memory of John H. TownsendFig. 2. Terracotta Mold for Casting a Counterfeit Bronze Nummus of Maximinus II,Roman, Near East, ca. 317–320 CE (70.340), Museum purchaseFig. 3. Gold Medallion with Imitation Solidus, Byzantine, Palestine, Near Hebron, 5th–6thCentury CE (68.175 C), Chorn Memorial FundFig. 4. Bronze Follis of Heraclius, Byzantine, minted at Syracuse, 631 CE (69.880),Museum purchase and partial gift of Mrs. Mary Frances Osborne Davis and Mrs. SusanAnn Davis Aulgur in memory of John H. TownsendFig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 46

Special ExhibitionsAdmission is FREE and open to the publicMuseum is ADA AccessibleMuseum GalleriesTuesday through Friday: 9am to 4pmThursday Evenings until 8pmSaturday and Sunday: noon to 4pmClosed Mondays and University HolidaysMuseum StoreTuesday through Friday: 10am to 4pmThursday Evenings until 8pmSaturday and Sunday: noon to 4pmThrough–February 6, 2011Equine ArtTaking the theme of the horse, this focus exhibition reveals a passion for the horse that can be foundaround the world throughout time. While revealing a remarkable diversity of artistic approaches, theEquine Art exhibition also illustrates the different roles horses have played as they helped to shapehuman history.Through–May 15, 2011A Midwestern View: The Artists of the Ste. Genevieve Art ColonyDuring the 1930s and early 1940s, Ste. Genevieve (the oldest town in Missouri, located sixty miles southof St. Louis) was host to an important art colony. Founded by Aimee Schweig, Bernard Peters, andJesse Rickly, these artists were joined by other Regionalist painters including Thomas Hart Benton, JoeJones, and Joseph Vorst. These painters hoped to develop an independent view of the world as theyresponded to contemporary political and artistic issues in various manners. This exhibition will explorethe diversity of these artists as well as the important role of Missouri in Midwestern art.February 1–April 17, 2011Love, Life, Death and Mourning: Remembrance in Portraits by GeorgeCaleb BinghamTo commemorate the work of nineteenth-century Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham, this exhibitionfocuses on Bingham’s portraits and his unique ability to mix accuracy and idealism in the painting ofhis subjects. Subjects were painted to commemorate love, life, death and mourning as the cycle of lifewas captured through Bingham’s oil paint and brush strokes. Whether painted early or late in his career,Bingham’s portraits show a frank and unpretentious likeness that defined the American character.February 19–July 31, 201CIA: Counterfeits, Imitations and Alterations of Ancient CoinsThis exhibition focuses on aspects of ancient coinage rarely considered in a museum setting. The sectionon counterfeits investigates coins designed to cheat, either the ancient consumer or the modern collector.Imitations probe the complex relationship of coins to the past and their various meanings. Lastly,the segment on altered coins examines the various physical changes made to coins after they left themint and the reasons for these changes.May 28–August 14, 2011Ran In-Ting’s Watercolors: East and West Mix in Images of Rural TaiwanThis exhibition focuses on the art of the painter Ran In-Ting (Lan Yinding, 1903–1979), one of Taiwan’smost famous artists. A student of Ishikawa Kinichiro, Ran developed a unique style that emphasizedthe changes in fluidity of ink and watercolor. By mastering both wet and dry brush techniques, hesucceeded at deftly controlling the watery medium. Complementing this with a wide variety of brushstrokesand the use of bold colors, Ran created watercolors possessing an elegant richness like thatfound in oil painting.7

