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1985 PAFA Press Release
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Digitized archival materials are accessible for purposes of education and research. We have indicated what we know about copyright and rights of privacy, publicity, or trademark.
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The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' Archives
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English
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PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 1910 2
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Information Officer
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS ANNOUNCES
SAMUEL M.V. HAMILTON AS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
(Philadelphia, Pa. - January 4, 1985)
- The board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has elected Samuel M.V. Hamilton to be chairman of
the board of trustees of the nation's oldest art school and museum, at a
meeting which was held on December 17, 1984.
Hamilton succeeds Charles E. Mather III, who had served as chairman for
the last four years.
President of the Pennsylvania Academy, Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., remarks:
"In Mr. Hamilton, the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts has chosen for its chairman a person who, for the past ten years, has
given unstintin~ly of his time and energy on behalf of the Academy. He is intimately
acquainted with every aspect of the Academy, having served on the board's Executive,
Finance,and Campaign Committees/and as its vice chairman. The Academy is extremely
fortunate to have a person of Mr. Hamilton's experience as its chairman."
Samuel M.V. Hamilton has been a member of the Academy's board of trustees
since 1974 and its vice , chairman since 1981 . Hamilton is senior vice president of the
brokerage firm Janney Montgomery Scott Inc. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania,
Hamilton serves on the boards of the American Oncologic Hospital, the Fox Chase
Cancer Center, and the Franklin Investment Co. He is also a director of the Science
Museum and Planetarium at the Franklin Institute.
Commenting on the goals that he hopes to accomplish as chairman, Hamilton remarked
that, "I and the board intend to continue to make the Academy more viable and visible
to the people of Philadelphia. This objective is made much easier because my
predecessor, Charles E. Mather III, did a magnificent job in making the Academy a
real and vital presence in the lives of the citizens in our region. This city
really is a wonderful place for art and museums, and I don't think people realize
what a treasure we have in the Academy museum and school."
Other officers were elected at the December 17 board meeting.
Carpenter Dewey and Harold A. Sorgenti were elected vice chairmen of the board
- more -
2
ACADEMY ELECTS HAMILTON CONT'D
of trustees. Former Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Carpenter
Dewey is currently a member of the law firm Blank, Rome, Comisky & McCauley. Harold A.
Sorgenti is senior vice president of Atlantic Richfield Company and president of
ARCO daemical Company. Charles J. Kenkelen, chairman and president of the Anchor
Packing Company, was re-elected as treasurer of the board of trustees. Also reelected was the board's secretary, Mrs. George Reath, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Academy's Women's Committee.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry Streets
in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall and convenient to all
public transportation and parking. It is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday through Saturday, and 12 noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. General admission is
$2, $1.50 senior citizens, and $1 students. The public is admitted free of charge
on Tuesdays.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded in 1805, is the oldest art
museum and art school in North America. Its collection of over 7,300 works of
American art is housed in its third building, a National Historic Landmark, designed
by Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its original Victorian splendor in
1976.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEM-Y OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS f
~fW~ELEASE
thPHILAQELPHll), PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For ur er lllformatlon, contac t :
Kirby F. Smith, Public Information Officer
(215) 972-7642 (Academy )
843- 9917 (Home)
ALICE NEEL: PAINTINGS SINCE 1970 TO BE ON DISPLAY AT
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS FROM JANUARY 26 THROUGH MARCH 17, 1985
- From January 26 to March 17, 1985, the
(Philadelphia, Pa. - January 4, 1985)
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at Broad and Cherry Streets will display the
exhibition Alice Neel: Paintings Since 1970. This show will offer museum visitors
a unique opportunity to see approximately 40 of Alice Neel's paintings, mostly
portraits, since the exhibition will be seen only at the Pennsylvania Academy.
This exhibition was originally scheduled to coincide with Alice Neel's eighty-fifth
birthday. Therefore, the news of her death on October 13, 1984, seemed doubly sorrowful, for the artist had pleasurably anticipated seeing this body of her work on
view at the Academy. In a sense, then, Alice Neel: Paintings Since 1970 is a testimonial
and tribute to a remarkable, fiercely independent American artist.
Alice Neel's painting career spanned nearly sixty years, during which she conSistently expressed her individual, uncompromising view of the world with integrity and
compassion. A nonconformist from early childhood, Neel decided at the age of seven to
become an artist. She enrolled at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now
Moore College of Art) in the 1920's. A self-described rebel, Neel eventually rejected
the academic training imposed on her in favor of a freer, more expressive style.
People were always Alice Neel's overriding interest, and although her subjects
also include still lifes, her renown was achieved through powerfully original portraits.
"I deCided to paint a human comedy- such as Balzac had done in literature," Neel once
said. To that end, the artist painted almost anyone she found interesting: artists,
poets, bUSinessmen, writers, the poor and the famous, children and the elderly, her
family, neighbors, friends, and lovers. Commenting on the range of Neel's subjects
in the context of American portraiture, Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., president of the Academy,
states: "Spirited, acutely perceptive, her remarkable gallery of portraits continues
an important American tradition:
portraiture of ordinary folk, democratiC, non-
aristocratic."
These portraits are often raw and psychologically revealing, for Alice Neel
never recoiled from depicting the essence of what she saw. Through her sensitivity and
insight, Neel captured on canvas her sitters' encounters with the world, their physical
characteristics informed by their responses, whether compromising, successful, or
defeated. A visitor who encountered these paintings was reNinded of Richard Brautigan's
poem The Necessity of Appearing in Your Own Face:
- more -
-ALICE NEEL CONT'D
2
There are days when that is the last place
in the world where you want to be but you
have to be here, like a movie, because it
features you.
Critical acclaim and recognition came late in Alice Neel's career. The subjects of
her early work consisted largely of those whose lives touched her own or reflected
autobiographical experiences. These subjects continued throughout the years, but as
Neel's reputation grew, more portraits of notable figures filled her studio. As Patricia
Hills points out in her book Alice Neel (Abrams, 1983), the artist "often differentiates
the characters in her 'gallery' from her family by the way she handles space." Hhen
d.e piating subjects who are not members of! her famil3' , Neel characteristically adhered
to the modernist convention of placing figures in shallow space, pulling the
figure forward, close to . the surface.
Neel's portrait of Harisol, an artist known for
her wooden sculptures, was painted in 1981 and illustrates Hills's analysis. The figure
of Marisol is placed abruptly in the foreground, and, somewhat
ironically, is por-
trayed as one of her own inanimate creations, wooden and austere, tense and compact,
perched on a wooden chair.
Nancy and the Rubber Plant (1975) illustrates Neel's tendency to deepen space and
elaborate shadows when painting members of her family or those about whom she had
special feelings. Nancy Neel, the artist's daughter-in-law, gazes at the viewer, relaxed
and reflective in the familiar surroundings of Neel's New York apartment. Light is
used to give volume to the form; cast shadows balance the pattern of leaves.
Although Alice Neel punctuated her portrait painting with still lifes, landscapes, and
city scenes, this aspect of her productive career has received more attention only
recently. "Still life is a rest. It's just composing and thinking about lines and colors,
and often flowers," was Neel's explanation for this category of her work. Despite the
abstract qualities evident in many of her portraits, several still lifes in this exhibition more clearly reveal Neel's skill in combining shape and color to reflect mood.
Black Bottles (1977) is a stark and severe arrangement of forms made dramatic by bold
contrasts of color and line. Remembering her days in art school, Neel transforms an early
academic exercise into a statement about the rigidity and lack of freedom she may have
felt at that time.
Alice Neel: Paintings Since 1970 was organized by guest curator John Cheim of the
Robert Miller Gallery in New York. Cheim' s choice of paintings represents a discrete
group of works which contributes to a greater understanding of the totality of the
oeuvre.
In conjunction with this exhibition, the Academy will sponsor a symposium,
"Contemporary Portraiture," on Saturday, March 2, from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the
museum auditorium at Broad and Cherry Streets. For further information call (215) 972-7642.
A fully illustrated exhibition catalogue ($15), which includes an interview with Alice Neel
by writer and novelist Ted Castle, is available in the museum shop.
#30
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972 -7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Information Officer
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A SERIES OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY AT
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
(Philadelphia, Pa. - January 17, 1985) - During the month of February, designated
Black History Month nationwide, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at Broad
and Cherry Streets, Philadelphia, will celebrate black contributions to the cultural
life of our community by presenting a program of special events, including, music,
lectures, and performance - detailed below. Although significant works by black
artists in the Academy's permanent collection are a standard feature of museum docent
tours; this February those tours will highlight works in the exhibition A Growing
American Treasure: Recent Acquisitions and Highlights from the Permanent Collection
(on display through April 14). They include, among others, West Chester Court House
by Horace Pippin, Brother James (Self Portrait) by James Brantley, Nicodemus by Henry
O. Tanner, and Jack Johnson by Raymond Saunders.
Please note that the program of events for Black History Month requlres no
advance reservation and is open to members of the general public with the price of
museum admission: general admission is $2, $1 :50 senior citizens, and $1.00 students;
free admission on Tuesday.
FEBRUARY CALENDAR OF EVENTS
1 FRIDAY
GALLERY TALK BY STANLEY WHITNEY- Mr. l.Jhitney , a prominent black American
artist born in Philadelphia, will discuss his work, which is currently
on display in the Academy's Morris Gallery through Feb. 24; FOOil
JAZZ CONCERT - Tenor s~ophonist Charles Bowen will perform original
and popular music accompanied by bass, piano, and percussion; 2 p.m. in
Academy rotunda
7 THURSDAY LECTURE - "Horace Pippin and His Constituency," by Dr. Leslie King
Hammond - art historian, Dean of Graduate Studies, Maryland Institute,
College of Art; 5:45 p .m. in museum auditorium and reception to f ollow at
6:45 p.m . (Galleries open at 5 p .m. )
10 SDrIDAY
SLIDE LECTURE BY STANLEY WHITNEY - Stanley Whitney will visit the Academy
a second time to deliver a lecture on contemporary black American artists
such as Beauford Delaney and William Williams; 2 p.m. in museum auditorium
12 Tu.c;SDAY LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY LECTURE - HThe Philadelphia Story: Seeing Black Artists!!
by S'ceve2 lJOring J01J8S - scholar, speCialist in Afro-American material
culture; 5:45 p.m. in museum auditorium and reception to follow at 6:45 p.m.
(Galleries open at 5 p.m. )
24
SID{DAY PERFORl'1ANCE OF "BELIEVE" - A musical anthology of song, story, and dance
written by Carolyn Sims and directed by Nathaniel Rorie, which highlights
black contributions to history and culture, 2 p.m. in museum auditorium
3 SIDfDAY
- 30 -
t\
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHIL A DELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Information Officer
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
LINDA BANTEL APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
(Philadelphia, PA - January 21, 1985) - Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., president of the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, announced today that Linda Bantel has been appointed to the post of director of the museum, effective immediately.
"I am extremely pleased to announce the appointment of Linda Bantel to the position
of director of the museum," Goodyear said. "Since 1980, Linda has made important
contributions to the Academy's museum program. A distinguished scholar of American art,
intimately familiar with the Academy's great collections of American paintings and
sculpture, Linda has also demonstrated a fine understanding of the important issues
facing museums today. Her strong leadeFship abilities will assure the Academy a continued prominence in its museum program," he concluded.
Linda Bantel is a graduate of New York University, where she received her B.A. in
Art History, as well as her M.A. from the university's Institute of Fine Arts. She
came to the Academy in 1980, after serving as research associate at The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. She was appointecr assistant curator of the Academy in April 1982,
associate curator in August 1983, and curator in April 1984. Ms. Bantel's previous museum
experience includes: guest cocurator, the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi;
research consultant, The New York Historical Society; research assistant, The Amon
Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas; consultant curator, The Alice
M. Kaplan Collection, New York City; and gallery lecturer, Museum of Modern Art, New
York City.
Her publications include: The Alice M. Kaplan Collection, Columbia University Press ,
New York, 1981; William Rush, American Sculptor, catalogue, Pennsylvania Academy of
the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1982; magazine articles in American Art Review, The Art
Gallery, Apollo, and Antiques; coauthorship of The Face of Liberty: Founders of
the United StatesL Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., New York, 1975, and Spain and New Spain:
Mexican Colonial Arts in Their European Context, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus
Christi, 1979; and contribution to American Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, Volume II: A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born Between 1816-1845, Princeton
University Press, 1985.
- more -
LINDA BANTEL CONT'D
2
Linda Bantel was the curator of two major exhibitions for the Academy, William Rush,
American Sculptor and A Growing American Treasure: Recent Acquisitions 8.:r.d Hi:rhlights from
the Permanent Collection. The William Rush show, on display in 1982, was in celebration
of the 300th anniversary of the founding of Philadelphia. The exhibition included
every extant work by America's first native-born sculptor and ships ' f i gurehead
carver, and it was the first time since 1937 that sculpture by William Rush had
been photographed, documented, restor ed, and assembled in one place at one time .
A Growing American Treasure is the Academy's current exhibition. It opened· on
September 21, 198~ and continues through April 14. The show displays the Pennsylvania
Academy's distinguished permanent collection, which spans three centur ies of
American art .
During her tenure as curator, Linda Bantel was responsible for the Academy's
acquisition of a number of major works, including: William Wet~ore Story's Semiramus,
Louise Nevelson's Cascades Perpendicular I, Mary Frank's Woman Lying Down, Richard
Stankiewicz's Dark Mother, all SCUlptures; and John Singleton Copley ' s oil on canvas
portrait, Robert Chamblett Hooper.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded in 1805, is the oldest art
museum and art school in North America. Its American art collection of 7,000 works
is housed in a National Historic Landmark, designed by Frank Furness in 1876, and
restored to its original Victorian splendor in 1976.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Wendy Metzger, Public Info. Coordinator
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
732-0721 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
REALIZATIONS OF THE ISLANDER, AN EXHIBITION OF WATER COLORS
BY WALTER ANDERSON ON VIEW IN THE PEALE HOUSE GALLERIES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA
ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS FROM FEBRUARY 7 THROUGH MARCH 3, 1985
(Philadelphia, Pa., February 1, 1985) - Realizations of the Islander, an exhibition
of sixty-nine water colors by Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumnus Walter
Anderson, during his Horn Island period, will be on view in the Peale House galleries of
the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from February 7 through March 3, 1985.
This
traveling exhibtion was organized by the Luise Ross Gallery, New York City, and the
estate of Walter Anderson.
It is beginning its tour at the Academy because of the years
of training he received here.
An opening reception, to which the public is invited, will be held on Wednesday,
February 6, 1985, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Passionately dedicated to nature, Walter Anderson was a prolific artist.
He worked
in a variety of mediums, including water colors, pen and ink, and block prints. Over 9500
of Anderson's illustrations and 2000 water colors, almost all done on typewriter paper,
were discovered after his death.
Anderson's reputation as an artist is little known
since he rarely exhibited his work.
The vast body of Walter Anderson's work traces recurrent images through three
periods of the artist's life.
These periods are named for the places in Mississippi in
which Anderson's work was centered: Ocean Springs, 01dfie1ds, and Horn Island.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1903, Anderson lived most of his life in
~lississippi,
where he died in 1965.
Living the last eighteen years of his life in
reclusion, Anderson was intensely devoted to the study of wild creatures in their natural
environment, and this led him to Horn Island.
On this desolate seventeen mile strip of
sand and swamp, he sought a unity with nature that he called the "third poetry."
He
wrote: "The first poetry is always written by the sailors and farmers who sing with the
wind in their teeth.
The second poetry is written by scholars and students, wine
drinkers who have learned to know a good thing.
The third poetry is sometimes never
written; but when it is, it is written by those who have brought nature and art into one
thing."
Horn Island, located sixteen miles off the Mississippi coast in the Gulf of Mexico,
was unihabited, but abundant in many species of ducks, marine life, and reptiles.
- more -
p.2
Anderson would row out to the island in all seasons with a trashcan filled with painting
and drawing supplies.
Anderson's written logs characterize his own work on Horn Island
a8 "dramatic" painting.
The creatures he observed were painted in their various aspects
- feeding, fighting, mating. and just trying to ward off predators.
Thus, the water
color of a snake as it uncoils not only offers the colorful hand of the painter, but also
the drama of the moment he observed it.
Anderson gave little thought to physical comforts or
His companionship came largely from the wonders of nature.
conta~ts
with human beings.
Anderson's water colors were
a celebration of life and an exploration of an underlying unity with nature.
As a
result, Anderson lived for almost two decades a hermit-like existence which was for him a
prerequisite for achieving a unity with nature, a oneness with his environment.
Horn Island, Anderson wrote, "The world of man is far away and so is man .
without him."
While on
How pleasant
To this extent, he felt himself to be an island.
Anderson attended Parsons Institute, New York (1923) and the Pennsylvania Academy of
the Fine Arts (1924-29).
While a student at the Pennsylvania Academy, faculty member
Henry McCarter made a large impression on Anderson.
McCarter was one of the Academy's
most liberal thinkers and "modern" painters, particularly in his use of color, as he had
been an associate of the impressionists in Paris.
Anderson was the reCipient of the
Academy's Packard Award for Animal Drawings (1925) and a Cresson European Traveling
Scholarship (1928), which enabled him to study in France.
It was not the museums or
galleries of Paris that intrigued and influenced Anderson, but the Franco-Cantabrian cave
paintings in southwestern France and northern Spain. He was also inspired by the
intellectual Gurdjieff movement of "practical mysticism," from \vhich he probably
extracted his own ultimate vision of man as an integral part of nature.
Upon his return from Europe, Anderon lived at his family's estate in Ocean Springs,
Mississippi. There he worked as a designer and decorater at the Shearwater Pottery,
founded by his older brother Peter.
Anderson and his younger brother produced "widgets,"
amusing, inexpensive figurines. Anderson supplemented his income from the pottery with
mural commissions from the WPA, Ocean Springs High School, and the Indianola,
Mississippi, Post Office.
his private art with
But by 1937 Anderson could no longer reconcile the demands of
business and family responsibilities, and he was hospitalized for
mental illness diagnosed as schizophrenia.
