CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

On view through May 9, 2010

Exhibition Sponsors: The Samuel H. Kress Foundation and
The Assisi Foundation of Memphis
With Additional Support from: The Doris and Hubert Kiersky Charitable Remainder Trust

Shipping Sponsor: FedEx Corporation
Education Programs Sponsor: The Thomas W. Briggs Foundation

Family Day Sponsor: Carrier Corporation

This exhibition is organized by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and is made possible in part by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Catalogue Sponsors: Sally and Wil Hergenrader and The Scheidt Family Foundation Children’s Gallery Sponsor: Knowledge Tree

Inspired by Giovanni Antonio Canaletto’s marvelous and expansive painting The Grand Canal from Campo di San Vio—a gift from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to the Brooks Museum—this exhibition celebrates Venice’s last, and most opulent, artistic efflorescence. This period, which spans the 18th century, saw the city transformed into a glittering destination for wealthy European tourists on the Grand Tour. Venice’s exotic setting, gambling dens, grand pageants, and famous carnival season, were enhanced by its extraordinary cultural heritage. The era saw the emergence of not only Canaletto, but Gianbattista Tiepolo, Sebastiano Ricci, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Francesco Guardi, and Bernando Bellotto. Their paintings evocatively capture the decadence, splendor, and beauty of city that was known as the “Drawing Room of Europe.” A collaborative effort of the Brooks and the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida, Venice in Canaletto's Age offers a rare look at sumptuous paintings, as well as prints, furniture, and textiles from the city’s golden age.

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Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal), 1697-1768
The Grand Canal from the Campo San Vio (det.), ca. 1740
Oil on canvas
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 61.216

On view through April 25, 2010

A set of twenty-six woodcuts by Josef Weisz (German, 1894-1969), The Apocalypse brings to life the prophetic and terrifying visions of the Biblical Book of Revelation. The series probably relates the artist’s experiences as a solider during the First World War.

Josef Weisz, German, 1894-1969
Plate IV, Devastation
Brought by the First Four Angels (Revelation 8:7-12)
from the series The Apocalypse, 1919
Woodcut
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Purchase 47.926

Ex Libris: The Art of Ownership

On view through June 6, 2010

Printed bookplates, which have been in use since the 15th century, not only designate a book's owner, but also often reflect his or her status, occupation, and interests. This selection of bookplates from the permanent collection includes some extraordinary examples of the art form, produced in Europe and America, from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

Ottohans Beier (German, 1892 -1979).

Bookplate for Klara Krüger, 1922. 

Etching. 

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art; Gift of Louis P. Wulff  35.1.121

Working in Series: Salvador Dali and Ted Faiers

On view through August 3, 2010

Curated by: Marina Pacini, Chief Curator

Artists have long worked in series, from Claude Monet’s (1840-1926) color experiments with haystacks in the early 1890s to Andy Warhol’s (1928-1987) portraits of soup cans and celebrities seventy years later. As evidenced in the work of Salvador Dali and Ted Faiers, printmaking lends itself especially well to repetition and experimentation, while allowing artists to give free rein to their imaginations.

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) delighted in challenging and shocking audiences. In 1972, he produced a suite of Playing Cards that include the face cards of the four suits and the joker; all of the spades and diamonds are on exhibition. Dali was very interested in the concept of doubling in which he offered different interpretations of an idea or a symbol within one image. This is clearly evident in these prints where each card is divided in two. He stays within the normal configuration of a playing card, but ensnares viewers in a game of disentangling the funny differences between top and bottom, and decoding the multiple symbols.

Much of Ted Faiers’ (1908-1985) work is whimsical and wry, which can be seen in The Symbolic Heart / Garden of Eden Suite. He takes advantage of the print medium to explore color relationships and, despite the differences between plates, ties the series together through the repeating shapes, colors, and patterns.

Photographs from the James K. Patterson Collection: Salon Style

On view through September 5, 2010

Curated by: Marina Pacini, Chief Curator

The term salon style refers to the annual Salon exhibitions of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, in which works of art were hung floor to ceiling. The Salons, begun in 1699 with government sponsorship, were fiercely competitive as for many artists it was the best way to secure reviews, sales, and commissions. Painters lobbied to have their works hung at eye level and despaired when their paintings were skied, or situated at the top of the gallery walls where they were much less visible.

This exhibition is mounted salon style to allow visitors the opportunity to see a different method of installing artworks and to consider its relative merits and / or disadvantages. The two adjoining spaces are hung in a single row with the paintings in the small gallery focused on abstraction and the multimedia works in the larger gallery providing an overview of contemporary art. In contrast, the photographs here are installed with no concern for date or artistic style, rather it is purely visual relationships between the images that has driven the layout.

For example, the east wall has photographs that focus on details of human beings: Valerie Belin’s large bust-length portrait is framed on the right by a small Shirin Neshat photograph of hands and on the left by Vic Muniz’s head of Medusa. Under normal circumstances, this gallery would have fifteen to seventeen artworks hanging on the walls rather than the fifty-four images on view, all generously lent by James K. Patterson.