The mummy returns

The art handlers and exhibit designer were slightly disturbed by my seemingly morbid interest as I pestered them week after week asking: “So, when’s the mummy going to be installed?!”

I can’t help it… my interest in mummies stretches as far back as I can remember. Children seem to be so fascinated by mummies, but my fascination has continued on into adulthood.

In 2009, I was awarded the Maha Shawky Whitfield Research Grant in Egyptian Art from VCU which allowed me to travel to 7 different countries in Europe, visit over 20 museums where I met with various curators, and studied the ways in which these museums displayed their Ancient Egyptian collections. Through some of these interviews with the curators, I realized a major issue they must deal with when deciding on how to display Egyptian art is what to do about the mummies. It is a difficult issue since mummies are a most attractive feature in a gallery (especially to kids) but are also remains of human beings who once treaded this earth just as we do today.

Once back in the States, I interned with Peter Schertz, VMFA’s Ancient Art Curator, and helped write some of the labels for the soon-to-be reinstalled Egyptian galleries. My favorite label, of course, was the one about mummification!

I also discussed with him at length the ways that European museums displayed their mummies and was happy to learn about Peter’s vision for the reinstallation of VMFA’s mummy, Tjeby.

In order for visitors not to be confronted by the mummy right away, Peter decided to dedicate an entire corner of the gallery to the mummy and mummification related materials that would be somewhat closed off from the rest of the space. This means visitors have the choice of whether or not they want to view the mummy in the first place. The lighting in Tjeby’s case is much darker than anywhere else in the gallery and only brightens up when the motion sensors detect a visitor’s presence as he/she approaches the case. This is a great way to make the visitor aware of the space he/she is entering and to accentuate the fact that within the display lies the mummified remains of Tjeby, a human being, just like us. A being who should remain respected, just as we would respect any tomb in today’s cemeteries.

How exciting it was to be able to watch the installation of this case with my own two eyes! Having seen so many mummy cases throughout Europe already installed, it was quite a treat to watch the installation in progress. It was a rather complicated affair – precise measurements had been made so that the coffin would fit in just right. The superb team of VMFA art handlers skillfully, and patiently, lifted Tjeby’s coffin up into the case and scooted it around (but carefully!) until he was positioned perfectly. They removed the little packs that were helping to absorb moisture – and soon the room was filled with the oh-so interesting smell of this 4,000 year old mummy!

Along my travels in Europe, one curator in particular, at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, mentioned that the Egyptians had a prayer that went something like this: “If you pronounce my name, I will live forever.” While much debate surrounds the display of mummies, I feel that as long as the mummy is in the proper coffin he/she was buried in (as is Tjeby), and as long as the mummy’s name is clearly displayed next to the case, then we are fulfilling the Egyptians’ wishes. Just think! Thousands of museum visitors, of all shapes and sizes, will visit this gallery and as they gaze in wonder at this mummy, will pronounce Tjeby’s name and satisfy his request to live forever!

--Jessica Ferey, Administrative Assistant, Curatorial and Exhibtions

Picasso Served Up in Rich Cinematic Terms

What is it about Merchant Ivory films that make them so handsome and erudite and yet so entertaining and giving? It is the touch that the team of Producer Ismail Merchant, Director James Ivory, and Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has treated audiences to for decades. This critic grieves that there be no one in this crass world to replace them in making motion pictures of these highest standards.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts offers one such fine Merchant Ivory experience this Friday at 6:30 on the big screen in VMFA’s Leslie Cheek Theater ($7/ $5 for members). Surviving Picasso (1996) provides a look at Pablo Picasso’s private life from 1943-1953 dwelling on the relationship he had with aspiring painter Francoise Gilot.

Anthony Hopkins delivers an uncannily convincing portrayal of the supreme genius of 20th century world art. He captures the charismatic and at times clownish side of Picasso while hinting at that moribund, cat-about-to-strike side that we have seen in some photos and films. Natascha McElhone is splendid as the sturdy young woman who endured Picasso’s overweening confidence and capriciousness towards lovers.