In and out of hospitals until 1940, Anderson then rejoined his wife and children,
and the family moved to Oldfields, an ante-bellum house in Gautier, Miss., which belonged
to Anderson's father-in-law. There he designed and executed hundreds of block prints,
some six feet tall, which illustrated myths and fairy tales and the beauty of the woods
and beaches - more than 10,000 in all.
He was also an avid reader and was inspired to
make illustrations as he read such works as John Milton's Paradise Lost, Alxender Pope's
translation of Homer's The Iliad, Charles Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle, and Samuel
Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Hariner .
- more -
A voyager himself, Anderson
would from time to time disappear on bicycle trips to Texas, New York City, and Florida.
Anderson also traveled abroad to Costa Rica and China, and had hoped to travel by foot to
Tibet, but the theft of all of his possessions forced him to turn back.
Anderson was a skilled colorist and his water colors have expresssive applications
of pattern.
Anderson had a childhood fascination with the pattern of light which
continued throughout his life.
Art historian John Driscoll, in the exhibition's
catalogue essay, describes Anderson's work:
"His art was the result of an intensely personal search
derived from a desire to share what he knew and believed ...
Horn Island was a sanctuary for Walter Anderson. It was his
home, the place that nourished his creative instincts most
fully. It was there that the inner life of the artist, the
deeply felt reality of his own experience of nature assumed a
pure and poetic imagery. It was there that he became one of the
most original artists of his time. Anderson's experience on
Horn Island - his contact with nature - became an extension of
his subjective being. His finest paintings were a projection of
his emotions: love and fear, ecstasy and sadness, wonder, and
most of all, the simple unadorned faith in the which Walter
Anderson had come to know and understand."
This exhibition will travel to: the Luise Ross Gallery, New York City (March 6 March 30); Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Mass. (April 16 - June 16); The Rusty Roberts
Memorial Drawing Collection, Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry, Va. (Sept. 15 - Oct.
26); Columbus Museum of Arts and Sciences, Columbus Georgia (Nov. 15 - Dec . 29);
Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Miss. (Jan. 24 - March 9, 1986); Alexandria Museum
and Visual Arts Center, Alexandria, La. (May 3 - June 28, 1986).
A lecture on the life and work of \val ter Anderson will be given by his daughter,
Mary Anderson Pickard, on Thursday, February 7 at 4:15 p.m. in the Peale House Galleries
and is free and open to the public.
Available at the Peale House galleries will be an exhibition catalogue by curator
and art historian John Driscoll at a cost of $15 and a full-color poster of his water
color Horn Island, available for $2.
In addition, An Alphabet, a book Anderson created
for his children, will be on sale in the museum shop at Broad and Cherry Streets.
The Peale House galleries, located at 1820 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, display a
rotating series of stimulating exhibitions in all media.
In addition to Academy
students, the shows in the Peale House Galleries feature artists who have not recently
exhibited in the Philadelphia area.
These shows are organized for the benefit and
education of the Academy School students.
Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00
a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sundays from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.
- 30 -
No admission charge.
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE 'RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA , PA , 19102
215 972 -7600
For further information contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Information Of ficer
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
FREDERICK S. OSBORNE, JR., APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF
THE SCHOOLS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
(Philadelphia, PA - February 4, 1985) - Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., president
of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, announced today that Frederick S. Osborne,
Jr., has been appointed to the post of director of the schools, effective April 1, 1985.
"Fred Osborne was the unanimous choi ce of the search committee to fill the
position of Director of the Schools, Pennsylvania Academy," Goodyear said. "He brings
to the position the perspectives of a professional artist as well as essential administrative skills required to manage a fine arts school in these increasingly
complex times. His commitment to the principles of a fine arts education for the studio
artist is consistent with the longstanding commitments of the Academy's school. A
proven leader, he understands the importance of balancing tradition against innovation," Goodyear concluded.
Fred Osborne is a graduate of the Tyler School of Fine Arts, Temple University,
where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with Honors, and where he was
a President's Scholar. After a period of study at the Barnes Foundation, Osborne
attended Yale University, where , he was granted _a Master of Fine Arts degree in
Sculpture.
Usborne comes to the Pennsylvania Academy from the Philadelphia College of Art,
where he has been director of the Office for Continuinq Studies. During his tenure
at PCA, he devol oped a program of part-time study in design, crafts, and fine arts
that is currently the most comprehensive in the Philadelphia area. In addition,
Osborne is the co-founder and director of the Vermont Studio School. The school,
which opened last June, is an intensive summer program in painting and sculpture.
He will continue his affiliation with that school.
Before PCA, Osborne was a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Fine
Arts at the University of Pennsylvania from 1966 to 1977, during which time he was
twice nominated for the Lindbach Distinguished Teacher Award. He has also taught in
the sculpture department and the graduate program of the education department while
at PCA. During this period, he was a practicing sculptor, and exhibited at area
college and university galleries.
- more -
Osborne is also a graduate of Harvard University's Institute for the Management
of Lifelong Education. and a member of the Institute of International Education's
Admissions Advisory Committee for the Fine Arts.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. founded in 1805. is the oldest art
museum and art school in North America. Its American art collection of 7.000 works
is housed in a National Historic Landmark. designed by Frank Furness in 1876. and
restored to its original Victorian splendor in 1976.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA.19102
215 972-7600
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Information Officer
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-8817 (Home)
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS TO PRESENT IIBELIEVE," A MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA
ON BLACK HISTORY AND CULTURE ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24 AT 2 PM .... FREE WITH MUSEUM ADMISSION
(Philadelphia, PA - February 15, 1985) - In conjunction with Black History Month,
the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at Broad and Cherry Streets will present
the musical IIBelieve,1I on Sunday, February 24, at 2 p.m., in the museum auditorium.
This performance is open to members of the general public, requires no advance
reservations, and is free with the price of museum admission.
"Believe is a performance which combines sonq, drama, and dance to tell the
story_of black history and culture in America from 1619 to the present. The
plot follows the life and times of one family through generations of struggle
and triumph from the continent of Africa to the United States. This exuberant
presentation pulls out all the stops to deliver its message of hope and faith.
A cast of twelve performers will take the audience on a musical journey which
features a diversity of styles and repertoire including Christmas hymns, gospel songs,
and jazz.
Originally entitled IIBeautiful People, II this show began as a play written by
Philadelphian Carolyn Sims in 1969. This drama soon incorporated song and dance and
evolved into the multi-media presentatiion "Believe." This production is directed by
Nathaniel Rorie, of the Freedom Theatre, Philadelphia.
IIBelieve" is the last in a series of special events planned by the Pennsylvania
Academy in connection with the nation-wide celebration of Black History Month.
The Academy is located just two short blocks north of City Hall and convenient to
all public transportation and parking. General admission is $2, $1.50 senior citizens,
and $1 students; free Tuesdays. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. For general information, members
of the public should call the Academy on weekdays at 972-7600/ and weekends at
972-7605.
ll
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
215 972 -7600
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
For more information, contact:
Wendy Metzger, P.R. Coordinator
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
732-0721 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
AN EXHIBITION OF MIXED MEDIA ARTWORK BY JAMES DUPREE AND SCULPTURE
BY KARL KARHUMAA ·TO BE ON VIEW IN THE PEALE HOUSE GALLERIES
OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS FROM
MARCH 7 THROUGH MARCH 29, 1985
(Philadelphia, Pa., February 27, 1985) - The works of two artists will be on view on
the Peale House Galleries of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1820 Chestnut
Street, from March 7 through March 29, 1985.
This exhibition will be composed of mixed
media paintings, totems, and works on paper by James Dupree and sculpture by Karl
Karhumaa.
An opening reception, to which the public is invited, will be held on Wednesday,
March 6, 1985, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
These works by Academy alumnus James Dupree date from 1983 - 1984, when he was an
artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum
i~
Harlem.
The show consists of four large
paintings, including a triptych that is 6' x 9' in size.
composed uf -wo-o-d, and decoratedVlith-" gIHss; ' wool' ;
or plaster cast painted masks perched on top.
Also on view will be six totems
" leather ~ "
and" heads ,- -,vith -ei thet
· bronze~ .~ .
Approximately ten works on paper will also
be on display.
As James Dupree comments: "Painting pictures is a way of life for me.
Making art,
experimenting with each new theme, experimenting with the world of color - these have not
been enough.
In my most recent works, paintings accompany free-standing totems.
from painting to sculpture allows the fantasy to become visual reality.
Moving
Reflecting on my
experience, I hope I have touched each viewer with some magic."
A resident of Philadelphia, Dupree attended the Skowhegen School of Painting,
Skowhegen, Maine (1973) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1973-74).
At the
Columbus College of Art and Design in · Columbus, Ohio, Dupree received his B.F.A.
,
(1968-73) and his M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (1974-77).
In 1984, Dupree was awarded a fellowship grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the
Arts.
He was an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, N.Y. (1983-84), and
at the
~randywine
Graphics Studio, Philadelphia (1984).
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' . -- ,:'::
p. 2
He has had solo exhibitions at: the Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia (1983); the
Cinque Galler y , New York City (1983); Indiana State College Museum, Indiana, Pa. (1982);
and at the Philadelphia Art Alliance (1981). In 1984, Dupree was included in the group
shows: Recherche, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia; Form and Color, The Center for Art
and Culture of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Esta Robinson Gallery,
Impressions, Port of History Museum, Philadelphia.
collections of:
N.Y.~.;
and
Dupree's work is included in the
Philadelphia Museum of Art; Columbus Museum of Fine Arts, Columbus,
Ohio; Atlanta Life Insurance Co., Atlanta, Georgia; and SmithKline Beckman, Philadelphia.
Karl O. Karhumaa, the other artist in this Peale House exhibition, will have
approximately thirty-five works of sculpture from 1952 to the present on view.
Karhumaa
works in plaster, wood, and bronze, creating both in the round as well as wall-mounted
reliefs. The size of his sculpture ranges from 8" to 7' in size. The human figure is
prominent in his sculpture, with the artist working strictly from memory.
Karhumaa has been an instructor in sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts since 1966.
Prior to working at the Academy, he was an instructor in pottery and
sculpture at the Cheltenham Art Center from 1967 to 1978.
Karhumaa received his B.F.A.
from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan (1946-49) and his M.F.A from Syracuse
University, Syracuse, N.Y. (1950-53).
He was a scholarship student in sculpture at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1954-55, and a postgraduate student in
ceramics at Wayne State University from 1959-60.
In 1955, Karhumaa received the Tiffany Foundation Award for Sculpture, and was
commissioned by the Philadelphia Department of Recreation to create a sculpture for a
park in 1966. He has had
so~o
exhibitions at: West Chester State College (1972): Ney
Gall er y, New Hope, Pa • (1970); and'- 25·2.. Gallery -, .Pfit laa-el-phia ---C 1 %8.) -.-He...:h8:s:=exhib±t:etF-at.- --=-:-·:==the Fine Arts Faculty Show at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Invitational
Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition at the Cheltenham Art Center, the Woodmere Art Gallery,
Chestnut Hill, Pa., and at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in 1968 and 1970.
The Peale House Galleries, located at 1820 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, display a
rotating series of stimulating exhibitions in all media.
In addition to Academy
students, the shows in the Peale House galleries feature artists who have not recently
exhibited in the Philadelphia area.
These shows are organized for the benefit and
education of the Academy School students.
Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m, and Sundays from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.
- 30
No admission charge.
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact: Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
.
843-9917 (Horne)
For Immediate Release
WOMEN'S HISTORY WEEK TO BE OBSERVED AT THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE
ARTS WITH A SLIDE TALK BY JEANNE MADELINE WEIMANN ON THE WOMAN'S BUILDING AT
THE 1893 COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION ••• SUNDAY, MARCH 10, AT 2:00 P.M.
(Philadelphia, Pa. - February 27, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts invites the public to attend a slide talk by Jeanne Madeline Weimann on
the Woman's Building at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
This talk,
entitled "A Vanished Women's Landmark," marks the Pennsylvania Academy's observance
of Women's History Week this year, and 'vill take place on Sunday, March 10, at 2: 00
p.m., in the Academy's auditorium at Broad and Cherry Streets, and is free with the
price of museum admission.
In its day, the Woman's Building at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago
was the greatest achievement of American women ever seen.
But today, few have heard
of it: a structure designed by a young woman architect, decorated by women, planned
and run by women, and filled with the work, words, art, and craft of thousands of
ferriale--exhibitors from every state~2-th:e.::..yn..i-0n::...an.Q -f'()'T;t-y~f{:}F'e-i;gn"':~~untri'eB . . _.-; . ._ .. __ ;,~~..:~_
After the EXposition closed in 1893, the temporary building disappeared,
along with Modern Woman, a superb mural by Mary Cassatt, deemed controversial in its
time.
As part of Women's History Week, Academy visitors will have an opportunity to
"visit" the lost Woman's Building through a specially researched slide talk by
Jeanne Madeline Weimann, author of The Fair Women: The Story of the Woman's Building
at the 1893 \.Jorld' s Fair.
The slide show begins by telling the story of the Board of Lady Managers: how
they carne into being, and how they overcame the prejudices of Victorian gentlemen,
as well as their own internal tempests, to build an unprecedented worldwide
organization for women's rights.
One meets
~he
Woman's Building's gifted young
talents, including architect Sophia Hayden, an MIT graduate who suffered a tragic
breakdown as she bowed under the pressures of executing her prizewinning design.
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.-:"-~._
t" . . .
p.2
One is then taken on a tour of the many fascinating departments of the
building.
One sees water colors by Queen Victoria, sculpture by Sarah Bernhardt,
patented inventions by ingenious women, priceless crown laces loaned by the Queen of
Italy, Rookwood art pottery, a Smithsonian retrospect of primitive women's
inventions, a library of women's books and statistical reports of women's economic
status worldwide, and exhibit booths by Susan B. Anthony's National Woman Suffrage
Association and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
The Children's Building,
next door, represents one of America's first day-care centers.
In all there are 160
slides, most in color.
The New York Times, in its review of The Fair Women (1981), called it "a
catalogue of 19th century women's achievements and a staggering one, too •.. an
engrossing and allusive account."
A free-lance writer, Weimann is a contributing
editor for the World's Fair Journal and the Antique Almanac.
articles in Americana, American History, and Ms. magazine.
She has also published
She has a B.A. degree
from Skidmore College and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern
University.
She has lectured at museums, bookstores, libraries, and women's
or ganizations around the country.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, located just two short blocks
north of City Hall in Philadelphia, is the oldest art museum and art school in North
Amer ica. ~_! t
~~~ on v enie n t
to
a1l --pui>1~ic- ct.r anspor
t:atiorr-oami-«pa-rldng;:;-1' .'fheL'mU's~-d: S' i .n_i iii" ,-; ' " i
open to the public from 10:06 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 12:00
noon to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
$1.00 students.
General admission is $2.00, $1.50 senior citizens, and
Admission is free on Tuesdays.
on weekdays at 11:00
a.~.
Regularly scheduled tours are given
and 2:00 p.m., and weekends at 2:00 p.m.
-30-
.PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
215 972-7600
For further i nformation, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972 - 7642 (Academy)
843- 9917 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS EXTENDS ALICE NEEL EXHIBITION
THROUGH APRIL 7, DUE TO ITS POPULAR SUCCESS
(Philadelphia , Pa. - March 18, 1985) - The Penn sylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts announced t oday that it is extending the r un of the exhibition Alice Neel:
Paint i ngs Since 1970 through Sunday, April 7.
The show had originally been
scheduled to close on March 17.
"Because of the extraordinary popular success of the Alice Neel show, we are
delighted to be able to announce that we have extended the exhibition through April
7," said Linda Bantel, director of the Academy's museum.
"In her life and art, the
late Alice Neel was a maverick who continually challenged and bucked prevailing
tastes.
Museum- goers have been as fascinated by her life, as re vealed by the color
film presentation accompanying the exhibition, as they have by her powerful
portraits .
Neel's paintings, which record faces of family members, the famous, and
the not so famo us, convey a sense of anxiety and alienation, which many people
recognize as part of their daily lives," Bantel concluded.
This exhibition, consisting of 39 paintings, was originally scheduled to
coincide with Alice Neel's eighty- fift h birthday .
The news of her death on October
13, 1984, t he refore, seemed doubly sorrowful, for the artist had pleasurably
anticipated s eeing her works on view at the Academy.
The show can now be regarded
as a testimo nial a nd tribute to a remarkable, fiercely independent American artist.
The exhibition was organized by gues t curator John Cheim of the Robert Miller
Gallery in New York, and will only be on view here at the Pennsylvania Academy.
-______'I'he_h~J.-f-hour -co 10r--hclm --wficicch-is- an -adju nc t -to- the - showis--entitle-d "Aiice-- Neel - Collector of Souls - " and is part of the PBS television series The Originals:
Women in Art .
The film uses a variety of techniques to reveal the character of th i s
ebullient artist; there are scenes that di sclose Neel's remin i scences about events
and people in her life, while the camera studies paintings that reflect how these
influenced her work.
In this film one sees the artist conversing with one of her
subjects, as her brush is recreating his likeness on canvas .
archival photos which show her active participat i on in
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Also included are
NEEL page 2
various social issues of her time. Interviews disclose the travails of her early
life and the loneliness that in some form has pervaded all her days.
Alice Neel was
70 years old before she began to reap the recognition for her talent, as evidenced
by retrospective exhibitons of her wor k, and her induction into the American Academy
and Institute of Arts and Letters, a ceremony documented in this film. "Alice Neel Collector of Souls -" will be shown Tuesday through Sunday at t he following times:
10:30 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 12:00 noon, 12:45 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:15 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.
(Note: only exception is Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., since the museum is
not open to the public until 12:00 noon.)
A fully-illustrated exhibition catalogue, which inc l udes an interview with
Alice Neel by writer and novelist Ted Castle, is available for purchase in the
museum shop, and costs $15.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall.
to public transportation and parking.
It is convenient
It is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
admission is $2.00, $1.50 for senior citizens, and $1.00 for students.
General
The public
is admitted f ree of charge on Tuesdays.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded in 1805, is the oldest art
museum and art school in North America.
Its collection of over 7,300 works of
American art is housed in its third building, a National Historic Landmark, designed
by Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its original Victorian splendor in 1976.