8MarchMARCHFebruaryMarchFEBRUARY(Black History Month)1 TuesdayFocus Exhibition OpensLove, Life, Death and Mourning:Remembrance in Portraits byGeorge Caleb BinghamCorner Gallery2 WednesdayGallery Event12:15–1:00 pm, Exhibition GalleryExhibition Tour of A MidwesternView: The Artists of the Ste.Genevieve Art ColonyMary Pixley, Curator of Europeanand American Art13 SundayFamily Event(Grades, K–8) 2:00–3:30pmAfrican-American Artists and Art(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-359114 MondayValentine’s Day EventReception, 6:00pm, Cast GalleryFilm: Three Coins in theFountain (1954)6:45pm, Room 106Starring Clifton Webb, DorothyMcGuire, and Louis Jourdan$15/per person (MA members $12/person)$25/couple (MA members $22/couple)Call 882-6724 to make yourreservation by February 10thRoses for the ladies!19 SaturdayFocus Exhibition OpensCIA: Counterfeits, Imitations andAlterations of Ancient Coins24 ThursdayArchaeological Instituteof America Lecture (AIA)Reception 5:00pm, Cast GalleryLecture 5:30pm, Room 106“Petra: An Urban Oasis in theArabian Desert”Leigh-Ann Bedel, ArchaeologistUniversity of Pennsylvania27 SundayMusic and Art Concert5pm, Jesse Hall RotundaMuseum of Art and Archaeology andMU’s School of Music Chorale(Women’s History Month)9 WednesdayGallery Event12:15–1:00 pm, Exhibition GalleryExhibition Tour of CIA: Counterfeits,Imitations and Alterations ofAncient CoinsKenyon Reed, Exhibition Curator10 ThursdayMuseum Lecture SeriesReception 5:30pm, Cast GalleryLecture/Performance 6:00pm, Room 106“Music and Culture of Ste. Genevieveand the ‘Missouri French’”Dennis Stroughmatt, Musicianand Historian14 MondayFood and Society Lecture SeriesReception 5:30pm, Cast GalleryLecture 6:00pm, Room 106“Beyond ‘Eating Disorders’:Why We Need to Re-think EverythingWe Thought We Knew”Susan Bordo, Professor of English/Gender & Women StudiesUniversity of KentuckyCo-sponsored by the Museumof Art and Archaeology18 Friday–20 SundayArt in BloomMid-Missouri Florists celebrate theMuseum’s artwork with their inspiredfloral designs18 FridayMuseum Associates Opening Reception5:30pm, Cast GalleryArt in Bloom opens to the public7:00–9:00pm19 SaturdayArt in Bloom open from 9:00am–4:00pmArt in Bloom for KidsSessions between 1:00 –3:30pm, Room 106(Preregistration suggested, 882-3591)20 SundayArt in Bloom open from 9:00am–4:00pmPeople’s Choice Award WinnersAnnounced3:30pm, Room 106AprilAPRIL10 SundaySunday Event(Children over 10 and adults)2:00–3:30pm, Fine Art BuildingChinese Brush Painting(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-359114 ThursdayArchaeological Instituteof America Lecture (AIA)Reception 5:00pm, Cast GalleryLecture 5:30pm, Room 106“The Delphic Oracle: Modern ScienceExamines an Ancient Mystery”John Hale, Director of LiberalStudies and ArchaeologistUniversity of Louisville16 SaturdayAnnual Paintbrush BallWine and Cheese Reception5:30pm, Cast Gallery, Pickard Hall7:00pm, Dinner, Silent Auction,and DancingDonald W. Reynolds Alumni CenterEntertainment by Big Band, Kapital KicksTickets: $70/person or $130/coupleMuseum AssociateTickets: $65/person or $120/coupleRSVP by April 13, 201128 ThursdayEvening Event(Grades, Pre-K–8) 6:00–7:30pmImages of Missouri(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-3591MayMAY15 SundaySunday Event(Children, K–8)2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryOn View(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-359128 SaturdayExhibition OpensRan In-Ting’s Watercolors:East and West Mix in Images ofRural Taiwan

June AugustJUNE9 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryThe World of Watercolor(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-359116 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryPuppets(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-3591AUGUST4 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryPaper(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-359111 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryAbstract Expressionism(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-3591APRIL7 ThursdayLast Supper (Documentary) (2005)Starts at 6pm; discussion to followDirected by Mats Bigert and Lars BergströmStarring Brian Price(In Conjunction with the Food and Society Series)21 ThursdayA Funny Thing Happened on theWay to the Forum (1966)Directed by Richard LesterStarring Zero Mostel, Buster Keaton,and Phil Silvers(Sponsored by the Museum AdvisoryCouncil of Students)23 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryLandscapes(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-3591JULY6 WednesdayJulyGallery Event12:15–1:00 pm, Exhibition GalleryExhibition Tour of Ran In-Ting’sWatercolors: East and West Mix inImages of Rural TaiwanMary Pixley, Curator of Europeanand American Art7 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryPyramid Power(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-359114 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryAnimals on the Loose(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-359121 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryWho Wants to Be an Archaeologist?