An authentically detailed period piece, Surviving Picasso rises above situations that in the hands of lesser filmmakers could be mawkish or stooping to soap operatic depths. This motion picture is for adults in the best sense. Come and enjoy and leave refreshed and enriched.
--H. Hobart Cornell, Critic-at-large

Julian Schnabel & Pablo Picasso

Julian Schnabel, known for films like Basquiat and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, will be discussing his own art and Picasso’s, both currently on display at the museum. Describing himself as primarily a painter, Schnabel has followed Picasso’s example, establishing himself in the art world by intelligently reinterpreting the old masters and confidently asserting his artistic abilities. The artist is one of the most famous artists from the 1980’s and part of a movement classified as Neo-Expressionism. This style embodies the decade with its enormous scale and theatricality. Schnabel has gained a reputation for his larger than life personality and elusive aesthetic. He paints the way that the brain works—with layers, ambiguity, emotion and memory.

Currently on display in the exhibition Apocalypse: Monumental Paintings of the 1980s, Schnabel’s Understanding Self-Hate serves as a fantastic example of his work. The piece, painted on velvet, is emotional and cryptic. A friend, walking through the exhibition with me, stepped away from it to take in the entire piece. Then, as she began to notice the faces, layered upon one another, she pointed them out and animatedly compared them to celebrities, friends, and other characters. Stepping closer, she noticed that it was made of velvet, and reached out to touch it. Stopping herself, she turned back to me to say “I don’t understand modern art,” but her interaction with the piece demonstrates Schnabel’s ability to engage each viewer in a different way through texture, memory and scale. The painting pushes you away, pulls you closer and draws upon your knowledge to create meaning.

Schnabel’s diverse mediums and emotional range parallel Pablo Picasso’s and these connections, combined with Schnabel’s penchant for the dramatic, make his lecture and his unique take on Picasso an event you won’t want to miss.

Tickets and more info

-Laura Keller, Curatorial Intern, Modern & Contemporary Art

African-inspired fashion show at VMFA

Last night was a packed house full of style and excitment with beautiful models and artful fashions inspired by Africa. In honor of the newly installed African collection and the extraordinary exhibtion Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art of Ancient Nigeria.

VMFA’s Past is now Present

I'm excited about the installation of permanent outdoor signs on VMFA’s campus that interpret the history of the Confederate Soldiers’ Home—a residential compound for poor and infirm southern veterans that once stood on the site between 1885 and 1941.  Established by R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, Confederate Veterans, the camp included, among many buildings: nine bungalows, a large barracks, dining hall, hospital, recreation hall, and a park-like commons.  At peak occupancy, residents numbered just over three hundred; altogether a total of nearly three thousand veterans from thirty-three states called the camp home.  Today, three buildings survive from the camp era: the earlier Robinson House (known then as Fleming Hall), the Home for Needy Confederate Women (now VMFA’s Pauley Center), and the Confederate Memorial Chapel.  In the mid-20^th century, the Commonwealth of Virginia gained ownership of the property and designated the site as the Confederate Memorial Park.

We’re hoping that our visitors—including those coming during the city-wide “Civil War and Emancipation Day” commemoration on April 16^th—will find the history of the museum grounds as compelling as we do.  In researching the story, I learned about Anthony Robinson Jr., who built the ca. 1855 farmhouse that still stands, now just opposite the museum’s new entrance.  As we celebrate the emancipation of enslaved people, my thoughts go to the African Americans listed as property in Robinson’s 1861 will—people who undoubtedly toiled upon this land.     

And in remembering the Civil War, the site brings a somber recognition of national schism, war, and the physical and mental toll upon its survivors.  But it also reminds us of post-war healing and reconciliation, as the camp was built and supported with funds donated by former Confederate and Union soldiers alike. 

During “Civil War and Emancipation Day” on April 16^th, sponsored by the Future of Richmond’s Past, other VMFA activities will include a 1:30 tour of the former Home of Needy Confederate Women and self-guided viewing of Civil-War related artworks within the museum, including the iconic Burial of Latané by William D. Washington (1864, lent by the Johnson Collection).   Free shuttle buses will be available through the day to transport visitors to the multiple historic sites in Richmond commemorating the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War and the end of American slavery.   For more information about the day, go to http://civilwar.emancipationday.net/.