-30-
----------
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
THE 1983 WHITNEY BIENNIAL VIDEO EXHIBITION TO BE ON VIEW AT THE
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS FROM MARCH 26 THROUGH APRIL 2, 1985
I
(Philadelphia, PA - March 18, 1985) - The 1983 Whitney Biennial Video Exhibition
will be on view at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at Broad and Cherry
Streets for one week from Tuesday, March 26 through Tuesday, April 2 (except for
Monday, April 1, when the museum is closed). The seven videotape programs of the
1983 Whitney Biennial Video Exhibition, circulated by the American Federation of Arts,
include works by sixteen outstanding, contemporary American video artists. Members of
the public can view the programs for free, with the price of museum admission, in the
Academy's history gallery during regular museum hours. Schedules will be available at
the Academy or by calling the public relations office at (215) 972-7642.
When portable video equipment became available in the mid-1960's, artists appropriated it to explore a new means of recording images, much as avant-garde film makers
had earlier adopted the hand-held camera to broaden the scope and style of films.
Video art is now recognized as a serious, valid means of artistic expression and imagemaking. Unfortunately, Philadelphia audiences have had few opportunities to view the
diverse styles and breadth of content afforded by this medium.
The history of video as an art form has been one of rapid change. Developments in
media technology have offered artists a variety of aesthetic choices just as they have
radically altered the public perception of video and its capabilities. Since the late
1940's, broadcast television has been dominated by the commercial networks. In recent
years multiple options have emerged in the form of cable and alternative telecast systems,
some of which now present very advanced video and and television programming. Audiences
not only have a wider selection of broadcast material but also a new, more dynamic relationship with the medium: television is no longer a simple conduit for information and entertainment. If audience attitudes toward video and television have been revolutionized,
artists not only mirror that change in their work but also interepret and influence those
evolving Derceptions by employinq and transformina new imaqe-makinq technoloqy.
The seven videotape programs of the 1983 Whitney Biennial Video Exhibition repoutstanding developments in contemporary video art which invite us to explore what
video - and ultimately television - can be. Program I features three videotapes:
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p.2
WHITNEY VIDEO CONTID
Juan Downeyls The Looking Glass employs new narrative and documentary forms to investigate
the cultural role and formal use of the mirror in Western art; Surveillance, originally
part of an installation by Bruce Charlesworth, presents a situation in which people performing surveillance activities are themselves being watched by the unblinking eye of surveillance cameras; Ken Feingoldls New Building Under the Water takes randomly selected
television news footage and refashions it through editing into a mysterious and disturbi ng text.
Program II opens with Edin Velezls Meta Mayan II, a haunting view of the people
of Latin America practicing the customs of their culture against the backdrop of political oppression; U.S. Sweat by Shalom Gorewitz is a meditation on America and Israel
via an image-processed journey full of fresh insights; After Laughter by Stan Vanderbeek
is a thoughtful view of the threat of nuclear war as embodied in synthesized images of
Eadweard Muybridgels photographs. Program III is devoted to Bill Violals Hatsu Yume
(First Dream), a powerful evocation of the land and culture of Japan, involving a virtuoso
display of videols new recording and processing capabilities.
Program IV features three works: Matthew Gellerls Windfalls constructs and reconstructs an incident in a new narrative that plays with our interpretation and perception
of an event; The Speech by Doug Hall is a perceptive view of the political speech as
created for television; Howard Friedls Making a Paid Political Announcement sets up a situation in which people interviewed about their political opinions form their own Iloaid
political announcement,1I thereby placinq the role of television and the political
commercial in a radical new perspective.
Program V opens with Barbara Bucknerls Millennia, a sophisticated and lyrical exploration
of video image-making; Videograms by Garry Hill constructs abstract imagery out of the
properties of the video process; Bob Snyderls Trim Subdivisions deconstructs houses of a
suburban subdevelopment into formal compositions, rebuilding those structures into a
video image. Programs VI and VII are both devoted to single videotapes: Allan Inl Allenls
Complaint by Nam June Paik and Shigeko Kubota is an evocative meditation on the relationship of artists Allan Kaprow and Allen Ginsberg to their respective fathers; Martha
Roslerls A simple Case for Torture, or, How to Sleep at Night takes as its starting
point, a national news magazine article that argues the case for political torture,
offering by means of an examination of that article an ideological critique of media
and oppressive political philosophies .
.In conjuction with the 1983 Whitney Biennial Video Exhibition, WHYY-TV producer
Louis Mas~iah will deliver an .informal gallery talk on video art on Tuesday, ~~arch 26,
at noon; free.
The Pennsylvania Academy is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and
Sunday from 12 noon to 4 p.m.; closed Monday. General admission is $2, $1.50 senior
citizens, and $1 students. Free Tuesdays.
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SCHEDULE FOR THE 1983 WHITNEY BIENNIAL VIDEO EXHIBITION
Tuesday, March 26
Saturday, March 30
10:00
Program I
10:00
Program IV
11:00
Program II
11:00
Program III
12:00
Louis Massiah, Food for
Thought on Video Art
12:00
Program VII
1:00
Program IV
1:00
Program I
2:PO
Programs V and VI
2:00
Programs V and VI
3:00
Program VII
3:00
Program II
Wednesday, March 27
Sunday,
March 31
12:00
Program I
10:00
Program II
11:00
Program III
1:00
Program II
12:00
Program IV
2:00
Program III
1:00
Programs V and VI
3:00
Programs V and VI
2:00
Program I
Thursday, March 28
10:00
Program VII
Tuesday, AEril 2
Program IV
10:00
11:00
Program I
11:00
Program VII
12:00
Program II
12:00
Program III
1:00
Program III
1:00
Program I
2:00
Programs V and VI
2:00
Programs V and VI
3:00
Program IV
3:00
Program II
Friday, March 29
10:00
Program III
11:00
Program II
12:00
Programs V and VI
1:00
Program VII
2:00
Program I
3:00
Program IV
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
SOUTH STREET DANCE COHPANY TO PERFORM AT THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADENY OF THE
FINE ARTS ON SATURDAY, MARCH 30, AT 11: 30 A. M.... A TREAT FOR THE ImOLE
FAMILY, SPONSORED BY YOUNG AUDIENCES OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA
(Philadelphia, Pa. - March 21, 1985) - On Saturday, March 30, at 11:30 a.m., the
South Street Dance Company will present an informal program of modern dance for young
people and adults at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia.
This delightful and varied program, to be performed in the galleries of the Academy,
combines narration, choreographed dances, improvisation, and audience participation.
It
is set to music ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach to John Cage, with stops along the way
for electronic music, a contemporary Brazilian samba, a Georgian Torn Dorsey 1920's jazz
piece, and even some poetry.
South Street Dance Company director Ellen Forwan will narrate the program, which
makes reference to the paintings and sculpture on display in the Academy's galleries.
These
wor!~s
are part of the current exhibition, A Growing American Treasure: Recent
Acguisitions and Highlights from the Permanent Collection, on display through April 14.
As part of the presentation, Forman will demonstrate how space, shape, color, and rhythm
are elements found in both the visual arts and dance.
The performers from the South Street Dance Company who will appear in the program
are Susan Deutsch, Sandra Holloway, Rafael Kleinman, and Wayne St. David.
This South Street Dance Company performance at the Pennsylvania Academy·is sponsored
by Young Audiences of Eastern Pa.
For over 30 years Young Audiences has presented
educational performing arts programs in schools, hospitals and senior centers.
Each year
the Eastern Pa. chapter presents more than 800 separate programs that reach over 180,000
students and adults throughout the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys.
Admission to this performance is free for Academy members and all children up
through the age of eighteen, and is free with museum admission to the general public.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry Streets in
Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall.
transportation and parking.
It is convenient to public
It is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00
Tuesday through Saturday, and 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
S2.00, $1.50 for senior citizens, and $1.00 for students.
charge on Tuesdays.
-30-
p.~.
General admission is
The public is admitted free of
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Office)
843-9917 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS INVITES THE PUBLIC TO MEET
ARTIST JUDY CHICAGO AT A RECEPTION ON THURSDAY, APRIL 11, AT 5:45 P.M.
(Philadelphia, Pa. - March 28, 1985) - The Young Friends of the Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine Arts invite the public to meet artist Judy Chicago at a
champagne punch reception on Thursday, April 11, at 5:45 p.m., at the Academy's
museum at Broad and Cherry Streets.
The reception will honor the artist, who has presented to the Academy Creation
of the World (1981-1984, embroidery over painting, 8 x 16"), a magical image in
needlepoint from The Birth Project.
The project is a panoramic series of
needleworked paintings and drawings done by stitchers from around the country who
have volunteered to work with the artist.
Creation of the World was embroidered
after Judy Chicago's designs by Pamella Nesbitt of Sebastopol, California.
This work will be displayed for the first time at the Academy on this occasion,
at which time Chicago will informally discuss her monumental collaborative project,
its imagery, and its art-making technique.
She will then introduce Philadelphia
area needleworkers who contributed to The Birth Project.
During the following
reception, a twenty-minute video tape about the project will be shown, and the
artist will autograph her latest Doubleday book, The Birth Project, which will be on
sale that evening in the museum for $17.95.
Attendance at this reception is by
reservation only, so those interested in participating should call the Academy's
membership office at (215) 972-7630 for a reservation.
The cost for this event is
$3.00 for members of the Academy and $5.00 for nonmembers.
Judy Chicago, one of America's foremost feminist artists, has been instrumental
in introducing the idea of female imagery into the art community and in developing a
new environment for women artists.
Primarily a painter and sculptor, Chicago has
explored the themes of women's experiences and concerns in a variety of media,
including ceramics, needlework, plastics, environments, and china-painting.
work has been exhibited in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Europe.
Her
She has
lectured widely, is the author of four books, and her work has also been documented
in films, including Womanhouse and Right Out of History: The Making of "The Dinner
Party."
The Dinner Party exhibition, a monumental sculpture symbolizing women's
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JUDY CHICAGO CONTINUED
history, was conceived by Judy Chicago and executed by her in cooperation with a
working community of over 400 women and men.
The Dinner Party was seen by over half
a million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain.
Judy Chicago was born Judy Cohen in Chicago, Illinois.
She moved to California
to study at UCLA, and graduated in 1962 with a B.A. in art and an M.A. in art in
1964.
She changed her name to Judy Chicago in 1969.
The Birth Project transforms needlework, the traditional craft of women, into a
powerful art form.
In her previous work, The Dinner Party, Chicago designed
needlework runners symbolizing the eras in which 39 historic women lived.
Now
Chicago has created for needlework a large series of paintings and drawings on the
subject of birth, a metaphor for creation and a universal experience almost never
seen in art.
One hundred and fifty volunteer need1eworkers from allover the United States
as well as Canada and New Zealand have worked closely with Chicago in the making of
The Birth Project.
working with her.
They were selected from hundreds who contacted Chicago about
Since 1980, these volunteers have taken part in the completion of
one hundred works of art.
Each work was created specifically for further transformation by needlework
techniques.
Among the techniques employed to unprecedented effect in The Birth
Project are embroidery, quilting, needlepoint, petit point, smocking, weaving,
macrame, crochet, filet crochet, applique, reverse applique, and pulled thread
work.
In some cases, needlework covers the surface of Chicago's drawn or painted
image.
In others, a fusion of painting and needlework is visible.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall.
to public transportation and parking.
4:00
p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and
It is convenient
It is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to
12:00 noon to 4:00
p.m. on Sunday.
admission is $2.00, $1.50 for senior citizens, and - $1.00 for students.
General
The public
is admitted free of charge on Tuesdays.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded in 1805, is the oldest art
museum and art school in North America.
Its collection of over 7,300 works of
American art is housed in its third building, a National Historic Landmark, designed
by Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its original Victorian splendor in 1976.
-30-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PI:::IILADELPHIA
NEWS
PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For more intormation, contact
Wendy Metzger, P.R. Coordinator
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
732-0721 (Home)
For Immediate Release
HEAD OVER HEELS, AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY BARKLEY HENDRICKS
TO BE ON VIEW IN THE PEALE HOUSE GALLERIES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY
OF THE FINE ARTS FROM APRIL 11 THROUGH MAY 5
(Philadelphia, Pa., April 1, 1985) - Head over Heels, an exhibition of
approximately thirty works, including paintings and constructions, by Academy
alumnus Barkley Hendricks will be on view in the Peale House Galleries of the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1820 Chestnut Street, from April 11 through
May 5, 1985.
An opening reception, to which the public is invited, will be held on
Wednesday, April 10, 1985 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
During the opening reception
at 6:00 p.m., there will be a ten minute performance entitled "Barkley, Hey
Barkley," produced by Dr. J. Brooks Dendy of the National Creative Drama Company and
in cooperation with the Lucien Art Gallery of Germantown.
"Barkley, Hey Barkley" is
symbolic of Barkley Hendrick's experiences while growing up in Philadelphia.
Performers Sheryl Farrar and Jacqueline Wade will sing "Madame Melody" and "You iss
No Good" in costumes consisting of hand-painted togas created by the Brooklyn
Creative Drama Company.
Barkley Hendricks has earned significant recognition for his large-scale
realistic figurative paintings.
These works are usually full-length portraits of
black Americans whose clothes and jewelry tell us much, if not more, about the
portrayed person than do their facial and body expressions.
Attentive to details of
dress, jewelry, pose, and gesture, Hendricks creates monumental portraits of style.
In most of his paintings, Hendricks presents his subjects free of background or
environmental details, leaving the viewers no option other than considering and/or
being confronted by these human subjects.
Hendricks portrays each person with great
exactness and specificity - so much so that his brand of realism has been referred
to by various critics as "straight-at-you" realism.
His interest in realism stems
from his early training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and from a
genuine desire to penetrate his subject: to capture something of the mystery of his
subject's true being.
Citing jazz as his muse, Hendricks aspires to paint as controlled and
compositionally tight as the Modern Jazz Quartet.
He feels his style as an artist
grow5 from the strength and flexibility of the jazz rhythm.
-more-
Hendricks is as
Hendricks, p. 2
inspired by ideas, moods, and music as he is by unusual objects.
The assimilation
relates to Hendricks' basic theory of art, which is to experience life fully, to be
aware of the environment, and to express that awareness in new and intriguing ways.
In Head over Heels, many of Hendricks' works focus on a symbol of the female.
The artist employs the image of a high heel shoe in many different ways in his still
lifes of both oil and water color, and in his constructions.
Hendricks was born in Philadelphia, attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts (1963-67), and received his B.. F.A. and M.F.A. from Yale University School
of Art (1972).
Hendricks has been the recipieqt of numerous awards, such as the
Chi Ide Hassam Purchase Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1971,
1979) and the Richard and Himda Rosenthal Award from the National Institute of Arts
and Letters (1972).
His work is included in the permanent collection of the
Pennsylvan i a Academy of the Fine Arts; the National Gallery of Art, Washington,
D.C.; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Currently living in New London, Conn., Hendricks is an associate professor of
art at Connecticut College.
Although his main works are oil paintings, Hendricks is
also an accomplished printmaker and published photographer.
The Peale House Galleries, located at 1820 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia,
display a rotating series of stimulating exhibitions in all media.
In addition to
Academy students, the shows in the Peale House galleries feature artists who have
not recently exhibited in the Philadelphia area.
These shows are organized for the
benefit and education of the Academy School students.
Hours are Tuesday through
Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sundays, from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.
admission charge.
- 30 -
No
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972-7600
NEWS
AN EXHIBITION OF PRINTS BY DEAN DASS, ENTITLED UNIQUE WORKS ON PAPER, TO BE
PRESENTED BY THE MORRIS GALLERY OF THE PENNNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
FROM MAY 3 THROUGH JUNE 23, 1985
(Philadelphia, Pa. - April 25, 1985) - From May 3 through June 23, 1985,
the Morris Gallery of the Pennnsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will present
an exhibition of prints by Dean Dass, entitled UNIQUE WORKS ON PAPER.
An opening reception, to which the public is invited, will be held on
Thursday, May 2, 1985, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Dedicated to giving exposure to outstanding contemporary artists from the
Philadelphia area, the Morris Gallery has always been the site for the
exhibitions it sponsors. However, late this spring, the work of Dean Dass will
be on view in the adjacent His tory Gallery, a surprisingly suitable space. This
is because workmen will be installing replications of the Academy's historic
tiles in the area around the Grand Staircase during the time that the Dass show
will be on view. Since the Morris Gallery will be cordoned off, visitors will
tak~
a detour to the History Gallery, where they can browse among Dass's
subtle, evocative etchings and drawings.
Lending themselves beautifully to the setting of the History Gallery, the
artist's pieces are more l i ke timeless documents than contemporary artworks.
Recalling the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci or the darkened, precious pages of
the BOOK OF KELLS, the 17 x 21" works are rich with subdued layers of color,
sketchy lines of drawing, and tight, delicate script. Dass uses the techniques
of printmaking only as a starting point, overlaying the printed image with
hand-coloring, pencil, collage, powdered pigments, or thin lines of foil. He
uses a chine-colle method, which involves the lamination of fibrous paper onto
the larger etching paper during the printing process. This technique gives the
prints a richly veiled look that adds to their ancient feel.
Evidence of Dass's experience of working in a bindery is found in small
squares of marbled endpapers that he adheres to the print with other
cube-shaped materials that he fashions from mica, hand-painted paper, magazine
illustrations, wax slide envelopes, and other found media. Uncovering these
features with the eye is an engaging process for the viewer, very much like
slowly turning the pages of an ancient manuscript, alsways taking care not to
miss a single, significant detail. As with a medieval text, poetic passages or
phrases are included in t he print to meld the meaning of both image and word.
- more -
P.2
DASS
Writing is clearly another important form of expression for Dass, though it
seems t o playa more subsidiary role than his work as a visual artist.
The initial plate provides only a basis for one of Dass's finished works.
Regarding his subsequent layering and reworking of the print. tlie artist
recently commented: "I am always working to make it look like an object as much
as an i mage. I'm building a ground, as well as an image up from the ground
setting." This thinking reverberates in his prose as well, where the opposition
and play between the conscious and unconscious are recurring themes.