(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-359128 ThursdayKids Series: World of Art2:00–3:30pm, Cast GalleryBooks, Tablets, Manuscripts,and Scrolls(Limit two children per accompanying adult)Preregistration required 882-3591All films will be shownat 7pm, 106 Pickard HallFree and open to the publicSome films are co-sponsored by:Museum Advisory Council of Students (MACS)Archaeological Institute of America (AIA)FEBRUARY4 FridayGlory (1989)Directed by Edward ZwickStarring Matthew Broderick, MorganFreeman, and Denzel Washington17 ThursdayA Clockwork Orange (1972)Directed by Stanley KubrickStarring Malcolm McDowell andPatrick Magee(In conjunction with the Seventh AnnualLife Sciences and Society Symposium)MARCH4 FridayMrs. Miniver (1942)Directed by William WylerStarring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon17 ThursdayLike Water for Chocolate (1992)Directed by Alfonso ArauStarring Lumi Cavazos andMarco Leonardi(In Conjunction with the Food and Society Series)MAY6 FridayPaper Moon (1973)Directed by Peter BogdanovichStarring: Madeline Kahn, Ryan O'Neal,and Tatum O'Neal19 ThursdayDinner at Eight (1934)Directed by George CukorStarring: John Barrymore, Jean Harlow,and Lionel BarrymoreJUNE3 FridayCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)Directed by Ang LeeStarring Chang Chen, Chow Yun-Fat,and Michelle Yeoh16 ThursdayAmerican Splendor (2004)Directed by Shari Springer Bermanand Robert PulciniStarring Paul Giamatti, Shari SpringerBerman, and Harvey PekarJULY21 ThursdaySome Like It Hot (1959)Directed by Billy WilderStarring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon,and Marilyn MonroeAUGUST5 FridayThe Wedding Banquet (1993)Directed by Ang LeeStarring Winston Chao and May Chin18 ThursdayIphigenia at Aulis (1977)Directed by Michael CacoyannisStarring IrenePapas, TatianaPapamoschou, and Kostas Kazakos9

Missouri Folk Arts ProgramLisa L. HigginsMFAP DirectorI recently visited the Daum Museumin Sedalia, Mo., and had the opportunityto spend a short forty-five minutes aloneperusing Lupus Garrett’s hyperbolic,psychedelic portraits in a solo show titledMaximalia. This mid-Missouri artist’screations are assemblages of garish paintsand found objects that he layers uponhistoric, often candid, photographs. Iimagine Lupus Garrett as a bricoleur, anartist combining found objects, mergingpast and present together in new ways.He forges, fiddles, and embroiders uponpre-existing palettes. This metaphorextends for me beyond the “fine arts”and encompasses the traditional andvernacular arts of folk artists.This time of year, forging, fiddling,and embroidering are often on mymind, especially as the latest group ofartists participates in the Traditional ArtsApprenticeship Program. Once again,Ray Joe Hastings will pass down the artof hand-forged gigs designed especiallyto fish the shallow, rocky waters ofthe Current, Jack’s Fork, and ElevenPoint Rivers in southeastern Missouri.Two generations of fiddlers, from twoculturally-distinct regions in Missouri,octogenarian Vesta Johnson and TravisInman (just half her age), will leadapprenticeships in Kirkwood and Sedalia,Mo., respectively. Dona McKinney willteach her apprentice to design, create,and stitch Southern Plains dance regaliaworn at intertribal pow-wows. Meanwhile,Peggy Kinder will teach gourd andpeyote stitches, hand-sewing them as anexpression of her commitment to conservethe art of traditional Potawatomi ribbonwork within her own tribe. Westernsaddlemaker Martin Bergin returns to theprogram after a long hiatus to instructhis apprentice in sturdy, intricate stitchesand decorative carving for function andflourish. Additionally, Eileen Wolfington’sapprentice will learn traditional MexicanTAAP master artist Ray Joe Hastings of Doniphan begins the process of transforming steel into a “pretty” gig:“A pretty gig is hard to make. A beautiful gig is balanced and pleasing to the touch and has symmetry.”Photo by Deborah A. Bailey.The front gable of the abandoned Olden School, not far from Pomona, Mo., has been transformed over time byweather and an industrious crew of hornets. Photo by Lisa L. Higgins.10

