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RISD Museum Shows Art Created and Inspired by 19th Century Italy |
| January 27th, 2012 01:35:03 am |
Providence Rhode Island.- With its lush landscape, storied history, and magnificent architecture and art collections, Italy has long served as a source of inspiration for artistsenthralling, in the 19th century, such masters as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, J M W Turner, John Singer Sargent, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The RISD Museum of Arts new exhibition, "Pilgrims of Beauty: Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy", offers a window into this remarkable period of experimentation and artistic collaboration with more than 60 works all drawn from the Museums collection. Pilgrims of Beauty opens February 3rd and runs through July 8th. Italys magic is both familiar and fresh, says RISD Museum Director John W. Smith. Every work within this show is a unique and intimate journey into this timeless world. As we explore Romes grand ruins and the sparkling Venetian canals through these artists eyes, we discover how each developed a distinctive, often highly personal, visual experience of this one special place.
 As the foremost study destination for 19th-century artists from across Europe and from the United States, Italy was an essential stop on any artists Grand Tourand a cultural crossroads where generations of artists from Antonio Canova and Franois-Marius Granet to Edward Lear and Paul Signac mingled under the Mediterranean sun and motivated each other to explore new styles and subjects. Featuring a stunning array of paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, and jewelry, Pilgrims of Beauty celebrates the artistic styles and techniques that emerged during this period in one of the most beautiful and culturally rich lands in the world. These artists traveled to Italy because it was a tradition in art training, a step along a scripted path toward professional success, explains exhibition curator Crawford Alexander Mann III, the RISD Museums former Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and newly-appointed Joan and Macon Brock Curator of American Art at the Chrysler Museum of Art. But when we view their work, we see how they adapted and transformed this curriculum. Yes, many studied the classics, ancient Roman statues and architecture, but others found beauty in countless subjects that were outside the usual tourist routes, visiting obscure alleys and villages and looking at peasant life. For 19th-century artists, travel to Italy became an opportunity for creative freedom, and we see its fruits in this exhibition.
Shown in the Museums Linda and Vincent Buonanno Works on Paper Gallery and the Bill and Nancy Tsiaras Gallery in Honor of Aaron Siskind, the first room of the exhibition explores how the elite itinerary of the Grand Tour changed following the Napoleonic Wars and the birth of middle-class tourism, with new sites and spectacles capturing the attention of visitors and guiding the work of artists. Rome is the centerpiece of this room, represented through landscape watercolors, artists portraits, and exquisite micromosaics. The second half of the show focuses on Italys role within the birth of modern art, serving as a link between the past and futurewith special attention to the growing appeal of Venice among later generations of artists. Throughout the exhibition, visitors experience the culture of creativity and the exciting intellectual climate which contributed so strongly to Italys popularity as a destinationforces which remain vibrant to this day. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated brochure with a scholarly essay by Mann. Pilgrims of Beauty is made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support is provided by Shawmut Design and Construction.
Southeastern New England's only comprehensive art museum, the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design (also known as the RISD Museum) was established in 1877. Its permanent collection of more than 86,000 objects includes paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, costume, furniture, and other works of art from every part of the worldincluding objects from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and art of all periods from Asia, Europe, and the Americas, up to the latest in contemporary art. The Museum also offers a wide array of educational and public programs to more than 100,000 visitors annually. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.risdmuseum.org
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