Currently represented by the Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, Dean Dass has
exhibited widely. Solo shows include: Sonoma State University, CA (1984);
UNIQUE WORKS ON PAPER, Associated American Artists, Philadelphia, PA (1983);
and Olsen-Larsen Galleries, Des Moines, IA (1983). He has been featured in
group exhibitions at the Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ; the Brooklyn Museum; the
Institute of Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; The Print
Club, Philadelphia; and numerous university galleries across the country. His
work is represented in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum; Temple
University; the National Collection of Poland; the University of Dallas; Kansas
State University; SmithKline Beckman, Philadelphia; the Charlotte Printmaker's
Society; the University of Northern Iowa; and the University of South Dakota.
Educated at the University of Northern Iowa, with an MFA from Tyler
School of Art (1980), Dass has been a lecturer and instructor at Pennsylvania
State University, the University of Delaware, Tyler School of Art, and is
currently at Kutztown University,
where he teaches printmaking and drawing.
On Friday, May 17, at noon, the artist will deliver an informal gallery
talk at the museum at Broad and Cherry Streets; free with the price of museum
admission.
The Morris Gallery, located in the Academy museum at Broad and Cherry
Streets, displays the work of outstanding contemporary artists with a
connection to Philadelphia, determined by birth, schooling, or residence. Hours
are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 noon to
4 p.m. General museum admission is $2, $1.50 senior citizens, and $1 students.
Morris Gallery exhibitions are chosen by a committee composed of area
artists, museum personnel and collectors, and the curatorial staff of the
Academy. Currently serving on the Morris Gallery Exhibition Committee are
Cynthia Carlson, Jennie Q. Dietrich, Dr. Helen Herrick, Harold Jacobs, Jay
Richardson Massey, Charles E. Mather III, Cheryl Mc Clenney, John Moore, Mark
Rosenthal; and Academy staff Judith Stein-Morris Gallery Coordinator, Frank H.
Goodyear, Jr., Linda Bantel, Betty Romanella; and Academy students Ed Lewis and
Anna Yates.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972 -7600
For further information, contact:
Wendy Pollard Metzger, P.R. Coordinator
(215) 972- 7642 (Academy)
732- 0721 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS TO HOLD STUDENT AWARDS CEREMONY
ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1985 AT 4:00 P.M ••••• DICK THORNBURGH
TO PRESENT THE GOVERNOR'S AWARD
(Philadelphia, Pa., May 1, 1985) -On Wednesday, May 8, 1985 at 4:00 p.m., the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will hold its Student Awards Ceremony at the
Broad and Cherry Streets building.
The ceremony will mark the announcement of
special honors, including the William Emlen Cresson, Lewis S. Ware, Henry Schiedt
Memorial Traveling Scholarships, The Pennsylvania Governor's Award, The Philadelphia
Mayor's Award, and the award of four-year certificates. Artist Ben Wolf, who is also
a critic, author, and lecturer, will be guest speaker.
Artist's Life - Reflections and Anecdota."
His talk is entitled, "The
The ceremony will be followed by the
Academy student, membership, and alumni opening of the ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION,
which opens to the public on Thursday, May 9 and will run through June 2, 1985.
Approximately $150,000 in scholarships and awards are given to students at this
ceremony.
The traveling scholarships cited earlier are the most prestigious of the
student prizes awarded each year, for they enable the winners to spend several
months abroad to further their artistic abilility.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was established in Philadelphia in
1805 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it is appropriate that the offices of
the Governor of Pennsylvania and of the mayor of Philadelphia be honored by the
Academy with an award recognizing the contribution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the arts in America and of the importance of the City of Philadelphia as a
cultural center.
Two awards, of $1,000 each, have been established to be given annually to two
graduating students who have shown outstanding accomplishments in the fine arts.
The awards, which are unrestricted in their use, are given upon reccomendation
of the faculty and are limited to those students who have in the preceding year won
a Cresson, Schiedt, or Ware Traveling Scholarship and are exhibiting in the ANNUAL
STUDENT EXHIBITION for a second award.
This special consideration is given to these graduating students in
I
anticipation of their future contribution as artists to the community and, in
- more -
p. 2
particular, to extend moral and practical support at a time when such aid can most
directly benefit the difficult and unique transition from student to independent
artist.
Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh will present the Governor's Award and
Mayor W. Wilson Goode has been invited to present the Mayor's Award.
The Academy's
Samuel M.V. Hamilton, chairman of the board of trustees, Frank H. Goodyear, Jr.,
president, and Frederick S. Osborne, Jr., will take part in the ceremonies.
In addition, Ben Wolf will deliver a speech to the graduating students.
Ben
Wolf, painter, graphic artist, author, and lecturer, was born in Philadelphia in
1914.
While a student at the Pennsylvania Academy,he studied under Arthur B. Carles
and Hans Hoffman. Ben Wolf was one of the first painters in the Philadelphia to
espouse "hard edge" painting, an abstact graphic idiom, which prefigured minimal art
of the 1960's. A faculty member at the Pennsylvania Academy from 1968-69, Wolf also
taught for many years at the Philadelphia College of Art.
A frequent contributor to periodicals and newspapers, Wolf is also the author
of "Morton Schamberg" (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1963), and "Franklin C.
Watkins, Portrait of a Painter" (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1966).
He is
currently working on a book about artist Peter Paone.
An avid supporter of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Mr. and Mrs.
Ben Wolf established in 1982 the Morris Blackburn Print Prize and the Morris
Blackburn Landscape Prizes.
In addition, the Wolfs generously donated to the
Academy's print department a woodcut and lithography press, in memory of Blackburn.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, located at Broad and Cherry
Streets, is just two short blocks north of City Hall.
Hours are Tueday through
Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Sunday 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.
general, $1.50 senior citizens, and $1.00 students.
more information, call (215) 972- 7642.
#30
Admission is $2.00
Free admission on Tuesdays.For
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE' ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS ANNOUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF A WORK
BY RED GROOMS , ENTITLED A ROOM IN CONNECTICUT •••.• TO BE ON DISPLAY IN
UPCOMING ACADEMY RETROSPECTIVE
(Philadelphia , PA - May 2, 1985) ;
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts announced today that it has purchased a recent work by Red Grooms,
entitled A ROOM IN CONNECTICUT (1984, oil on canvas and acrylic on Plexiglas
with aluminum frame), from the Marlborough Gallery in New York. A ROOM IN
CONNECTICUT will be on display for the first time in Philadelphia in the
Academy-organized exhibition RED GROOMS: A RETROSPECTIVE 1956-1984, which will
be on view in the Broad and Cherry Streets museum from June 21, 1985, through
September 29, 1985.
This intriguing work is a prime example of one of Grooms's abiding
thematic interests, art history. It contains a variety of art historical
allusions, including portraits of art notables and ingenious recreations of
several masterpieces of twentieth century art. In A ROOM IN CONNECTICUT, Red
Grooms brings the viewer into intimate proximity with the avant-garde art
- more -
p. 2
ROOM IN CONNECTICUT
circles of America and introduces several key figures in the history of
American modernism. Noted collecter Katherine S. Dreier and artist Marcel
Duchamp, two founders of the Societe Anonyme
(est~blished
in 1920 for the
purpose of buying, exhibiting, and promoting the most advanced American and
European art), are shown conversing in the library of Dreier's art-filled West
Redding, Connecticut residence.
Grooms depicts Dreier's cantankerous cockatoo
Coco, who is shown posed on his mistress's shoulder, and several works by
Duchamp in Dreier's collection.
The painting TU M' (in the collection of the
Yale University Art Gallery) is shown hanging above a bookcase,
and to the
right of Dreier and Duchamp is a three dimensional rendering of the artist's
noted work BRIDE STRIPPED BARE BY HER BACHELORS, EVEN or LARGE GLASS, which is
in the collection of the Philadelphia
Museum of Art. Through the LARGE GLASS
one spies Baroness Hilla Rebay, the first director of the Guggenheim Museum,
and the architect of that famed structure, Frank Lloyd Wright.
Judith Stein, the Academy's assistant curator and the organizer of the
Red Grooms retrospective, describes the impetus for this work: "The idea for A
ROOM IN CONNECTICUT germinated when Red Grooms saw a photo of Dreier's
livingroom in The New York Times. He was particularly intrigued by the
overlapping historical periods, since Dreier's comfortable Victorian house
furnished the setting for the most avant-garde art of its time."
Red Grooms has often used art to comment on its own history. The subject
of "art about art," like virtually all facets of Grooms's iconography, can be
f ound in his art throughout his career. This long-standing interest has been
expressed , for example, in WILLIAM PENN SHAKING HANDS WITH THE INDIANS (1967),
the pseudo-Romanesque NOTRE DAME DE BADMINTON (1980), and NIGHTHAWKS REVISITED
(1980) •
The Pennsylvania Academy's Red Grooms retrospective will provide museum
visitors with an opportunity to see not only A ROOM IN CONNECTICUT and old
favorites such as THE CITY OF CHICAGO (1967) and the "SUBWAY" from RUCKUS
MANHATTAN (1975), but a chance to view other lesser known works such as the
intimate, rarely exhibited ink drawings executed from
1956 to 1971 in
Provincetown and New York.
Those who have seen only Grooms's PHILADELPHIA CORNUCOPIA (1982), which
was commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Art to celebrate the city's
Tricentennial, or who are unfamilliar with the breadth and variety of his work,
should prepare for an enlightening adventure. This retrospective is the first
- more -
p.3
ROOM IN CONNECTICUT
major survey to document the full range of the artist's prolific career.
Comprising
170 works in all media, the show will include
paintings, drawings,
sculpture, films, and prints. Culled from national and international private
and public collections, many of the works in RED GROOMS will be on display for
the first time since their original presentation in the late 1950's, 1960's and
1970's.
This exhibition is funded in part by grants from the Atlantic Richfield
Foundation, CIGNA Corporation, and Industrial Valley Bank
& Trust Company.
After its appearance at the Academy, the exhibition will be on display at the
Denver Art Museum from November 2, 1985, through January 5, 1986; the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, from March 12, 1986, through June 29, 1986; and
the Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, from August 17, 1986, through October
26, 1986.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a color poster, depicting Grooms's
mixed media construction SOMEWHERE IN BEVERLY HILLS, and a fully illustrated
catalogue, which contains essays by organizing curator Judith Stein; Newsweek
art critic John Ashbery; and film historian Janet Cutler.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets, just two short blocks north of City Hall. It is convenient to all
public transportation and parking
The Pennsylvania Academy, founded in 1805, is the oldest art museum and
art school in North America. Its collection of over 7,300 works of American art
is housed in its third building, a National Historic Landmark, designed by
Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its original Victorian splendor in 1976.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972 - 7600
For further information, contact:
Wendy Pollard Metzger, P.R. Coordinator
(215) 972- 7642 (Academy)
732- 0721 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACAD~ OF THE FINE ARTS ANNOUNCES
STUDENT AWARD WINNERS
(Philadelphia, Pa., May 7, 1985) -The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine .Arts has
announced t he names of the student award winners, who were selected on the basis of the
work they submitted for the 84th ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION, which goes on display in the
main galleries at Broad and Cherry Streets on May 9 and continues through June 2.
This
year 94 students participated in the show, and approximately 600 works of art are on
_display.
The ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION in its current for~ dates from 1902, when the first
William Emlen Cresson Traveling Scholarships were awarded.
Subsequently, the Lewis S.
Ware and J. Henry Schiedt Memorial Traveling Scholarships were established and, along
with the
are the most prestigious of the student prizes -awarded each year.
Cresso~,
The Cresson is a generously endowed scholarship establishe4 by Emlen and Priscilla
Cresson in memory of their son, who had been an accomplished Academy student and later, a
member of the Academy's Committee on Instruction.
and over 1,000 have been awarded since 1902.
Five Cressons were awarded this year
Cresson winners travel in Europe and also
receive a full tuition scholarship for the following year.
The Ware Scholarship was
established in 1938 for European travel and three were awarded this year. The Schiedt
Scholarship, established in 1949, is for unrestricted travel.
Seven
Schied~s
were
awarded this year.
The 1985 winners of these awards are listed below:
CRESSON:
Leslie D. Bacsujlaky, Browns Mills, NJ; Sandi De Franco, Roseta, PA;
Lori
Hill, East Haven, CT; Julie Jung, Berwyn, PA; Charles Kauffman, Sugarloaf, FLA; and James
Boyle,
Kingsto~,
WARE:
PA.
James A. Moss, Indiana, PA; Rebecca Strong, Petaluma, CA; and Edwin
Wi~cox,
Wallingford, PA.
SCHIEDT:
Thomas M. Kohlman, St. Petersburg, FLA; Jennifer Lehr, Orangeville, PA;
Julia Mills, West Chester, PA; Robert Minnick, Moorestown., NJ, Theresa Savage,
Albuquerque, NM, and Michelle Strader, Bridgeport, PA.
Special Schiedt Award:
Nicolas
McGowan, East Burke, ·VT.
In addition to the awards cited above, since the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts was established in Philadelphia in 1805 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, i t was
thought appropriate that the offices of the governor of Pennsylvania and of the mayor of
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p.2
STUDENT AWARD WINNERS CONT.D.
Philadelphia be honored by t he Academy with an award recogn1z1ng the contribution of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the arts and the importance of the city of Philadelphia
as a c ultural center.
Two awards, of $1,000 each, were established to be given to two graduating
Pennsylvania Academy students who have shown outstanding accomplishment in the fine arts.
The Governor' s and t he Mayo~'s Awards are unrestricted in their use, and are given
upon t he recommendation of the faculty. The awards are_limited to those students who
have i n the pr eceding year won a Cresson, Schiedt, or a Ware Scholarship an~ are
exhibiting in the ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION as a candidate for a second award.
The winner of the 1985 Governor's Award is Brett Bigbee of Danville, Maine.
The
winner of this year's Mayor's Award is David Veenstra of New Canaan, Conn.
-
Two other prizes awarded this year were the Watkins - Grant and the _Hobson Pittman
Me~orial
Prjze.
W~tkins,
Established in 1973 _by _Mrs.
the Franklin C. Watkins Memorial
Grant consists of two $800 cash prizes that are to aid talented students of painting to
meet expenses ot-h er than tuition.
-
The recipients of this year's award were Ricardo
Knowles, Nassau, Bahama; and Stuart Lacey, Canton, Miss.
The Hobson Pittman Memorial Prize was endowed by the late Mr. Pittman, a former - Academy faculty member and recognize<f artist.
This cash prize of $1,000 is to be awarded
to a talented student for high achievement in experimental painting.
This year's winner
is Jacqueline Lovenworth of Philadelphia.
Both the Watkins Grant and Pittman Memorial Prizes were first awarded in 1973.
Unlike the Cresson, Schiedt, and Ware competitions, which allow the students to submit
artwork for only one of the t r aveling scholarships, the Watkins Grants and Pittman
-Memorial Prize are open to all students competing in the ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBTION.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry Streets in
Philadelphia~
It is open to the public from 10:00 a . m. to 4:00 p . m. Tuesday through
Satur day, and 12 noon to 4:00 p.m. on- Sunday.
and parking.
It is convenient to public transportation
General admission is $2.00, senior citizens, $1.50, and $1.00 students.
Free on Tuesdays.
For more information, call (215) 972-7642.
After t he ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION closes on J une 2 at Broad and Cherry Streets,
prize-wi nning work will be on display until September 15, 1985 at the Academy's Peale Hous e Galler ies at 1820 Chestnut Street, Philadelpnia.
#30
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PH I LADELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Office)
843-9917 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediat e Releas e
THE PENNSYLVANI A ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS PUBLISHES A NEW BOOK, "SCULPTURAL
MONUMENTS IN AN OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT"
(Philadelphia , Pa . - May 20, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Acad emy of the Fine Arts
announced t oday that i t has publ i shed a new book entit l ed SCULPTURAL MONUMENTS IN AN
OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT .
This book demons trates the Academy 's concer n for one of the
ma jor issues of toda y's envi ronment - loss of cultural property through acid rain
and pollution - and the Academy's commitment to a leadership role in the community
in order to address these issues responsibly and cost effecti vely .
The publicat ion evolved as the result of a conference hel d on November 2, 1983,
at the Penns ylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, cosponsored by the Academy and the
Fair mount Park Ar t Association.
The confer ence , initiated in re sponse to a growing
awareness of the det eri oration of public monuments, addressed quest ions about the
desirability, effectiveness, and cost of conservation treatments.
Metal scul pture,
specifically bronze, was the ma in topic .
In preparing this book for the general reader, transcripts of t he taped
proceedings were edited by the var ious participants; illustrations, footnotes, a
bibl iography, a glossa ry , and appendixes wer e added.
There is a check list of 400
bronze s culptures recently conserved , noting l ocation and treatment details ,
providing examples on s ite t o s upplement t he book's text and illustrations .
Even
though the techni ques used for sculpture conservation will change as the result of
advances in technol ogy, this book wil l stand as a rel i able reference for the ideas,
doc uments, and even ts that under lie t he establishment of an importa nt new area of
spec ializat i on.
For professionals in the many disciplines interes t ed in public art ,
the collected papers in thi s book suggest a phi losophy and a method of cooperat ion
whose value cannot go out of dat e .
The conference and its progr am was i nitiat ed by Penny Bach, Project Direct or of
t he Fairmount Park Art Assoc iati on, and by Virginia Naude, t he Penns yl vania
Aca demy ' s sculptur e conservat or .
Naude invit ed the speakers , deliver ed the opening
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1;:'
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remarks at the conference, and is the editor of this new publication.
The speakers
at the conference were Andrew Lins, Conservator for Sculpture and Decorative Arts,
Philadelphia Museum of Art; Phoebe Dent Weil, Chief Conservator, Washington
University Technology Associates, St. Louis, Missouri; Dan Riss, Conservator,
National Park Service, Division of Conservation Laboratory , Harpers Ferry Center,
West Virginia; Arthur Beale , Director, Center for Conservation and Technical
Studies, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Penny Balkin
Bach, Project Director, Fairmount Park Art Association; and Steven A. Tatti,
Sculpture Conservator.
Most of these writers are conservat ors, t he group of prof essionals who a re
leaders i n the technical preservation of outdoor sculpture.
produce most of the documented work in the field.