Dennis Stroughmatt will share the Missouri French language, culture, and music of “Upper Louisiana” at alecture-performance on March 10, 2011 in Pickard Hall. Reception at 5:30 p.m.; performance at 6:00 p.m.Photo courtesy of Artists of Note.dances, and Don Graves will expand therepertoire of tunes his “walking-cane”dulcimer apprentices learned last year.Each of these artists builds upon a historicmoment, layering and embellishingtradition with innovations.Layering also brings to mind Ste.Genevieve, Mo., and its French neighborsin the Old Mines, or “Illinois Country,”region as I work to coordinate alecture-performance to complementthe Museum’s upcoming exhibit Ste.Genevieve Artist Colony. The town itself isanother kind of assemblage built on formerMississippian lands by French-Canadiancolonists, governed forty years by theSpanish, influenced by skirmishes andtrade with Little Osage and Missouri tribes,and then flooded by German merchantsafter the Louisiana Purchase. Today, Ste.Genevieve markets itself to tourists as apeaceful, historic French-Colonial town,while it is no secret its most popular dish iskniffle—German liver dumplings.I wonder then if the 1930s newcomers,the Ste. Genevieve Art Colony artistsheard of Pete “Pierre” Boyer (1910-2000)who served as a guide to visiting Franco-Ontarian language and folklore scholarJoseph Médard Carrière. Carrière camein 1934 to document folktales aroundthe Old Mines region just to the westin “Missouri French,” a regional dialect(and another example of assemblage)that includes several English words andwhole English phrases. Boyer guidedand introduced Carrière to local Frenchspeakers. Later in life, Boyer wasrecognized in the state and nation asa community scholar who helped todocument and conserve “Missouri French”culture. Today, French Creole fiddler (andhistorian) Dennis Stroughmatt followsin Boyer’s footsteps. He will present alecture-performance at the Museum ofArt and Archaeology on March 10, 2011,adding another layer to the audience’sunderstanding of the cultural fabric thatsurrounded the artist colony.While we lose vital community scholars,like Pete Boyer, it is a pleasure to discoverand train the next generation of culturalspecialists who have a keen interest todocument community arts, promote localculture, and share Missouri’s traditionswith a wider audience. The Missouri FolkArts Program has added a new project—locating and training new communityscholars through a series of workshops.The first workshop kicked off in WestPlains, Mo., in November—a partnershipwith the local arts council, communitycollege, community action organization,and community foundation. The workshopincluded intensive instruction, as wellas hands-on fieldwork opportunitieswith visits to long rifle builders, old-timemusicians, and a tour of historic Ozarkstone buildings. I served as the driver fora tour of structures in Howell County thatwere originally built as schools, churches,and filling stations in the 1920s and 1930s.These vernacular structures, crafted bybuilders out of local materials, are works ofart themselves reflecting a local aestheticand the ingenuity of their builders. Overtime, the buildings have been transformedand amended by humans and nature.Decades later, a mechanic’s garage andtwo churches maintain their originalfunctions, while two schools sit abandonedand another has been adapted into acommunity center. The Olden School,near Pomona, Mo., sits empty today,elaborately embellished—somewhat likeLupus Garrett’s portraits. Mice, hornetsand the weather are its bricoleurs, forgingand embroidering new layers upon a preexistingpalette.11