--Elizabeth O’Leary, Associate Curator of American Art

A student visits Picasso

While attending a Picasso exhibition in Paris during the summer of 1955, Frederick Baldwin--a young American journalism student from Columbia University--asked:  why not visit the artist instead?

“I wanted to see Pablo Picasso.  I don’t suppose that anybody felt less qualified or had less of an excuse than I did. But to me he was a compelling, attractive imaginary companion who had coached many of my dreams about creativity…. Mainly Picasso represented freedom that had nothing to do with the practical office-bound issues that I would soon have to face. This was my temporary, self-issued license to burst unannounced into Picasso’s life.”

Frederick Baldwin speaking with Pablo Picasso.

Access to Picasso, who lived in his mansion the Villa la Californie in Cannes, was challenging but Baldwin persisted; he lived off of pocket change and camped out in his car while sending in messages with the maid. His perseverance paid off when Maya, Picasso’s daughter, ushered him into the mansion. There, sitting in a wicker chair among the African sculptures and abstract portraits of Jacqueline, was one of the greatest artists of the 20^th century – Pablo Picasso.

This fascinating encounter resulted in a series of candid images generously on loan to the Freeman Library by Richard Mumma, a peer of Baldwin’s at Columbia University who graciously lent his camera for the European expedition. The display is titled Dear Monsieur Picasso and is on view until May 15, 2011. Accompanying the show is an amusing memoir written by Baldwin, which is also available online at http://zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/baldwin/.  While visiting VMFA to view Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris, stop in and enjoy a rare glimpse of the artist filtered through the lens of a young photographer. The library is currently open to the public Monday-Friday, 12-5PM.

-Allison Frew and Michelle Hevron, Library Assistants

Photo by Frederick Baldwin, courtesy of Richard Mumma.

Guitar music inspired by Picasso

Richmond Guitar Quartet and special guest Adam Larrabee

The Richmond Guitar Quartet and special guest Adam Larrabee will preform a FREE guitar concert featuring new compositions of pieces by composers such as Ravel, Satie, and Severac as well as contemporary compositions such as Chick Corea’s "Spain."

Advance tickets are required and can be reserved
by calling Visitor Services at 804.340.1405 or buy online.

A Picasso-inspired musical performance



The Cochrane Atrium is the setting for this free concert

The Richmond Symphony is offering a free concert in April 14 at 7 p.m. in the Cochrane atrium. The program celebrates the wealth of creative activity that marked Paris in the early 20^th century.  Using the Picasso exhibition as the beginning of a colorful journey, the Symphony will perform music by composers whose works were commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballet Russes, which took Paris between 1909 and 1929.  Picasso provided set and costume designs for numerous Ballet Russe productions, including two of the pieces on the program, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Satie’s Mercure.  Ravel and Milhaud were actually commissioned for other pieces, but their works performed on this program are from the same period and styles.  Prior to moving to the United States and becoming Vernon Duke, perhaps best known for his popular song “April in Paris,” Vladimir Dukelsky also provided music for the Ballet Russes. 

With the musicans stages on the landing with the Large Leaping Hare, the experience will be a wonderfully informal, colorful and exciting evening to be able to hear the Richmond Symphony perform in the beautifully contemporary Cochrane Atrium.

The evening's program:

Stravinsky       Pulcinella Suite (excerpts)                   

Ravel               Pavane                                                

Satie                Les Aventures de Mercure (excerpts)            

Vernon Duke  April in Paris                                      

Milhaud           Le beouf sur le toit 

- Suzanne Hall

James River Film Festival this week at VMFA

It started 18 years ago as the brainchild of Mike Jones, VCU film teacher and former owner of the legendary Biograph Theater here in Richmond.   It was conceived as a non-profit showcase for very significant film-related events drawn primarily from the world of independent and avant garde cinema, and has certainly lived up to the promise.  Through the years, guests at this “Little Film Festival That Could” have included William Wegman, Stan Brakhage, The Quay Brothers, Charles Burnett, Yoko Ono, Jonas Mekas, and Albert Maysles. 