Conservators now
This documentation has provided a
base of r eliable data, making possi ble r esponsible reporting and commentary .
This
book presents for the first time an ob jective picture of the s tate of the a rt in
outd oor monument preservation.
"Conserva tor s' training in t hree separate areas - sc ienc e, histor y of art, and
the f ine arts - has enabled us to begin to r espond to the technical and aesthetic
problems of outdoor a r t objects, " comment s Naude .
"But the t r eat ments we perform
and their relative merits and limi tations, altho ugh often di scussed among t he
conservator s themselves, are only one part of the dialogue that ought to take place
on the subject of outdoor sculpture .
A wider dialogue with people outside the
conservat ion profession should be encouraged .
Some are already contribut ing; fo r
others, the conference a nd its subsequent publicat ion will provide the vocabular y
and background to participate."
This book will give the reader a general understanding of how bronze statuary
deteriorat es due to the ac id rain we are now experiencing in our environment.
It
presents a realistic evaluation of wha t can be done to preserve outdoor monuments.
It suggests various method s of colla boration wi th professional and citizens groups
to work together towa rd s c ommon preservation goals.
This publication can be of
specific help t o a nyone who ha s to make decisions about the preservation of outdoor
sculpture, including owners, custodians, historians , cura tor s, urban planners, a nd
arts administrator s.
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~CULt'TUKAL
nUN Ul"lliNT~ L;UN 1 . 1)
"Most of us in the museum profession are usually more anxious to commit money
and energy to acquiring new works of art than to conserving the works that are
already in place in collections or around the ' city," observes Frank H. Goodyear,
Jr., president of the Pennsylvania Academy.
"I find that somewhat ironic.
I am
puzzled by the notion that it is easier to raise money t o acquire something new than
it is to take care of something old.
I am also somewhat disturbed by the fact that
many museum directors and curators, people of great distinction, are experts when it
comes to acquisitions but know little or nothing about conservation.
resolve that in my own mind.
I cannot
I think we need a generation of museum directors and
curators and park administrators and supervisors who are committed to the notion of
conservation at the highest level.
this notion.
We at the Academy are very much committed to
We feel that this book can be of great val ue to those individuals who
are in the position to make decisions that may affect the long-term wel l-being of
bronze sculpture or other types of material sculpture."
SCULPTURAL MONUMENTS IN AN OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT i s a 116 page paperback book
containing 56 black and white photographic illustrations and seven drawings.
The
book may be purchased at the museum shop of the Pennsylvania Academy, located in the
t he Furness building at Broad and Cherry Street s, Philadelphia, at a cost of $5. 00
per copy.
The book may also be ordered by mail at a cost of $7.25 per copy
( including postage and handling ).
Orders should be sent to: Sculptural Monuments ,
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts , Broad and Cherry Streets, Phil adelphia , PA
19102.
Checks should be made payable to the Pennsy lvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
No tel ephone orders will be accepted.
-30-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Office)
843-9917 (Home)
For Immediate Release
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS TO HAVE SAMUEL F.B. MORSE'S "GALLERY
OF THE LOUVRE" ON DISPLAY THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER
(Philadelphia, Pa. - May 24, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
announced today that Samuel F.B. Morse's masterpiece, GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE, will be
on view in the Academy's museum from June 5 through September 8, 1985.
The work is
being loaned to the Academy for this period by the Terra Museum of American Art,
Evanston, Illinois.
GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE was purchased in 1982 for the Terra Museum by its
founder, Daniel J. Terra, U.S. ambassador-at-large for cultural affairs.
This sale
made front page news, for the purchase price at that time was the highest ever paid
for an American work of art.
"This is a unique opportunity to see GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE, an important
painting in the history of American art, and a work that admirably complements the
Pennsylvania Academy's strong collection of early 19th century paintings," said
Linda Bantel, director of the Academy's museum.
"It is also fitting that this
large-scale work is being shown at the Academy, for Frank Furness's acclaimed
building, with its spacious and elegant galleries, provides a suitable and
particularly gracious setting for such a grand work.
GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE has
never been shown before in Philadelphia, and I invite everyone to stop by during the
summer and see it," Bantel concluded.
GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE was painted by Samuel F.B. Morse, the illustrious 19th
century artist and renowned inventor of the Morse Code.
The work is a premier
example of an art genre known as "gallery pictures" (paintings of paintings), and is
the last significant painting of its kind to be produced by an American artist.
Syracuse University owned the painting from 1884 until Terra purchased it three
years ago.
The university agreed to part with the work on the condition that it
would be made more accessible to the public.
During the past 100 years the painting
has had limited public exposure, having been kept in storage much of the time due to
the work's imposing size and great value.
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Page 2.
GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE (CONT.)
GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE was conceived in 1830 by Samuel Morse and his close
friend and patron, literary giant James Fenimore Cooper, for the purpose of bringing
European art to 19th century America.
The 6x9 ft. painting depicts several
Americans (including Cooper and his family) viewing 38 individual masterpieces
within the Louvre's Salon Caree.
Paintings by such masters as Rembrandt, Leonardo
da Vinci, Rubens, Raphael, and Titian have been painstakingly reproduced.
Morse and
Cooper intended to launch the work on a nationwide tour that they hoped would
develop their countrymen's appreciation of the visual arts as Cooper's prose had
enhanced their interest in literature.
Unfortunately the work was met with
indifference by frontier America, which forced a dispirited Morse to abandon the
tour plans as well as his artistic aspirations.
Shortly thereafter, Morse began to
devote more time to scientific research, an avocation that produced the telegraph
and the Morse Code - and overshadowed his legacy as one of America's most noteworthy
and accomplished artists.
Ambassador Terra and his late wife, Adeline, began collecting American art in
the early 1950's - a hobby that resulted in a major and important collection now on
permanent exhibition at the Terra Museum of American Art.
Terra is known for his
philanthropic activities on behalf of charitable, cultural, civic, and political
organizations.
In 1981 President Reagan appointed him U.S. ambassador-at-Iarge for
cultural affairs.
In this new post Ambassador Terra advises the Administration on
broad cultural policies and represents the president and the secretary of state at
national and international cultural events.
The ambassador also is actively
involved in the Administration's private initiative program that focuses attention
on support for the arts and humanities.
Ambassador Terra will be at the Academy on Tuesday evening, June 4, when the
board of trustees will invite members of the Academy's Charles Willson Peale Society
and Sustaining members to a private preview of GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE.
On that
occasion Paul Staiti, associate professor of art, Mount Holyoke College, will give a
lecture entitled "Samuel F.B. Morse, The Louvre and America's Cultural Apotheosis."
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall.
to public transportation and parking.
It is convenient
The Academy, founded in 1805, is the oldest
art museum and art school in North America.
Its collection of over 7,300 works of
American art is housed in its third building, a National Historic Landmark, designed
by Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its original Victorian splendor in 1976.
-30-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972 - 7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS ANNOUNCES SPECIAL EVENING HOURS AND
ADMISSION FEES FOR UPCOMING RED GROOMS RETROSPECTIVE
(Philadelphia, Pa. - June 3, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
has announced special evening hours and museum admission fees for the run of the
exhibition RED GROOMS: A RETROSPECTIVE: 1956-1984, on display in the museum's main
galleries from June 21 through September 29, 1985. This traveling exhibition,
organized by the Pennsylvania Academy, is the first major survey to document the
full range of the artist's prolific career.
For the first time in almost ten years, the Academy's museum will be open one
night a week. On Tuesdays, when admission is free to the public, the museum hours
will be extended from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (instead of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). In addition,
the museum's hours will be extended to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. This means
the galleries will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through
Saturday, and 12 noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday .
Admission fees during the run of the Red Grooms retrospective at the Academy
will be: $3.00 general admission, $2.00 senior citizens , and $1 .00 students with
identification .
"All of us at the museum are looking forward with great pleasure to this Grooms
retrospective, and we know that this raucous and sometimes outrageously funny
exhibition will captivate both art connoisseurs and the general public," said Linda
Bantel, director the museum of the Pennsylvania Academy.
"Museum
visitors will
have an opportunity to experience Red's colorful walk-through environments.
In
these mockups, often comical, of everyday life, one can hobnob with a variety of
puppet - like folk that Grooms humorously caricatures in life-size figures guaranteed
to produce a smile of recognition.
The artist's unique perception has justifiably
earned him a reputation as an astute and wry observer and recorder of modern life
and culture. It isn't often that a museum such as ours can genuinely say that it has
a show that can entertain and enrich the entire family, but this is one of those
times.
Because we anticipate that this exhibition will be very popular, we will
have extended hours for the duration of the show, including evening hours on
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2
GROOMS CONT'D
Tuesday.
We want to ensure that everyone will have an opportunity to see Red
Grooms's wonderful work."
Those who have seen only Red Grooms's PHILADELPHIA CORNUCOPIA, or who are
unfamiliar with the breadth and variety of his work, should prepare for an
enlightening adventure. Comprising 170 works in a variety of media, this exhibition
will include paintings, drawings, sculpture, films and prints. Museum visitors will
have an opportunity to renew acquaintances with such
well~loved
room-sized
environments as THE CITY OF CHICAGO (1967) and the "SUBWAY" from RUCKUS MANHATTAN
(1975), as well as to view Gro oms's lesser known works such as the seldom seen,
intimate ink drawings executed from 1956 to 1971 in Provincetown and New York.
Family tours of the Grooms retrospective, including a free handout for
children, will be given every Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. during the months of July
and August. Regularly scheduled museum tours will be given Tuesday through Friday at
11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
All tours are free with the
price of museum admission.
After the close of RED GROOMS a t the Academy, regular hours and admission fees
will resume ($2 general admission, $1.50 senior citizens, and $1 students; Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 noon to 4 p.m.).
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall. The Academy,
founded in 1805, is the oldest art museum and art school in North America. Its
collection of over 7,300 works of American art is housed in its third building, a
National Historic Landma rk, designed by Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its
original Victorian splendor in 1976.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND
NEWS
CHE ~Br H¥tfiJ~ info tJniA~~l?J ,LPt6'tta t~ : 19102
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
215 972-7600
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY TO HAVE SUNDAY FAMILY TOURS OF GROOMS
EXHIBITION ... FAMILY ART WORKSHOP SCHEDULED FOR
SUNDAY, JULY 13
(Philadelphia, Pa. - June 12, 1985) - RED GROOMS: A RETROSPECTIVE 1956-1984 is an
exhibition that is guaranteed to entertain and enrich the entire family. Therefore, in
conjunction with this show, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has organized family
tours called "Ruckus Ramblings," which will be given every Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. during
the months of July and August. The museum's education department has designed
"Red"
sketchbooks, available to museum visitors for free, that will enhance the fun of the tour. In
addition to these family tours, regularly scheduled museum tours will be given Tuesday through
Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Tuesday evenings in July and August at 6 p.m., and Saturday
and Sunday at 2 p.m. All tours are free with the price of museum admission.
The Pennsylvania Academy will also have a family art workshop entitled "Philly - Our
Neighborhood," on Saturday, July 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the museum at Broad and Cherry
Streets. The workshop will be led by Philadelphia's Fablemongers puppeteers, who are Marjorie
Robbins and Virginia Conover,
Delaware Valley schoolteachers and performing puppeteers.
"Philly - Our Neighborhood" is open to both members of the Academy and the general public by
reservation.
The workshop will begin with a brief tour of the Red Grooms exhibition,
emphasizing
Grooms's "sculpto-pictoramas," or room-sized sculptural installations. Following the tour The
Fablemongers puppeteers will work with families to create lively sculptures, poems, stories,
and a spontaneous live performance or Happening - all inspired by Red Grooms's city themes.
There will be a break in the afternoon and participants should bring a lunch; beverages will
be provided. For reservations, please call (215) 972-7608.
"Philly - Our Neighorhood" is open to children ages 9 through 12 and their parents 'or
guardians. Advance registration is required since the workshop is limited to 35 children plus
adults. The cost per participant is $5 for members of the Academy and $6 for members of the
general public.
RED GROOMS: A RETROSPECTIVE 1956-1984 has been funded in part by grants from the Atlantic
Richfield Foundation, CIGNA Corporation and the Industrial Valley Bank and Trust Company.
Museum hours during the run of the Red Grooms exhibition will be Wednesday through Saturday
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 12 noon to 5 p.m. There will be evening hours on
Tuesday, when the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. General admission for the Grooms
exhibition is $3, $2 senior citizens, and $1 students with identification; free Tuesdays.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY
NEWS
SFcfrEEft?r ther Pffi t&trtta~litclh; , tOb t 1tt~ 2
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Dir.
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
215 972-7600
For Immediate Release
AN EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS BY NANCY HELLEBRAND, ENTITLED" NUDES AND PORTRAITS,"
TO BE PRESENTED BY THE MORRIS GALLERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE
ARTS FROM JUNE 28 THROUGH AUGUST 25, 1985
(Philadelphia, PA., June 18, 1985) - From June 28 through August 25, 1985, the
Morris Gallery of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will present an
exhibition of photographs by Nancy Hellebrand, entitled NUDES AND PORTRAITS.
An
opening reception, to which the public is invited, will be held on Thursday, June
27, 1985, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
This solo exhibition by Philadelphia photographer Nancy Hellebrand, will be
comprised of two separate bodies of work that, while produced at different times
and having different formats, speak to each other as a part of a single disclosure
of vision.
Known for her earlier work done in London and in the Kensington section
of Philadelphia during the 1970s, these newer images, which do not refer to a
specific place, represent a more personal approach to the photographic document.
The portraits, 8 x 10" silver contact prints made in 1982, 1983, and 1984, are
unique and masterful in their approach to the traditional notions of portraiture.
Isolating the face and head of her subjects, Hellebrand presses close or, in her
own words, "almost on top of them," to achieve these revealing and intense
photographs.
Each portrait is a sequence of images: sometimes as many as sixteen
or, in several instances, as few as two.
The prints within a series seem to
function like glimpses, giving the viewer occasional, incisive "takes" of the
subject.
As one moves from picture to picture the point of focus shifts; an eye
may be revealed, or a nose, or a patch of cheek.
The play of light and shadow on
the faces sometimes gives them a theatrical countenance, or even the appearance of
some wild, unchartered terrain.
The nudes are Hellebrand's most recent work and look substantially different
from anything she has previously done.
These large, black and white Polaroids,
mostly 20 x 24", are singularly perfect images of the body.
Clear and carefully
lit, each image is an homage to the human figure, celebrating usually only a single
feature.
Once again the photographer shoots from a distance that insists on in-
- lIOre -
-timacy.
By closing in on her subject, as the artist did in her portraits, the
viewer must encounter it wholly and without distraction.
With these two sets of
compelling and powerful photographs, Hellebrand has nearly closed the gap between
the precise, indiscriminate scope of the camera and the socially restrained, yet
intuitive, human eye.
Represented by the Pace MacGill Gallery in New York, where her portraits were
exhibited in a solo show last spring, Nancy Hellebrand has exhibited work most
recently at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Sheibu Museum of Art, Tokyo,
Japan; The Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida; Allentown Museum, Allentown,
Pennsylvania; Philadelphia Art Alliance; the Jeffrey Fuller, Paul Cava, and Nexus
art galleries in Philadelphia; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; and
the National Gallery, London, England, which gave her a solo exhibition, a landmark
for a woman, an American, and a contemporary photographer.
Her works are included in the collections of the Allentown Art Museum, Lehigh
University, the Museum of Modern Art, and the National Portait Gallery (U.K.).
Hellebrand has published three b00ks: Voices of Kensington (1981); Londoners,
Photographs by Nancy Hellebrand (1974); and Theatre in My Head (1971); she was also
included in the collection New Trends (1983), edited by Westin Naef.
Hellebrand has a B.A. degree from Columbia University in English Literature
(1971) and has studied photogiaphy with Alexey Brodovich (1965), Larry Fink (1965),
and Bill Brandt (1971-73).
On Friday, July 19, at noon, the artist will deliver an informal gallery talk
at the museum at Broad and Cherry Streets; free with the price of museum admission.
The Morris Gallery, located in the Academy museum at Broad and Cherry Streets,
displays the work of outstanding contemporary artists with a connection to
Philadelphia, determined by birth, schooling, or residence.
through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 12 noon to 5 p.m.
Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Hours are Wednesday
Extended hours on
Prices are $3. General, $2.00 senior citizens, and
$1.00 students.
Morris Gallery exhbitions are chosen by a committee composed of area artists,
museum personnel and collectors, and the curatorial staff of the Academy.
Currently serving on the Morris Gallery Exhibition Committee are:
Cynthia Carlson,
Jennie Q. Dietrich, Dr. Helen Herrick, Harold Jacobs, Jay Richardson Massey,
Charles E. Mather III, Cheryl McClenney, John Moore, Mark Rosenthal; and Academy
staff Judith Stein -
Morris Gallery Coordinator, Frank H. Goodyear.Jr., Linda
Bantel, Betty Romanella; and Academy students Ed Lewis and Anna Yates.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
215 972 - 7600
PHILADELPHIA , PA. 19102
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
For Immediate Release:
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUM WILL BE OPEN ON INDEPENDENCE DAY,
THURSDAY, JULY 4, £ECAUSE OF INTEREST IN RED GROOMS EXHIBITION
(Philadelphia, Pa. - June 26, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
announced today that its museum would be open on Independence Day, Thursday, July 4,
because of the strong public interest shown in the current main gallery exhibition
RED GROOMS: A RETROSPECTIVE 1956-1984.
The Academy is normally closed on
Independence Day, but Linda Bantel, director of the museum, decided to keep the
museum open on the Fourth of July, in order to give those who are interested an
opportunity to see the Grooms show on the holiday.
On July 4 the Academy museum will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
There
will be museum tours at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and Red Grooms's films will be
shown at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. in the "Tut's
Fever" movie theater, which was created by Red Grooms especially for the exhibition.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has organized this first major Grooms
retrospective, encompass~ 170 works, and the show will travel to 'Denver, Los
Angeles, and Nashville after it closes at the Academy on September 29.
Red Grooms
is an American painter and sculptor of international reputation, and is an example
of an artist who is as highly regarded in the art world as he is adored by the
general public.