Ran In-Ting’s WatercolorsEast and West Mix in Images of Rural TaiwanMay 28–August 14, 2011Ran In-Ting (Chinese, Taiwan, 1903–1979)Market Day, 1956Watercolor(81.6)Gift of Margaret Carney Long and Howard Rusk Longin memory of the Boone County Long FamilyRan In-Ting (Chinese, Taiwan, 1903–1979)Dragon Dance, 1958Watercolor(81.20)Gift of Margaret Carney Long and Howard Rusk Longin memory of the Boone County Long FamilyMary PixleyAssociate Curator of European and American ArtThis exhibition focuses on the art of the painter Ran In-Ting(Lan Yinding, 1903–1979), one of Taiwan’s most famousartists. Born in Luodong town of Yilan county in northernTaiwan, he first learned ink painting from his father. After teachingart for several years, he spent four years studying paintingwith the important Japanese watercolor painter IshikawaKinichiro (1871–1945).With a deep understanding of Chinese brushwork and theelegant watercolor strokes of Ishikawa, Ran developed a uniquestyle that emphasized the changes in fluidity of ink and watercolor.By mastering both wet and dry brush techniques, he succeededat deftly controlling the watery medium. Complementingthis with a wide variety of brushstrokes and the use of boldcolors, Ran created watercolors possessing an elegant richnesslike that found in oil painting.An amalgamation of traditional Chinese painting and westernstyleart, Ran’s works move between the multiple perspectives ofthe Chinese tradition and the single perspective of Western compositions,which includes a foreground, middle, and background.His works of art thus bear witness to the effects of Japan’scolonial rule of Taiwan (1895–1945) as well as his training withthe Western-style Japanese artist Ishikawa.Ran’s impressionistic watercolors portray a deeply felt recordof life in Taiwan, touching on the natural beauty of rural life andvivacity of the suburban scene. Capturing the excitement of adragon dance with loose and erratic strokes, the mystery andmagic of the rice paddies with flowing pools of color, and theshimmering foliage of the forests with a rainbow of colors anddextrous strokes, his paintings are a vivid interpretation of hishomeland.The compositions attract and transport the viewer to theenduring but also changing lands of Taiwan. Created by anartist tied to the past and looking through the lenses of bothwestern and eastern art, these watercolors and ink paintingsprovide glimpses of the exotic beauty and culture of Taiwan. Theartworks in this exhibition come from the Museum’s significantcollection of this artist’s work, one of the largest such holdingsin the United States.12

New AcquisitionsEffigy vessel with rayed faceNorthern Peru, Chimu culture, ca. 1100–1450Pottery(2010.35)Anonymous giftPolly McCaffrey (American, b. 1944)Tulip II, 2008Oil on canvas(2010.28)Gilbreath-McLorn Museum FundPair of shoes for bound feetChina, late 19th or early 20th centurySilk, linen and other materials(2010.20 a and b)Bequest of Prof. Pamela McClureCharles-Nicolas Cochin I (French, 1688–1754),after Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721)L‘Amour au théâtre italien (Love in the Italian Theater), 1734Etching and engraving(2010.13)Gilbreath-McLorn Museum Fund13

From the Museum EducatorCathy CallawayThe seventh annual Haunted Museumtook place in October. Charactersportrayed included an Egyptian mummyprincess, an ancient Roman businessman,an angel, Lady Hamilton, Cassandra,and a steppe rider from Mongolia. Wehad almost 300 visitors, who also couldview live creaturesconnected withHalloween.Thanks are dueto the MuseumAdvisory Councilof Students,the MU RaptorRehabilitationProgram, andRichard Daniel, as well as to Dominos,Hyvee, and Mosers for their generousdonations.The Kids Series: World of Art continuedweekly during the summer, includingprograms on Picasso and Metals andMints. Two eighth graders served asinterns at the Museum, Claraand Ella Wright, who showed aphenomenal knowledge of things14