To this day, not one staff member gets paid a salary including Jones and James Parrish who signed on a few years back to work as co-directors.  It is an all-volunteer project made of dedicated cinephiles.  Consistently, it has given Richmond and region a treasure trove of fine, prestigious film offerings for free or very reasonable prices. 

Go to:  http://www.vmfa.museum/Films/  to see the events proudly being held at VMFA this coming Friday and Saturday.   And for events during the entire festival around Richmond, go to

 http://jamesriverfilm.com/    

-H. Hobart Cornell, critic-at-large

Septimius Sevrus film nominated for award

In 1967 the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts acquired a monumental statue of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The statue had once belonged to the famous 17th-century Italian collector Vincenzo Giustiniani (1564–1637), who displayed it with his extensive collection of ancient art. But in the late 1960s, scholars questioned whether any or all of the statue had actually been carved in antiquity. Eventually, VMFA took the statue off public view and placed it in storage. In 2007 the museum undertook a comprehensive research campaign using scientific and art historical methods to determine whether or not the statue is a work of ancient art. In addition to the extensive research and testing that was carried out, the statue was cleaned, conserved, and restored before being placed in the museum’s Tapestry Hall.

The 44th Annual WorldFest-Houston, the 3rd oldest international film festival in North America, has nominated the film documenting the conservation of this statue "Solving an Art Historical Puzzle, The Statue of Septimius Severus" for a platinum, gold, or silver award. Details will be posted on www.worldfest.org on Monday April 18.

This collaborative project was made possible through the generous support of the Richard Gwathmey and Caroline T. Gwathmey Memorial Trust. It called upon the expertise of multiple disciplines, including VMFA’s departments of Sculpture and Decorative Arts Conservation, Ancient Art, European Art, and Education.

Watch the video

Learn more

- Suzanne Hall

Prints for Cat Lovers

Images of cats are plentifully in evidence in VMFA’s exhibition: A Celebration of Print: 500 years of Graphic Art from the Frank Raysor Collection. The exhibition runs until May 22nd in the Mellon Focus Galleries. Admission to the exhibition is free.

Here are three of my favorite cats from the show:

Cornelis de Visscher Dutch, 1629–1658

Large Cat, 1657

Etching

The Maxine Hornung Collection Promised Gift of Frank Raysor,

L.149.2010.1

Visscher’s Large Cat is one of the most famous images of animals from the 17th century. It impresses the viewer with not only its anatomical realism but also its dramatic sense of anticipation for what will happen when the mouse captures the attention of the dormant cat. Though subject to allegorical interpretations (such as representing Vigilance), this image of domesticity must also be appreciated for its naturalistic detail.

Francisco de Goya Spanish, 1746–1828

The Claws of a Cat, but the Dress of a Devotee (Unas de Gato y Habito de Beato), from Los Proverbios, ca. 1824

Etching and aquatint

The Maxine Hornung Collection Promised Gift of Frank Raysor, L.149.2010.123

This plate from Goya’s Proverbs illustrates his anticlericalism, the product of his hatred of the Spanish institution of the Inquisition. However, typical of the broad range of Goya’s satire, this print also exposes the folly of all who seek to hide viciousness behind a façade of virtue.

Gerhard Marcks German, 1889–1981 Dignitaries, 1923 Woodcut

The Maxine Hornung Collection

Promised Gift of Frank Raysor, L.139.2010.129

Marcks began his career as a sculptor and ran a ceramics workshop associated with the Bauhaus school. Although his early sculpture and ceramics adhered to classical forms, his woodcuts, inspired by the German artist-illustrator Lyonel Feininger, were highly expressionist. Here Marcks displays the biting satire that characterized the German expressionist movement during the Weimar period. The preening cats are anything but dignified, proudly holding forth while occupying the lowly gutter. In addition to prints of cats a small selection of cat sculptures and decorative arts representing cats will be on show outside the gallery beginning this Saturday.