The Pennsylvania Academy's comprehensive survey of Grooms's work includes
examples of his paintings, drawings, prints, environmental constructions, and films,
much of which is drawn from rarely exhibited private collections.
Dr. Judith E.
Stein, the Academy's assistant curator, is the organizing curator of this show.
A fully - illustrated catalogue of the exhibition is for sale in the museum shop,
as well as a poster of Grooms's witty painting, SOMEWHERE IN BEVERLY HILLS.
The
catalogue contains essays by Dr. Stein, Newsweek art critic John Ashbery, and film
historian Janet Cutler.
I
The Red Grooms exhibition is funded in part by grants from the Atlantic
Richfield Foundation, CIGNA Corporation, and Industrial Valley Bank & Trust
Company.
The exhibition installation was designed in cooperation with the
architecture firm of Atkin, Voith & Associates of Philadelphia.
- more -
Museum hours during the run of the Grooms exhibition are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday, and 12 noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
There are
evening hours on Tuesday, when the museum will be open from 10:00 a.m . to 8:00 p.m.
General admission for the exhibition is $3 .00, $2.00 for senior citizens, and $1.00
for students with identification.
Admission is free on Tuesday.
In addition to the Grooms show, those who visit the Academy's museum on July 4
will have the opportunity to see the photographs of Nancy Hellebrand in the Morris
Gallery, and Samuel F.B. Morse's masterpiece, GALLERY OF THE LOUVRE, which is on
view in gallery A;
Please note that only the galleries in the museum at Broad and Cherry Streets
are open on July 4.
The Peale House galleries at 1820 Chestnut Street will be
closed that day.
-30-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA , PA " 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HATS ON TO RED GROOMS! TIlE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY ANNOUNCES EXTENDED SUNDAY
HOURS AND FREE RED GROOMS HATS FOR MID-WEEK VISITORS
(Philadelphia, Pa. - July 12, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts, located at Broad and Cherry Streets, has announced extended hours on Sundays,
and will be offering free Red Grooms painters hats as a midweek special to museum
visitors on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
From the rickety, walk-through Subway to the slapstick movies shown in Tut's
Fever theater, the exhibition Red Grooms: A Retrospective 1956-1984 continues to
delight and entertain the general public. Due to the popularity of this show, the
Academy will be extending its hours on Sundays, when the galleries will be open
from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (instead of 12 noon to 5 p.m.). Sunday visitors can enjoy
the regularly scheduled museum tour at 2 p.m., or a family tour, which includes a
free Red Grooms
sket~hbook
for children, given at 1 p.m. on Sundays during July and
August. Tuesday through Saturday, tours are given daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and
Tuesday evenings at 6
p~m.
Red Grooms painters hats, specially designed for the artist's installation
crew and Academy staff, will now be offered to the public beginning on July 31.
This hat, which proved to be a tremendously popular item on opening night of the
Grooms exhibition, will be given free of charge, one hat for each museum admission,
on Wednesdays and Thursdays as long as the supply lasts. For those who visit the
Academy on other days, the hats 'are -available for purchaseiri the museum shop for
$1.00 beginning on July 26. Each hat, made of white cotton and bearing a visor, has
inscribed on it the phrase "Seeing Red."
Red Grooms: A Retrospective 1956-1984, on view at the Academy through
September 29, has been funded in part by grants from the Atlantic Richfield
Foundation, CIGNA Corporation and the Industrial Valley Bank and Trust Company.
Museum hours during the run of the Grooms show will be Wednesday through Saturd"ay
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be evening
hours on Tuesday, when the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
General
admission for the Grooms exhibition is $3, $2 senior citizens, and $1 students with
identification; free Tuesdays.
- 30 -
,.
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972 - 7600
NEWS
NEWS RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
Parkway at 26th Street
Philadelphia 19101
763-8100
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART AND THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT ON EXCHANGE OF ART AND FUNDS
(Philadelphia, Pa. - July 31, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and
the Philadelphia Museum of Art announced today the agreement by which a major collection
of old master and nineteenth-century European prints would remain in Philadelphia.
By
agreement between the two institutions, approved by the Orphans Court Division of the
Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, 43,000 European prints, owned by the
Academy, consisting of the John S. Phillips Collection (bequeathed in 1876), the John F.
Lewis Collection (given in 1925), and the John T. Morris Collection (given in 1933), will
be acquired by the Museum in exchange for six important works of American art and funds
contributed to the Museum for this purpose by Museum trustee Philip I. Berman and his
wife, Dr. Muriel Berman.
The Bermans are collectors and philanthropists from Allentown,
Pa., especially active in educational and cultural affairs.
Philip Berman recently
retired as chairman of Hess's department store and is vice-chairman of Hebrew University;
Muriel Berman is a Docior of Optometry.
The European prints from the Academy range in date from the fifteenth to the early
twentieth century, and include fine examples of the works of such masters as Mantegna,
Durer, Goltzius, Rembrandt, Piranesi, Canaletto, Fragonard, Goya, Tissot, and Renoir, and
together constitute one of the most comprehensive such collections in the United States.
The six works received by the Academy are Bathers in a Cove, 1916, oil on canvas, by
Maurice Prendergast (1859-1924); Peaceable Kingdom, 1848, oil on canvas, by Edward Hicks
(1780-1849); Sun, Sea, Land - Maine, 1921, water color on paper, by John Marin
(1870-1953); Study for "Aux Fortifications", 1923, charcoal on paper, by Edward Hopper
(1882-1967); Eight Bells, 1887, etching on Japan vellum, by Winslow Homer (1836-1910);
and The Thames (From the Savoy), 1896, lithotint on paper, by James A. McNeill Whistler
(1834-1903) .
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Page 2
PAFA/PMA ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT
Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., president of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and
Anne d'Harnoncourt, director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, expressed themselves as
delighted with the agreement.
Mr. Goodyear said, "The agreement reached between the
Academy and the Museum represents a historic milestone in the cultural life of
Philadelphia.
The sale/exchange of old master, nineteenth-century, and early
twentieth-century European prints for American paintings, prints, a water color, and a
drawing, reinforces' the Academy's mission as a museum of American art, and places the
Academy's collection of European prints in a museum eminently suited to preserve,
exhibit, and publish the collection for the benefit of scholars and the pUblic.
The
Philadelphia community, and the museum world at large, have been handsomely served by
this cooperative action."
Anne d'Harnoncourt said, "The Museum's staff and trustees are enormously pleased
with this agreement, which we feel will be of great benefit to the public and to
generations of scholars and students.
The acquisition of this comprehensive and
important collection through the Berman Gift transforms the holdings of our Department of
Prints, Drawings and Photographs, giving it an impressive range and depth in European
prints which it hitherto lacked.
We are profoundly grat eful to the inspired generosity
of Muriel and Philip Berman, without whose vision, love of the ar ts , and sense of publ ic
service this happy conclusion could not have been reached."
Mr. Berman commented, -"We feel privileged and thrilled to be able to play an
importa nt role in helping make this happen, for the impact it will have for the Museum's
collection, for the Academy, for the people of Philadelphia, and the entire region.
The
vast scale of the print collection and its undoubted importance made this exchange a very
exciting possibility and inspired us to participate."
In discussing the six American works being acquired by the Academy under the
agreement, Linda Bantel, director of the museum of the Academy, stated, "I am
particularly delighted that this selection of works fills - gaps in the Academy's
collections.
For instance, the Academy owns no work by Hicks, the important nineteenth
century Pennsylvania artist whose peaceable kingdoms were so much imitated and have today
become icons of American folk art.
While the Academy has a good collection of The Eight,
until now, it has lacked an impressionistic Prendergast oil.
The J ohn Marin is a
dazzling water color, painted during the 1920's when the artist was so brilliantly
experimenting with modernism.
This period in early twentieth century American art is an
area in which the Academy has been particularly interested in collecting in more depth.
The Academy has no Whistlers in its collection and the lithotint is a rare and subtly
beautiful view of the Thames.
All of the objects are important examples of the artists'
work and significant additions to the Academy's collection," said Bantel.
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~ oAFA/ PMA ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT
Page 3 1
The Hicks and Prendergast paintings will be on public view beginning in early
November within the reinstallation of the permanent collection.
The other four objects
are works on paper and will be featured in an exhibition that will open on January 23,
1986, American Graphic Arts: Watercolors, Drawings, and Prints in the Collection of the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Ellen Jacobowitz, Acting Curator of Prints at the Museum, stressed the impact of the
newly acquired prints upon the existing collections:
"With fine holdings in American and
Japanese prints, and a number of strong, specialized collections, the Museum has never
had the significant representation of the
should.
gr~at
tradition of European printmaking that it
The acquisition of the prints from the Academy gives
u~
that range at last, with
many examples of masters such as Durer and Rembrandt, and wonderful strengths in such
fields as Italian baroque, Chiaroscuro woodcuts,
printmakers, to mention only a few.
~nd
seventeenth-century Dutch
Every important master, e very technical
proces~,
and
the f ull range of subject matter in the graphic arts are now represe nted, including the
most celebrated _print in
th~
history of
Battle of Ten Naked Men, c. 1470.
~rt,
Pollaiuolo's extremely rare engraving of the
The opportunities which the collections will provide
for both scholars and the public in research, exhibitions, .teaching and study, and sheer
visual pleasure are literally infinite."
An initial selection of masterpieces from the
European print collection will be shown at the Museum at a special exhibition scheduled
for February 1 - March 29, 1986.
Discussions leading to the agreement between the institutions were begun under the
inspired presidencies of the late Henry S. McNeil at the Academy, and William P. Wood, at
the Museum, and concluded under the chairmanshi ps of Samuel M.V. Hamilton at the
Ac~demy,
and Henry P. McIlhenny at the Museum.
In February 1984 the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts announced a similar agr€ement, under the terms of which the Museum acquired
2,400 European drawings from the Academy, principally from the John S. Phillips
Collection, in return for the transfer to the Academy of a Charles Demuth tempera
painting, Box of Tricks, 1919, and funds contributed by Muriel and Philip Berman for that
purpose.
In September
198~
the Museum mounted an exhibition of selected drawings in the
newly renovated gallery named in honor of the Bermans.
The funds received by the Academy
are being used to substantially strengthen its ability to acquire important works of art
in the name of John S. Phillips, John F. Lewis, and John T. Morris.
For further information, contact the public relations department at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art, 787-5431, or the public relations department at the Pennsylvania Academy
of the Fine Arts, 972 -7 642.
-30-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
-
BROAD AND CHERRY S-TREET S-
-
215 97L·7600
PHILADELPHLf- , PA . 1910 2
NEWS
FOR
I~~EBIATE
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
:- B43-9~17 -(Home} -
RELEASE
RED GROOMS'S FILMS, INCLUDING A WORLD PREMIERE, ARE BEING SCREENED DAILY IN
"TUT'S FEVER" MOVIE THEATER, A GROOMS CREATION ... PART OF RETROSPECTIVE AT
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
(Philadelphia, Pa. - August 6, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
-
Arts at Broad and Cherr:y S,t reets is currently -~howirig a select{Qn . of films by
-
.
Red -Grooms, as part of the exhibition cR~D GROOMS: ARETROSPECl'IVE 1956:-19-84,
This selection features the world premier-e of the artist' s - mose recent movie, entitled SMALL FRY GANGSTER.
Produced in 1985, SMALL FRY GANGSTER was shot during Grooms's December 1983
tour of Japan. A cloak-and-dagger detective movie, it employs a large cast, the
-
_m?jorit_y of whom are -Japanese. The _plot involves
-
the -irit~L~~ti0I!al - int-ri&.ue
of
the- pearl smuggling market, run -by gangster Americans, which is - br~k~n wide
open and set into a complex turn of events in the Dashiel Hammett style.
S~~LL
FRY GANGSTFRhas been described as an example of film noir, and features Red
Grooms as actor, director, and writer. Made in collaboration with David
Saunders, an artist who has worked with Grooms on a number of sculptural and
film projects, SMALL FRY GANGSTER is having its premier screening at the
Acade_my and c:an _be seen now through September 29.
Grooms's films are being be shown
dai~y
?t the Broad
~nd
Cherry Streets
museum throughput the run of the Academy retrospective, which is on view from
June 21 through September 29, 1985. Spanning twenty-three years of the artist's
film's, the program includes SHOOT THE MOON (1962), RUCKUS SHORTS (1962-1984),
FAT FEET (1966), TAPPY TOES (1968-1969-), HIPPODROME HARDWARE (1973,revised-
-
-
1980), RUCKUS MANHATTAN (1976), LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (1978), and SMALL FRY
GANGSTER (1985).
These witty, exuberant, slapdash productions are being shown in a movie
theater, entitled TUT'S FEVER, specifically designed for the Academy's
galleries. The theater, described by art critic Judd Tully as a "lavish
production number of Hollywood Meets The Nile," humorously combines images of
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p. 2
GROOMS'S FILMS
movie palaces and -Hollywood stars with the exotic figures, symbols, and
monuments of Egyption art and mythology. This tomb-like environment
accommodates fifty viewers, who will be seated on chairs cloaked with slip
covers that display the silk-screened image of actress Rita Hayworth as
Nefertiti. _ The chair
~-Over:s ~ere
designed for
T~T' S
FEVER by Lysiane Luong-, an
artist and associate of Grooms, and produced by Philadelphia's Fabric Workshop.
The films of Red Grooms constitute an important, if laigely unknown, part
of his career. For the past twenty-three years, Grooms has looked to film to
convey ideas that could not be expressed in any other medium. Janet Cutler,
film historian and contributor to the Grooms
ex~ibition
catalogue, has written:
Filrrtaffords Red Grooms the opportunity to move
~
-freely from live action to animation, to mix threeand two-dimensional objects in a special way (flattening
even live actors to the level of comic strip or painted
flat), to create confusion about scale (plending life
size with-- miniaturi~a:_tiow) , and t -9 extend-- and ~ exploit
the narrative dimensions of his -work.
The result is a body of work that is as surprising from moment to moment as it
is from film to film. More inventive and personal than slick and finished,
Grooms's films are often collaborative projects with fellow_artists, friends,
and family -. They
empha~~;ize
content and ideas rather than technology, and rarely -
conform to the codes ef conventi:onal -film-making. _
Grooms began to - dev-elop:his -style in the 1950's when he did
perfa-rmance
pieces ~sing his own sets. In 1962, he, with photog;apher/film-maker Rudy
Burckhardt, made his first 16mm film, SHOOT THE MOON (1962) and then went on to
do FAT FEET (1966) and
TAPP~
TOES (1968-1969), the latter filmed in his
sculptural installation, THE CITY OF CHICAGQ. This film use of an environment
is what Judd Tully calls Grooms's "own homespun style of cinema-verite," a
cinema-verite that involves the documentation of the creation of his sculptural
and performance pieces such as RUCKUS MANHATTAN (1976). But these films are not
purely documentary; they use a variety of techniques, such as fast motion or
animation combined with live action, which reflect the mixture of the
freewheeling and the painstaking that .is Grooms's work.
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GROOMS'S FILMS
~
p. 3
If Grooms's documentaries are unorthodox, so are his narrative films which
range from tiny, single-joke vignettes like THE BIG SNEEZE (1962) to fully
developed story lines such as SHOOT THE MOON. The distinction between Grooms's
narrative productions and documentaries, however, is somewhat arbitrary. TAPPY
TOES, for instance, is essentially an extended dance performance -that -takes
Grooms's CITY OF CHICAGO as its stage set, while HIPPOQROME HARDWARE consists
in large part of footage shot during Grooms's performance piece of the same
name.
Red Grooms's films are being -shown in TUT'S FEVER Wednesday through
Saturday
from 10:30 q..m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday
hom JO:30 a.m. to 7:30 -p.m.,
.
- .
.
and Sunday from 12 :36, p.m.~ to 5: 30 '- p .m.; museum visitors may vi~w these films ,_~~ for free ' witbthe priceb_f inuseum -admission. ', Atta-ched~ to ~ this release is a
schedule of
'
programs and bri,ef descriptions of each film.
RED GROOMS: A RETROSPECTIVE 1956-1984 has been funded in part by grants
from the Atlantic Richfield Foundation, CIGNA Corporation, and the Industrial
Valley Bank and
T~u~tCompany.
The exhibition
installation has been
-
design~d
in
,-cooperation ,:with~ the arcl1itecture firmo{ Atkin ~ VOl-tl1 & Associates -of
Phila delphi a. Red Grooms's films are available through the American Federation
of Arts, New York.
Museum hours during the run of the Red Grooms exhibition are Wednesday
through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
There will be evening hours on Tuesdays, when the museum will be open from 10
a.m. -to 8 p.m.
General admission for the Grooms exhibition is $3, $2 senior
citizens, and $1 students with identification; free Tuesdays.
(see film schedule on following pages)
SHOOT -THE MOON
1962, -blacK24 minutes
&
white,
Grooms' first-16mm film SHOOT THE
MOON, made in collaboration with photographer, painter and filmmaker Rudy Burckhardt, is a playful homage to George
Melies' A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902).
Melies is one of Grooms' idols, a figure whom
he perhaps emulates. As Judd Tully writes:
The Ruckus production of SHOOT TIff MOON
incorporated some of the revolutionary traits of
Melles' own work, particularly the far-flung notion
that a director combines a dramatic, design, painting, sculpture, architecture, manual labor and
mechaniCs on a hodge-podge palette of poetry and
magic. Melles' ina-edible versatility, appetite for
work (four thousand productions between 1896 ~d
1914), passion for showmanship and sleight-of-hand
feats formed a perfect model for Red Grooms and
his mushrooming Ruckus sensibility.
The mish-mash of costumes and props and the
various kinds of visual distortions and textures in
Melies' film were qualities so seductive to Red in
the making of his own film. The primitive qualities intentional and unintentional found in Red's
fUm add a comic note which is neithei-a parody nor
a direct imitation of early films; rather, his film
usimilates and elevates tltec-rude qualities of early fnmmaking into an area of aesthetics based upon spontaneity, no pretension and totafinvolvement.
