My favorite work in the ancient collection



Aryballos, 62.1.12.



As an intern in the ancient art department in 2008, I grew attached to a few artifacts in the Greek collection that have enchanted me with their beauty.  Now that I’ve returned to volunteer in the department and the ancient art galleries are  open, I have an opportunity to once again work closely with the objects I’ve come to love.  Out of the entire collection, there is perhaps one tiny item that I admire more than any other: the aryballos in the shape of a warrior’s head from Rhodes.

An aryballos is a vessel for holding oil or perfume, and this particular object has so much personality.  At once, I can imagine the man who owned it.  Perhaps he himself was a warrior, perhaps it was a gift, perhaps it was a small purchase from the agora in Rhodes; maybe he chose this particular mustachioed one because he himself wore a mustache.  I can picture someone using it after an athletic contest or a bath, picking it up and remembering something personal about it as one does with household objects.  Just imagine any random object in your home and picture your own personal story behind it, and you can understand how I feel about this aryballos.

By no means a brilliant work of craftsmanship (the potter probably made dozens of similar warrior-headed vessels every day), I still appreciate the minor details like the wispy flourish on the helmet front, the floral accents on the cheeks, the well-trimmed, manly ‘stache, and the steely gaze of the eyes.  Objects like this remind me of how we have so much in common with the ancient world.

--Michael Moore, VMFA Curatorial volunteer

Impressions in black and white

This is the first in a series of blog posts discussing highlights of the exhibition A Celebration of Print: 500 Years of Graphic Art from the Frank Raysor Collection currently on display in VMFA’s Mellon Focus Galleries. Admission to this exhibition is free.

As we celebrate VMFA’s 75^th anniversary, we must consider this year one of the most important in the institution’s history because of the promised gift of approximately 10,000 prints from Richmond-raised collector Frank Raysor. This most generous promised gift will increase VMFA’s collection by over a third – a stunning leap forward for the museum which also has never had a very strong print presence. This will change when in the next few years we will inaugurate a new Center for the Study of Works on Paper.

 

Fireworks at Hemissem


We inaugurate the collection with an exhibition of  a selection of 100 highly important prints from the Raysor collection in the Mellon Focus Galleries. It opens Saturday and continues through May 22^nd. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore a whole world of graphic art ranging from a late 15^th century religious woodcut to a 2001 abstract serigraph by contemporary artist Richard Prince. The exhibition includes both great names such as Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, Tiepolo, Turner, Whistler, and Matisse as well as more specialized and highly prized artists such as Wenceslaus Hollar, Charles Meryon, and Félix Bracquemond.

Please visit this free exhibition early and often – a whole world of prints for you to enjoy.

-- Mitchell Merling, Paul Mellon Curator and Curator of European Art

Full caption: Fireworks at Hemissem, ca. 1650–51,Wenceslaus Hollar (Bohemian, 1607–1677), Etching. Promised Gift of Frank Raysor, L.139.2010.10

Revised Sign Plan for VMFA



Sketch of Phase I of VMFA's revised sign



The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will be developing its Boulevard sign in phases. An institutional identifying sign will be installed first, which will be composed of a stainless steel armature with a panel of frosted acrylic to complement the building materials of the McGlothlin Wing. The letters VMFA and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will be mounted on the frosted panel and will be lit from behind in the evening to create a halo effect around the letters. Perpendicular to the street, Phase I of the sign will be approximately 8’-6” high and will be set back from the sidewalk 15’, as opposed to the originally planned 12’ distance. Phase I will be installed by early February.

A decision about the changing exhibitions component of the sign will be considered in Phase II and includes a variety of solutions such as duratrans and high resolution imaging.

Director Alex Nyerges said:



Support structure being installed today. Fabricated at 15', the
it will be cut to 8'-6".

"We appreciate the engagement of the greater community in this dialogue. Strong endorsements of the museum’s aesthetic standards, as well as concerns about the proposed sign have been appreciated. Interestingly, they have been close to equal in number. I want to thank the Art and Architecture Review Board as well as the Virginia Department of General Services for their advice and support on this matter. We are proud to be an agency of the Commonwealth and are fortunate to have their counsel. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is a landmark institution in this neighborhood and a well-recognized top ten art museum in the nation. When VMFA’s ‘Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée Picasso, Paris’ exhibition opens on February 19, we expect many first-time visitors and we want to welcome them to Richmond with an easy-to-find museum.”