Visiting Scholar Marianne Stern, center.ancient and presented the programExploring the Nile. A Family Event inSeptember celebrated the Smithsonian’sNational Museum Day and featured a filmabout kinetic sculpture, the creation ofmobiles, and a special visit by Blondie, aminiature horse.The Docents andother interestedpeople took a tourof Arrow Rockin September, inpreparation forthe George CalebBingham portrait showstarting in February2011 at the Museum(middle right). Dr. TrudiKawami, the Director ofResearch at the SacklerFoundation, presentedthe training for theexhibition AncientBronzes of the Asian Grasslands to theDocents in October (top left). SpecialistMary Franco introduced the Docents toVisual Thinking Strategies and will continuetrainings in this important method.The Film Series continues its popularity:The Man Who Came to Dinner wasshown in early August and attracted 40people; Visconti’s The Leopard followedon the 19th with 30 attendees. Impressivenumbers for two very different films, onewith Jimmy Durante and the other 3 hourslong and in Italian! The Museum trulyoffers “something for everyone…”From the Academic CoordinatorArthur MehrhoffThe Academic Coordinator continues topursue an active agenda of presentations,programming, and products. These includepresentations to LuAnne Roth’s Foodwaysclass on The Art of Food, Norman Land’sIntroduction to the Museum class, helpingorganize the Docent tour of ArrowRock, speaking about Healing Art to theColumbia Senior Network, and leadinga tour for the Interdisciplinary Center onAging in conjunction with our annualNovember Seminar. Programming activitiesincluded the Pride of Place campusheritage network, Campus Gallery Crawl,Healing Art, the Food and Society series,and a daylong Community Art workshopwith University Extension. Productsincluded collaborations on several MizzouAdvantage proposals, working withgraduate research assistant Kim Nochi onThe Art of Food blog series and her EllisLibrary exhibit for the Food and Societyseries, an online course on urban designfor Architectural Studies, and a bookentitled Coming Home Again: A MissouriJournal.15

Museum AssociatesBruce CoxAssistant Director, Museum OperationsMuseum Associates welcomed in thefall season with a “Crawfish Boil in theShadow of the Columns” event the firstof October. Over 135 guests gatheredfor this outdoor party held on the FrancisQuadrangle side of Pickard Hall. The fallweather was pleasant as guests gatheredaround lantern decorated tables for crawfishprepared on site by Columbia’s ownmaster chief, Brook Harlan (Fig. 1). Otherdelectable delights included jambalaya,muffelattas, pralines, bread pudding, anda variety of beer (Fig. 2). The air was richwith the musical tones of SwampweedCajun Band, while inside the Museumvisitors could tour the galleries andparticipate in a “Scavenger Bayou Hunt”as John White performed on his fiddle.The evening was a successful down homefestival that Museum Associates plans tomake an annual event.The Associates Annual Meeting washeld in mid November. Museum AssociatesBoard of Directors said farewell tooutgoing president Gil Stone as he passedthe gavel to incoming president RobinLaBrunerie. New directors were welcomedonto the Board: Emilie Atkins, MarcelaChavez, Pam Huffstutter, Mark Koch, VickiOtt, and Scott Southwick. Welcome to thenew president and directors. We wish youa successful and fruitful term.On December 1st, the Museum of Artand Archaeology decked itself in holidaygreens and poinsettias for Museum Associatesannual “Evening of Holiday Celebration.”Over 100 guests arrived for a fullbuffet dinner, wine, coffee, and dessertsin the Cast Gallery (Fig. 3). While visions ofsugar plum fairies danced in their heads,guests strolled through the Museum’sgalleries to live holiday music performed byLisa Rose Jazz Ensemble: saxophonist LisaRosenkrantz, keyboard Jake Herzog, andsoloist Emilie Atkins (Fig. 4). Guests couldstop, sit and listen to their jazzy renditionsFig. 1 Fig. 2of traditional and romantic melodies. Itwas a wonderful way to welcome in theholiday season among friends and inspirationalart.Active membership in Museum Associatesis a stable 310 members. The Board ofDirectors is always looking for new ways tobring in new members and we encourageyou to consider giving gift memberships toyour friends and family as a way to markthose special holidays and celebrationsthroughout life. Keep bringing guests toevents and remember, it is your supportthat keeps the Associates and the Museumalive. Your support is vital to the culturalheritage that is your Museum of Art andArchaeology. See you at the Museum!16Fig. 3Fig. 4