RUCKUS SHORTS
1962-1984)
minutes
GoJor- and black}~ white_
4~
1966,
color~
20 minutes
A delightful moment in preposterous space - the
Crooms and BurckhardJ picture is a concentrate
designed to carry all the grimaces of those who
have had the good fortune to live thus far in the
20th Century ... mocks alchemists, astrologers,
and astronauts with compunction ... dots every
eye in the audience and helps all eyes to see that the
stars are still in the sky. (David Sortor)
CREDITS: Produced and Directed by R~ Grooms and
Rudy Burckhardt; Costumes by Yvonne Jacquette ;
Music by Seymour Barab ; Photographed by Rudy
Burckhardt assisted by Larry Siegel; Sets by Red
Grooms assisted by Mimi Gross; Special props by
Katherine Kean; Lyrics by Edwin Denby ; Featuring
Mimi Gross. jOaJ1 Herbst, Steve Pepper. Pder Passun-tino. Christopher I..,ane. Edwin Denby. Rudy Burckhardt. Michad Pepper. Jay Milder. Alex Katz. Susan
Mille". I(atherine Kean. Edmund Leites , Pai Oldenburg.
Yvonne Jacquette: GeraJdlne Brusse!. Reg GlCooms,
Cabel Brusse!. -Bob Cornell. Larry Siegel; Moon
locati~n.lYIr. and Mrs . Robert W. Kean.
THE BIG SNEEZE (1962) with Rudy Burckhardt
A spool-wound paper film of black and
white line drawings in which a man sneezes
and blows himself, a restaurant and a room
-full of diners 10 heaven.
MANOR MOUSE? (1962) with Rudy _~ .
Burckhardt
Another paper film this time in color,
featuring a nervous gentleman who drops
dead at the sight of a mouse.
UMBRELLAS, BAH! (1965) with Rudy
Burckhardt.
The saga of a man and his umbrella as he
struggles against the elements, soars through
the galaxy like a freaked-out Mary Poppins,
and eventually becomes a god on another
planet. In gloriOUS watercolor.
WASHINGTON'S WIG WHAMMED (1966)
with George Kuchar.
A _postage sfamp comes to life and gets cancelled. Washington is played by well-known
art and dance critie/writer Edwin Denby.
0
FAT FEET
(~.D. C., '-'The Ruckus W'prld of Red Grooms"\
.... -
A city symphony, with llving comic strip characters and sound, pixilated and animated.
(Red Grooms)
Made with Yvonne Andersen, Dominic Falcone and The Yellow Ball Workshop, -whom
Grooms says are among the gre-atest influence
in his life. He met Andersen and Falcone in
Provincetown, Massachusetts where they
owned the Sun Gallery and were among the
first people to exhibit his work. Falcone
dubbed him "Red." Subsequently, they shared
a loft in New York and talked about making
films together. It took them nearly ten years
to do so, and the result was FAT FEET. FAT
FEET is a Groomsian view of the City-in
film critic Vincent Canby's words, "an interlocking series of fires, holdups, get-a ways, a
place where a hungry rat can swallow a cat."
Completed in 1966, FAT FEET utilizes live actors
and cutouts, impartially filmed on the same vertical
plane, as well as a multitude of special effects. This
juxtaposition of real people and so blatantly unreal
objects gives the film its unique character. The
actors, sometimes wearing cutout clothes or riding
in cutout automobiles, wear white make-up to
leSsen their authenticity; sometimes a black line is
painted along an actor's profile to more subtly
- blend him with his two-dirnension~a1 counterparts.
(Rose De Neve) _
_
CREDITS : Produced by Domenic Falcone and Red
Grooms; Directed by Red Grooms; Photographed by
Yvonne Andersen; Sound by Yvonne Andersen. Domenic Falcone and Red Grooms; Art by Mimi Grgss.
Red Grooms and Yvonne Andersen; Story by Mimi
Gross and Red Grooms, Construction by Red Grooms,
Sam Riley, Gretchen Jessup, Bertie Hartman and Domenic Falcone; Assistant Camera by Marjorie Lenk;
Featuring Domenic Falcone, Mimi Gross. Sam Riley,
Gretchen Jessup. Bertie Hartman, Arthur DeTore.
Steve DeTore, Yvonne Andersen. Red Grooms. Jean
Falcone. Paul Falcone, Edmund Leites, Sus..n Leites.
David Carter. Mary Lydon, Renee Watkins. Di.ane
Strock, Lloyd Schoenbach. Susan Weidemann, Ron
Goodman, Hartie Hyman, Deidre Cowden, Lissa Lenk,
Geoffrey Lenk. Tom Larabee, Ann Ackerman, Tony
Ackerman. Cynthia Watkins. Margo Hillman. Dan
Stendahl, Nancy Wilson, Ann Tolbert, Sandy and
Betty Dickson. Debbie Ham , Mark Kasanoff and The
Domigans; Lent by Yellow Ball Workshop .
TAPPY TOES
1968-1969, color,
minutes
5
The last underground musical! Two years in the
making! Created by Red Grooms, "the Bernini of
Pop Art" (John Canaday, New York Times) . An .
extravaganza with all stops out: captures the stylish
flamboyancy of Mr. Busby Berkeley's shimmering
1930's magic combined with the political bully ism
oJ ~ayOl' Daley's Chica~0-1968.}6mm bulges at
th~ scenes!] Red Grooms) -
- In 1967, Red and Mimi Gross Grooms went
to Chicago to build "The City of Chicago" for
the Allan Frumpkin Gallery. The accuracy of
the piece was insured by preparatory .
sketches, walking tours, photographs, picture
postcards and rooftop observations. The
completed work was highly praised and ~nt
to the Venice Biennale of 1968. It now resides
at the Art Institute of Chicago. Judd Tully
calis "The City 9f Chicago" th~ '~ ultimate
Melies inspired set for a new film .. .
T APPY TOES."
CREDITS : Produced ~nd Directed by Red Grooms;
Photographed by Edward C. Flood; Anlm~tlon
.
designed by Red Grooms assisted by M,m, Gro.s; AnImation and Art Work by Mira Schor, Pilm SmIth,
George Kuchar and Kathy Lynch; Construction by
A.M.S . Morgan III; Animation c.amera by Rudy Burck,
hardt and Arthur Cohen; Music by John. Herbert ".
McDowell; "Tappy Toes" lyrics by EdWin Denby; I d
Like to Loop the Loop with You" lyrics by Kenn~h
Koch; "The Cage of Melody" lyrics by Arthur WIlliams; Featuring Mimi Gro ... Karl Wirsum. Ellen
'tanyan, RustY Morgan, Richard Hunt. Inera Carroll.
Andrew Ginzel. Red Groom •. LIS~ G ,-nzel. Roland
Ginzel and i~ rod ~dng Cy,!1. '
Uke FAT FEET, It plays real acton and cut 'Out
props against pne another, but this time from scene
- to scene rather than in the same shot. Its charm Iles
not so much In this juxtaposition as In the artwork
used aSlrops. One Is always conscious of the fact
that Re Grooms Is first and foremost a painter and
his animation hand never lets go of the brush.
(Rose De N~!e)
HIPPODROME HARDWARE
1973, revised 1980, <;.01 or,
30 m-i nutes
, •. ~i've always I,~ ii1terested in the theatre, and I , Grooms' latest film tefleds1tis ability to co- , '
was always fascinated that the biggest theatre.that __ .mingle a fantastical, sensibility with the notion of
ther.e ever was in New York was called the Hippo- ' ' ''thinghood.'l By this I mean that his worle Intenslmome. And in,the Hippod! ome they put these
fies the relationship between 'personae and thin~
enormous works on that were almost avant-garde
by exaggerating the size, shape, color and texture of
because they were so big-they had horses charging the world environment. The results are a chaotic,
In; really crazy stuff . .. And the "hardware" in my
whimsical, bumbling, slapstick, and sometimes even
title can refer to the mechanics of the theatre as oppoetic new universe. Mimi Gross who appears In
posed to the software. To me it's like a very strong
the film as a luscious red feather-breasted robin demetaphysical quality in theatre, this creaky thing:
scribes the film as "symptomatic," from the definltrying to make these inanimate things work, and
tion of symptom as "anything .that has befal!en
the size and so forth irivolved.' Plus the film is aDout , one." And indeed the charilcterS' in HIPPODROME
peopJe like carpenters building th!ngs, which
are Ifefallen by eve! ything from acow that jumps '
hardware. There are different plays back a-nd forth - over.the moon ~o a -bicycle-riding shooting'star.
on the title. (Red Grooms, Interview in Ca ll trills
(Karen Cooper, Film Forum)
Filmllotes)
Some of HIPPODROME HARDWARE is a mechanical abstraction, and it looks like the work of
HIPPODROME HARDWARE is based on
Stuart Davis. Some is semi-pointillist animation,
a performance piece presided over by the
and it looks like comicbook Seurat. But most is a
antic Mr. Ruckus (played by Red Grooms)
private dream beset by benign giganticism and it
looks like nothing in this world except the art of
featuring a crew of klutzy carpenters whose
job is to build a house for Mr. Ruckus' witchy Red Grooms. (Roger Greenspun, Th e N('w York
Times)
mother. Combining live action and anima-
uses ' "
tion, the film is a unique blending of the beau- CREDITS: Produced by Mimi Gross and Red Groom.;
tiful and the vulgar, the innocent and the
Designed, Written' and Directed by Red Grooms ;
Photographed by Peter Hutton and Rudy. Burckhardt ;
sharp-edged.
Lighting by Barry Arnold ; Editing by, Pe~r Hutton; _
Animatjon by Red Grooms and Mimi Gross ; Sound ·by
Mimi Kravitz; Featuring Jessica Weiss. Arthur Cohen,
Bob Culver, Richard Frey, Mimi Gross, Red G room.,
Peter Hutton, Douglas Keller, Jeffry Krass. Cynthia
Pattison, Sam Riley and Tony Wall . Re -ed ited by
David Saunders .
LITTLE RED RIDING HOUD
1978, color, 16 minutes
The reel story of Red Riding Hood shot in the
scenic Maine woods with a charming cast. For all
audiences. (Red: Grooms)
lewis Carroll called the fairy tale a '10ve-gift."
Red Grooms' latest film most certainly meets that
definition-it is a beautifu1 gift to (and, in Red's
words, "a portrait of") his daughter Saskia, who
both suggested and stars in the film, and to all of us
who view it. Using both live-action and animation,
shot both outdoors in Maine and inside Grandma's
&ingerbready house (bunt by Grooms and the
Ruckus Construction Company), with costumes
and props also designed by Grooms and a voiceover soundtrack of the characters speaking, lITILE
RED RIDING HOOD is not a Walt Disney version
of a !airy tale. It is as unslick as the telling of a fairy
t~le IS or should be. And it is both funny and scary,
sunple and resonant the way fairy tales are. The
w olf really eats Grandma and little Red Riding
Hood, and just as convincingly, they are resurrected in the end by a pair of bumbling woodcutters
(a very Groomsian touch) to dance a round that
gives us all hope for the futur~ LITTlE RED
RIDINGHOOu IS Indeed am for all audiences.
(Maroyn Singer)
CREDITS: Produced and Directed by Red Grooms;
Photographed by Rudy Burckhardt; Associate production designer, Jill Sternberg; Narration by Edwin
Denby; Sets and Costumes by Hippodrom" Scenic
Works; Music by Mel Bela r and Billy Makuta ; Sound
by Jacob Burckhardt; Edited by David Saunders; Featu ring Yvonne Jacquette. Edith Dugmore. Saskia
Groo ms. Tom Burckhardt. Rudy Burckha rdt. Titus
Welliver. Ji ll St"rnberg. Edw in Denb y and Red
Grooms; Special thanks to Neil Welliv"r, Vincent Katz.
th" Burckhardt Family and Edw in Denby .
6
RDCKU5 MANHATTAN
1976, color
61 minutes
~d its sleaziest sections of toWn. Grooms bvishes
Grooms' sculptural ~sterpiece "Ruckus
his lo~e on the pimpmobile and the peep show with
Manhattan" took thirteen months to conas much enthusiasm and good-humoM energy as
struct. It was originally meant to encompass
he builds the Brooklyn Bridge or designs a walk-in
all of Manhattan Island up to the Cloisters,
subway or walk-across Staten Isbnd Ferry. His
but time and money ran out at Midtown
genius is for transforming the aw~inspiring
Manhattan. The work was designed for 88
compounds of a great city as weD as its most munPine Street. New York City, a ground-Ie'fel.
d~e, seemingly lackluster offerings, with it whimglass-enclosed space with thirty-foot high
sical humanism which reaffirms what is best in
ceilings. To prepare for this huge environeach. With marvelous wit Grooms singles out New
York's idiosyncrasies for special treatment. My famental sculpture "celebrating," in Karen
vorites: a m~ sneaking into the subway by crawlCooper's words, "the griUy glamour
ing below the barM doors which read "Avoid
and chaotic beauty that is New York City,"
Arrest, Pay Your Fare"; the seaguRs foDowing the
Red and Mimi Grooms hiked and rode
ferry; the, W-allStreet maze. (Karen Cooper)
through Manhattan, making sketches and
.
... it is a measure of its (the film's) achievement
taking photographs. Then they collected
that much of the flavor of Grooms' personalitycollaborators and went to work, using tons of
the force which can draw a large group of artists to
hardware, paints, elastic, steel and fabric.
work with him for a very long time on what, given
RUCKUS MANHATTAN was filmed during
the economics of Lar~scale art works, is essentially
this entire process: It uses undercranking and
a labor of love-comes through to the viewer. The
film makes the viewer a partner in the creative
pixillation to express Grooms' comic vision,
process which was actualized in the realization of
as well as the frenetic pace of both his work
Grooms' dream project .. (larry Qualls, A _rt &
and of New ~ork City. "The soundtrack,"
CiniFma)
.
, writ'es Larry Qualls in Art & Cznema, "aids in
thisevoca-tion of the energy ofcreati(;m with
its collage of most musical formsfrom rock t-o CREDlTS :l'rod~ced and Directed by Req Grooms;
Composed. Compiled and Completed by David Sau-nRossini, amidst which are interspe-rsed poetic
ders; Photography by Peter Hutton; Additional photoreadings by Mi mi Grooms." .'
,
- graphy by :Rudy Burckhardt, Charlie' Ahem, John _
RUCKUS MANHA IT AN counterpoints New
York's most famous architecture and landmarks
(the grandeur of the Woolworth building, the
World Trade Center, the Statue of Uberty-resembling none other than Bella Abzug), with the city's
o~ mythology (atJigators dancing in the sewers)
* SMALL FRY
GANGSTER
1985, co16r,
19 minutes
Arakawa. Jacob Burckhardt, Red Groom. and David
Saunders; Poetry by Mimi Gross; Featuring Ollie
Alpert. John Arakawa. Letha Botts. Janet Byron. Chip
Duyck, Jody Elbaum, Andrew Ginzel. Fred Klein. Bob
Mack, Carol Mazurek, Tim McClellan. Robin
McDaniel. Mimi Gross, Red Grooms, Rolla Herman,
Kent Hines, Peter Julian. Dan Kingerly. K.K .. Charlie
. - Pawell, Barbara St. James. David'Saunders. Carol
Steel" . Mad< Samuels; Jill Slernberg. Nancy Tyn~ll.
Archie Peltier-and Connie Peltier; Special thankS to ."
Anita O'Neil and Morley Cho ,
avid
This is Red Grooms's most recent film shot on his sensational December, 1983
tour of Japan. A cloak and dagger detective movie, it features a large
cast, the majority of whom are Japanese. The plot involves the international
intrigue of the pearl smuggling market, run by "gangster" Americans, whicb is
broken wide .open and set into a complex turn of events -in the Dashiel
-H-ammetf.styTe. A gangster fil m noi r ~ Small Fry Gangster features Grooms
as actor, director, and writer ~
Made in collaboration with David Saunders, the film is having its premier
screeni~g at this Academy-organized exhibition.
RED GROOMS MOVIE SCHEDULE
I
Shoot - The rioon (1962>- 24 minutes
Small Fry Gangster (1985) 19 minutes
II
Ruckus Shorts (1962 - 84) 6\ minutes
Little Red Riding Hood (1978) 16 minutes
Fat Feet (1966) 20 minutes
III
Tappy Toes (1968 - 69) 19 minutes
Little Red Riding Hood (1978) 16 minutes
Small Fry Gangster (1985) 19 minutes
IV
Ruckus- Shorts - (-1962- 84) -6\ minutes
_Hippodrome--Hardwate
(1973, revis~d-l980)
V
Ruckus Manhattan (1976)
61 minutes
Sunday
12:30--1:15 p.m.
Program II
1:30-- 2:15p.m.
Program III
2:30-- 3:15p.m.
Program I
3:30-- 4:30p.m.
Program V
30 minutes
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA , PA, 19102
215 972 -7600
For fur t her information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972 -7642 (Academy )
843-9917 (Home)
For Immediate Release
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS ESTABLISHES THE AWARD OF
AMERICAN ART .. . FRANK STELLA IS FIRST RECIPIENT
(Phi ladelphia, Pa . - August 12, 1985) - The boa r d of trustees of the
Pennsylvania Academy of' the Fine Arts announced toda y that the Academy has
e stabl ished The Award of American Art, and that Frank Stella is the first recipient.
The Award of American Art will be made biennia ll y to a li ving American artist
of national statu r e, by a dist inguished national commi t tee of museum professionals,
a s well a s Academy trus t ee s , a nd staff, a nd is intended to recognize the indi vidual
c reative contr i but ions of artists to modern l i fe.
The member s of this selec tion
c ommittee are: Michael Botwinick, director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C.; John H. Dobkin, di rector of the National Academy of Design , New
Yor k City; Alan Shestac k, direc t or of the Yale University of Art Gallery; John
Wilmerding, deputy director of the Na tional Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. ; Mrs.
Walter H. Annenberg, Charles E. Mather III , David N. Pincus, Mrs. Herbert F.
Schiffer, Mrs. John Wintersteen, trustees; Mrs. Albert M. Greenfield, Jr., member of
the Academy's Women ' s Committee; Linda Bantel, director of the museum of the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts ; and Frank H. Gqodyear, J r ., president of the
Aca demy.
"The Pennsylvania Academy has always been as s ociated with artists," sa id Frank
Goo dyea r .