-- Suzanne Hall

Jun Kaneko in the snow

Our friend Greg Holzgrefe at the Department of Conservaion and Recreation stolled the sculpture garden during our recent snow and shared this evocative photo.

Enjoy these works by Jun Kaneko now, becuase this temporary exhibtion will close in February!

The Sesquicentennial of the Civil War and Emancipation

I firmly believe there is still a great deal to be learned about the crisis of the Civil War, its causes and consequences. As a fine-arts museum, VMFA has chosen to focus its sesquicentennial programming on art of the period that sheds new light on and encourages fresh interpretations of the dramatic events that divided and defined our nation. For example, the newly opened exhibition (shared with the University of Richmond Museums), Civil War Drawings from the Becker Collection, features eyewitness sketches of artist-reporters embedded with the Union troops. These little-known drawings, which in many cases were translated into engravings for wide distribution, challenge general perceptions of war, journalistic documentation, and artistic intent—going far beyond what photography could capture in those years.

Similarly, an exhibition we will open in summer 2012—Bold Cautious True: Walt Whitman and American Art of the Civil War Era—is a thought-provoking look at the layered meanings and moods of 1860s American painting and sculpture viewed against the poetry of Walt Whitman, one of our chief “scribes” of war. VMFA’s striking painting by Eastman Johnson, A Ride for Liberty—The Fugitive Slaves, March 2, 1862, is a centerpiece of that exhibition.

As a cultural historian, I feel it’s important to emphasize the role art plays in society, not only reflecting culture, but shaping it as well. I am also a firm believer in curatorial responsibility—that is, being aware of current debates and interpretations and bringing those to public attention in the museum—even, or especially, if they challenge accepted notions. As one never stops learning from the past, I feel we should all embrace a historical consciousness, whatever our professional practice. This approach informs my work with both the museum’s permanent collection as well as special exhibitions.

In 1961, VMFA presented a centennial exhibition entitled Home Front, 1861, which examined the tastes and fashions of antebellum art and design. While this resonated with the museum at that time, we are always interested in exploring new subjects and approaches for the benefit of our increasingly diverse audiences—thus, our decision to mark the sesquicentennial with the Becker and Whitman shows. I hope you will make a point of visiting.

-Sylvia Yount, Chief Curator and Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane Curator of American Art

An alternative sign for VMFA?

An irreverent friend sent this suggestion for an alternative sign in front of VMFA. I think it's time for a good laugh and a moment of reflection on this historic nod to Americana.

But seriously, we hope to hear from all sides of our sign issue at the public forum Tuesday, January 11 at 6 pm. There will be a sign in sheet for those who wish to comment. Our guests will include Rich Slilowski, Director of the Department of General Services and Brian Olinger, former chair of the Art and Architecture Review Commission.

Suzanne Hall

VMFA Flash Mob Pilliow Fight by Copeland Casati

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Flash Mob Pillow Fight! from Copeland Casati on Vimeo.

Starting the year with random fun

VMFA has lots of friends and followers on social media. Over 9000 friends on Facebook almost 5500 followers on Twitter stay in conversation with VMFA with these dynamic communications tools.

As we approached the magical 1.1.11 the date seemed too auspicious to ignore. So on New Year's eve we announced a Flash Mob in the VMFA plaza. With a flash mob, folks who learn about the event only through social media show up, participate in a random event and that's that. This was a massive pillow fight occurring at 1:11 pm and lasting (of course) 1 minute and 11 seconds.

Between 40 and 50 families participated, and it was loads of fun. Many folks stuck around and went inside to enjoy art, have a late lunch and luxuriate in their art museum. Widely documented by viral videos and CBS-6 and NBC-12, it was a fun way to enjoy the day.

What should happen at 11:11 on 11.11.11? We'll use crowd sourcing, another social media tool to decide! So let us know your thoughts.