SpotlightAlex BarkerMuseum DirectorBakongo Power FigureThe late ethnologist Alfred Gell developed an explicitlyanthropological approach to art. What makes somethinga work of art, he theorized, is not the way it looks, itsaesthetic properties, or what it means. An object can beidentified as art based on what it does.For Gell, artworks are objects that are made by theircreators then set loose upon the world to do things;artists confer a kind of secondary agency on the worksthey create that gives these objects the capacity to independentlydo things in the world.Last year the Museum of Art and Archaeologyacquired a remarkable nkisi figure, made by an unknownartist of the BaKongo people of Central Africa, that aptlyillustrates Gell’s views.An nkisi is a kind of figure used for divination by awide range of groups associated with the Yombe andKongo peoples of central Africa. Minkisi (plural of nkisi)figures can assume a variety of forms, each respondingto particular socially-defined needs. Nkisi nkonde figureslike this one are a particularly powerful kind of minkisi,used for moral revelation including the identification andpunishment of evildoers, ranging from thieves to witches,and as a covenantal memorial to seal vows.Individual carvers created the initial form of thenkisi nkonde, but ritual practitioners created both thesocial power and the final form of the figure—includingplacement of nails or sharp pieces of metal driveninto the figure as part of divinatory rituals and to sealcovenants—through subsequent use.But what makes an nkisi a figure of power—whatgives it its Gellian agency—are certain sacred objectsplaced in a receptacle in the figure itself, usually in itsbelly (part of the enclosure can still be seen in our figure).Those sacred objects energize the nkisi, giving it thepower to do things in the world. It becomes an activesubject capable of action, rather than a merely a passiveobject of regard by a viewer.Our nkisi was itself acquired as something of acovenant, honoring the memory of two longtime friendsof the Museum. Anna Margaret Fields worked at theMuseum for many years, and Betty Brown served as adocent for decades. One of Betty’s favorite presentationswas an interpretation of our African collection, and thenkisi seemed a fitting tribute to the memory of both.Power Figure / “Nail Fetish” (nkisi or nkonde)Congo, Bakongo people, ca. 1930sWood, iron, glass and paint(2009.645)Acquired with funds donated in memory of Betty Brown and Anna Margaret Fields,Gilbreath-McLorn Museum Fund, and gift of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Symington by exchange17

University of MissouriMuseum of Art and Archaeology1 Pickard HallColumbia, MO 65211-1420Museum of Art and Archaeology’sSeventh Annual18Art in BloomMarch 18 – March 20, 2011Mid-Missouri Florists design and create fresh-cut floral arrangements inspiredby the artwork and artifacts found throughout the Museum’s collectionsMU’s Textile and Apparel Management Department will display costumes withfloral themes from the Missouri Historic Costume and Textile CollectionFriday, March 18Museum Associates and Florist Reception, 5:30-7:00pm, Cast GalleryArt in Bloom opens to the public, 7:00–9:00pmSaturday and Sunday, March 19 & 20Art in Bloom open from 9:00am–4:00pmSaturday Art in Bloom for Kids sessions between 1:00 –3:30pmRoom 106 (Preregistration suggested, 882-3591)Experience Art and Flowers in a New Way!Museum Associate’s AnnualSchedule of Events5:30pm: wine and hors d’oeuvre receptionCast Gallery, Pickard Hall, unveiling of a new acquisition6:30pm: stroll across the historic Francis Quadrangleor take a shuttle bus to the Donald W. Reynolds AlumniCenter for cash bar, silent and live auctions includingwall of wine raffle8:00pm: dinner and dancing until 11:00pm to thebig band sounds of the Kapital Kicks OrchestraBlack tie requested but not requiredFor the benefit of theTickets: $70/Person ($65 for MA Members)$130/Couple ($120 for MA Members)RSVP by April 11, 2011 by calling (573) 882-6724Sponsored by Museum Associates,area businesses and individuals:Frank and Liz AtenMuseum of Artand ArchaeologyUniversity of Missouri