"Thr oughout its 180 years, man y of Ame r i ca ' s most important arti sts have
had clos e ties t o the Academy, a nd these r ela tionshi ps have given th e Acad emy its
spec i al place in the history of Ameri can ar t i nstitut i ons.
The esta blishment of t he
Award of American Art is a new initiative of the Academy, and was un dertaken in
order t o recognize the ma ny valuable contributions art is t s make to our soc iet y .
The
selection of Frank Stella as the recip i e nt of t he fi r st Awa rd of American Art is
e xtremely exciting.
During t he past twent y years, Stel l a has received internat ional
recognition for his bold originality, expres si veness, a nd brilliance as an artist . "
Frank Stella will accept his award at a ceremony a nd dinner to be held at the
Pennsy lvania Academy on the evening of Friday, October 25, 1985, and will offer some
r ema r ks on that occasion.
As part of the
Award~
new work by Stella for the permanent collection .
-more-
the Academy will purchase a ma jor
p. 2
Stella Award (cont.)
In addition to participating in the ceremony and dinner, the recipient of The
Award of American Art also agrees t o give special lectures and studio critiques to
Academy school students.
The selection of Frank Stella for this award is especially appropriate since it
wa s only last year that the Academy displayed a major retrospective exhibition of
his work, entitled Frank Stella: Prints 1967-1982.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hal l.
It is convenient
t o pu blic transportation and parking.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, found ed in 1805, is the oldest art
museum and art school in North America .
Its collection of over 7,300 works of
Ameri can a rt is housed i n its thi r d building, a National Hi s toric Landmark, des igned
by Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its original Victor ian splendor in 19 76.
-30-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972-7600
NEWS
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Horne)
For Immediate Release
ABSTRACT PAINTINGS, AN EXHIBITION BY BILL RICHARDS TO BE
PRESENTED BY THE MORRIS GALLERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE
ARTS FROM SEPTEMBER 6 THROUGH OCTOBER 20, 1985
(Philadelphia, Pa., August 14, 1985) - From September 6 through October
20, 1985, the Morris Gallery of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will
present an exhibition by Bill Richards, entitled Abstract Paintings.
An opening reception, to which the public is invited, will be held on
Thursday, September 5, 1985, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The exhibition will consist of four major canvas es, executed in acrylic
and oil stick, and three works on paper that use the same media, augmented by
collage.
For the past several years, Bill Richards has chosen to work with a
di ptych format, joining two unrelated but equally sized canvases to form each
painting.
Although disjunctive, the opposing two segments serendipitously
coexist in a meaningful manner.
Regarding the process of pairing, the artist
has writ ten:
The equality of these ent i ties may constitute a
complementary situation with each segment of the pair
inf luencing the other in a positive way. The mutual
influence of their dissimilarity overshadows the
disparateness, forming a new uni ty.
Ri chards, who for many years taught painting at Moore Colle ge of Art,
now live s i n New York Cit y.
He was born in Grantsville, West Virginia, in
1936, and recei ved his B.F.A. from Ohio University in 1958 .
He attended
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1959 and was granted the M.F. A.
degree from Indiana University in 1960.
Solo exhibitions of Richards ' work include :
Seigfred Gallery of Ohio
Unive r s i ty ( 1979); La Bertesca Gallery, Dusseldorf, West Germany (1977);
Olympia Gal l eries, Philadelphia (1976) ; Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia
(1975); Henri Gallery, Washington D.C. (1973); and Vanderl i p Gal lery,
-more-
Richards, p.2
Philadelphia (1968).
Group shows include: Large Drawings, traveling show
organized by Independent Curators, Inc. (1985-87); Exuberant Abstraction, 100
Church Strett, New York City (1985); Three Approaches to Abstraction, Virginia
Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, and Salisbury College, Salisbury, MD
(1984-85); Nineteen Artists - Emergent Americans: 1981 Exxon National
Exhibition, Guggenheim Museum, NY (1982); 1975 Whitney Biennial, Whitney
Museum of American Art, NY (1975); Made in Philadelphia II, The Institute of
Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (1974); 163rd Annual Exhibition, the Fellowship
of t he Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1968); Martha Jackson Gallery,
NY (1967); and New Directions, YMHA, Philadelphia (1966).
Among the collections that include his work are: The Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, NY; The Brookl yn Museum, NY; Philadelphia Museum of Art;
The New Jersey State Museum of Art, Trenton; Indiana University; Dechert Price
& Rhoads, Philadel phia; Westinghouse Corporation, Pittsburgh; Thalheimer and
Associates; Philadelphia; and IBM Corporation, Poughkeepsie, NY.
On Friday, October 4, at noon, the artist will deliver an informal
gallery talk at the museum at Broad and Cherry Streets; free with the price of
museum admission.
The Morris Gallery, located in the Academy museum at Broad and Cherry
Streets, displays the work of outstanding contemporary artists with a
connection to Philadelphia, determined by birth, schooling, or residence.
Through September 29, 1985, hours are Wednesday through Saturday 10 a. m. to 5
p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Extended hours on Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Admission: $3. 00 general, $2.00 senior citizens, and $1.00 students. In
October, hours will be Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 12
noon to 4 p.m.
Admission: $2.00 general; $1.50 senior citizens; and $1.00
students. Free Tuesdays.
Morris Gallery exhibitions are chosen by a committee composed of area
artists, museum personnel and collectors, and the curatorial staff of the
Academy.
Currently serving on the Morris Gallery Exhibition Committee are :
Cynthia Carlson, Jennie Q. Dietrich , Dr. Helen Herrick, Harold Jacobs, Jay
Richardson Massey, Charles E. Mather III, Cheryl McClenney, John Moore, Mark
Rosenthal; and Academy staff: Judith Stein- Morris Gallery Coordinator, Frank
H. Goodyear, Jr., Linda Bantel, Bet ty Romanella; and Academy students Ed Lewi s
and Anna Yates.
#30
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972 - 7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS ANNOUNCES TWO EXHIBITIONS
OPENING IN OCTOBER ..... ARCHITECTURAL GRAPHICS SHOW POSTPONED
(Philadelphia, Pa. - August 19, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
announced today that two exhibitions would be on display in the Academy's museum at Broad and
Cherry streets, beginning in October.
Contemplating the American Watercolor, a selection of
works from the Transco Energy Company's collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century
American watercolors will be on view from October 23, 1985, through January 5, 1986.
On
October 26, 1985 the exhibition Images of a Vanished Life: Plains Indian Drawings from the
Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will open to the public and will also
close on January 5, 1986.
Drawing Toward Building: Philadelphia Architectural Graphics
1732-1984 (formerly entitled The Tradition of Philadelphia's Architects as Seen through
Drawings), an exhibition that had been scheduled to be on view at the Academy from October
17, 1985 through January 5, 1986, has been postponed and will go on display from October 3,
1986 through January 4, 1987.
The dates of the architectural graphics show, organized jointly by the Pennsylvania
Academy, the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and the Foundation
for Architecture, have been changed in order to allow additional time for the exhibition to
be more fully funded.
Contemplating the American Watercolor, an exhibition from the Transco Energy Company's
collection, numbering approximately seventy-five works, is presented in Philadelphia by the
Philadelphia Electric Company and Philadelphia Gas Works, and includes superb examples by
artists such as John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Maurice Prendergast, Charles
Demuth, Edward Hopper, Charles Burchfield, Thomas Hart Benton, Andrew Wyeth, Milton Avery,
and Winslow Homer.
Images of a Vanished Life: Plains Indian Drawings from the Collection of the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts consists of forty drawings executed in 1879 by
twenty-one young Indians at the Hampton Institute in Virginia.
The drawings depict ritual
dances and ceremony as well as scenes from daily life that document the personal and tribal
history of the Plains Indians.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry Streets in
Philadelphia.
America.
Founded in 1805, the Academy is the oldest art museum and art school in North
Its collection of American art is housed in its third building, a National Historic
Landmark, designed by Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its orignina1 Victorian splendor
in 1976.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PH I LADELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Wendy Pollard Metzger, PR Coordinator
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
732-0721 (Home)
For Immediate Relase
ANNUAL FACULTY EXHIBITION ON DISPLAY AT THE PEALE HOUSE GALLERIES OF
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS FROM SEPTEMBER 18 THROUGH OCTOBER 5, 1984
(Philadelphia, Pa., August 27, 1985) - Works of art representative of
members of the Pennsylvania Academy school's distinguished faculty are on view
in the Peale House Galleries, 1820 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, from
September 19 through October 5, 1985.
There will be paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture by Pennsylvania
Academy faculty members on display in both the front and student galleries at
the Peale House.
Among the artists represented will be Joseph Amarotico, Jack
Barnet, Will Barnet, Arthur de Costa, Murrary Dessner, Ofelia Garcia, Sindey
Goodman, Homer Johnson, Karl Karhumaa,
Jimmy C. Leuders, Daniel D. Miller,
Edward O'Brien, Eo Omwake, Elizabeth Osborne, Peter Paone, Henry Pearson, Jody
Pinto, Mavis Pusey, Seymour Remenick, Bruce Samuelson, Louis B. Sloan, Anthony
Visco, and Roswell Weidner. Most of these works by available for purchase.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is unique among American art
institutions.
It is the oldest art school in America and, from its founding
in 1805, has been a museum and school dedicated to teaching, collecting, and
exhibiting American art.
The Academy school has taught and produced some of
the most prominent names in American fine arts.
Thomas Eakins, Cecilia Beaux,
William Merritt Chase, Thomas Anshutz, Arthur B. Carles, Daniel Garber, John
Sloan, and Morris Blackburn are but a few of the students who later became
Academy faculty members.
The Peale House Galleries, located at 1820 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia, display a rotating series of stimulating exhibitions in all
media.
In addition to Academy students, the shows in the Peale House
Galleries feature artists who have not recently exhibited in the Philadelphia
area.
These shows are organized for the benefit and education of Academy
school art students.
Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m., Sunday 12 noon to 4 p.m.
No admission charge.
#30
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHI LADELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS TO PRESENT A SYMPOSIUM, ENTITLED
RED GROOMS: THE FIFTIES AND THE SIXTIES, ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1985
•.••. PUBLIC INVITED
(Philadelphia, PA - August 29, 1985) - In conjunction with the exhibition Red
Grooms: A Retrospective 1956-1984, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will
present a symposium entitled Red Grooms : The Fifties and the Sixties, on Saturday,
September 21, 1985, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The symposium location is three blocks
from the Academy in the Geary Auditorium, Hahnemann
15th and Vine Streets, Philadelphia.
University, New College Building at
The discussions, which will illuminate the less
.
wel'l-known periods of the artist's career, will be highlighted by rarely-seen footage of
Gr00ms as an actor in several films produced by friends and fellow artists Yvonne
Anderson and Rudy Burkhardt. The agenda, topics, and participants are as follows:
RED GROOMS: THE FIFTIES AND THE SIXTIES
9:30 a.m.
Registration: Coffee and doughnuts
Registrants will be given a free ticket
to visit the exhibition during lunch or
after the symposium.
10 a.m.
MORNING SESSION
Opening remarks by Linda Bantel, Museum
Director, PAFA; and Judith E. Stein,
Curator of the Exhibition and Associate
Curator, PAFA
SPEAKERS:
Ellen H. Johns on
"The Constant Grooms"
Professor Emerita, Oberl i n College ,
Ellen H. · Johnson is the author of
numerous publications including
Claes Oldenburg and-Modern Art and the
Object. Ms. Johnson will give a slide
presentation focusing on traits that
manif~st themse l ves in the artist's
early work and a ppear throughout his
career
-more-
Yvonne Andersen and
Dominic Falcone
"Days in the Sun: Film, Slide, and
Narrative Accounts of Grooms in Provincetown and New York, 1956-1984"
Yvonne Anderson and Dominic Falcone,
former directors of the Sun Gallery,
(which exhibited such artists as Grooms,
Alex Katz, Lester Johnson, and Robert
Frank), will show slides documenting the
synergetic summers of the late 1950's in
Provincetown. Two early, undistributed
films by Anderson will be screened:
Apollinaire Unexpected (1964), starring
Red Grooms, Mimi Gross, and Dominic
Falcone, wittily charts the vicissitudes
in an artist's life when a patron visits
his home and studio; and The Artist in
the City (1963), with Red Grooms, Mimi
Gross, Alex Katz, Lester Johnson, and
Angelo Ippolito as urban artmakers.
12 NOON
BREAK FOR LUNCH
Registrants will be provided with a list of
nearby luncheon facilities
2 P.M.
AFTERNOON SESSION
Paul Richard
"Grooms i n the Sixties"
Art critic ~f The Washington Post "since
1967, Paul Richard lived and traveled
with Grooms and Mimi Gross in Italy in
1961. His discussion of Grooms during
the 1960's will include reminiscences
of his first exposure to the artist's
early collaborative projects.
Rud y Burckhardt
"Collaborating with Red Grooms: A Film
Collage of the Artist as Actor"
Rudy Burckhardt, well-known filmaker,
photographer, and long-time friend and
associate of Red Grooms, will speak on
"Collaborating with Red Grooms" and show
a film collage of rarely-seen footage of
Grooms as an actor in several of
Burckhardt's productions.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR; Respondents: Red Grooms and panelists.
-more-
Members of the general public are welcome to attend the Red Grooms symposium,
however, reservations are required and seating is limited. Costs for the symposium are
$20 for non-members, $17.50 for members of the Academy, and $10.00 for students. For
further information on the symposium, contact the public relations office at (215)
972-7642. For reservations, contact the membership office at (215) 972-7630.
Red Grooms: A Retrospective 1956-1984 will be on view at the Pennsylvania Academy
of the Fine Arts, located at Broad and Cherry Streets, through September 29, 1985. This
exhibition is funded in part by grants from the Atlantic Richfield Foundation, CIGNA
Corporation, and Industrial Valley Bank & Trust Company. After its appearance at the
Academy, the exhibition will be on display at the Denver Art Museum, from November 2,
1985, through January 5, 1986; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, from March
12, 1986, through June 29, 1986; and the Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, from August
17 , 1986, through October 26, 1986.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded in 1805, is the oldest art
museum and art school in North America. Its collections of over 7,300 works of American
art is housed in its third building, a National Historic Landmark, designed by Frank
Furness in 1876, and restored to its original Victorian splendor in 1976.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA, PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Wendy P. Metzger, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
732-0721 (Home)
A PUPPET CORNUCOPIA AT THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, AT 1:00 P.M . ••• A TREAT FOR THE wqOLE FAMILY
(Philadelphia, Pa., _ August 29, 1985 ) -
In honor of Red Grooms: A
Retrospective 1956-1984, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will present a
Puppet Cornucopia, on Sunday, September 15, at 1:00 p.m., at the Academy's musuem
at Broad and Cherry Streets in Philadelphia.
Focusing on the humor and the many cclorful sculptures in the exhibition, the
puppets will journey through the fun-filled world of Red Grooms.
Puppeteer Steve
Abrams will delight the entire family with his many puppets and their medley of
tales, including several of Aesop's Fables.
The audience will also be asked to
help create a puppet that will then become part of the fifteen-member family of the
Puppet Cornucopia.
This event is free with museum admission.
General admission is $3.00, senior
citizens $2.00. Children up to the age of eighteen are admitted free.
Red Grooms: A Retrospective 1956-1984 is closing on Sunday, September 29,
1985.
This exhibition, organized by the Pennsylvania Academy, is the first major
survey to document the full range of the artist's prolific career.
Comprising 170
works in all media, this show includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, films, and
prints.
Museum visitors will be fascinated with such room-sized environments as
The City of Chicago, and "Subway" from Ruckus Manhatten.
Many of the works in Red
Grooms will be on display for the first time since their original presentation in
the late 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall.
convenient to public transportation and parking.
It is
It is open to the public from
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday,
and 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.
The Academy, founded in 1805, is the oldest art museum and art school in
North America.
Its collection of over 7,300 works of American art is housed in its
third building, a National Historic Landmark , designed by Frank Furness in 1876,
and restored to its origninal Victorian splendor in 1976.
#30
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972 - 7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Information Officer
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
tj43-9917 (Home)
NEWS
For Immediate Release
**Contains updated information
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS TO PRESENT THE FIRST MAJOR RETROSPECTIVE
EXHIBITION OF THE WORK OF ~ED GROOMS IN JUNE, 1985
(Philadelphia, PA-September 5, 1984)-
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts ,
located at Broad and Cherry Streets in Philadelphia , is organizing the first major
retrospective examination of t he work of Red Grooms, entitled Red Grooms: A Retrospective 1956-1984. An American painter and sculptor of international reputation, Red Grooms
-
-
is an e~ample of an ar tist who is as highly regarded i n the art world as he is adored
by the general public. This traveling eXhi bition, _which will include approximately 170
works in all media, will originate at the Pennsylvania Academy where it will be displayed
in the museum's historic Frank Furness galleries from June 21, 19tj5, through Sept ember
29, _12<3 5.
-
An in-depth presentati~n of- the -breadth and scope of Reo Gro~~s's work is long over -
due, - since it-has been- tw-elve years- t hat the last museum exhibition of his- work was
mounted. The Pennsylvania Academy is especially pleased to have this opportunity
to review Grooms's career, since his unique contributions to contemporary figur e
painting complement the Academy's nearly two hundred year commitment to artists who are
concerned with the depiction of the human form.
The Pennsylvania Academy's comprehensive survey of GrooI!ls's -work will includ.e
examples of his paintings, drawings, prints, environmental
construction~
films, much of which is drawn from rarely exhibited private collections.
and
Dr. Judith
E; Stein, the Academy's assistant curator and organizer of the exhibition, states:
HI am happy to be able to include such well-loved, room-sized sculptures as
the j iggly "Subway~' 1975, from Ruckus Manhattan, as well as such lesser-known examples
of Red Grooms's early work as the intima t e pen and ink drawings executed in
Provincetown and New York from 1956 to 1971.
Since 1957, when he arrived in New York City from Nashville , Grooms has received
critical acclaim for his films, happenings, mixed media presentations, and i ndividual
SCUlptures. It was during the decade of the 1960's that critics first tagged Grooms
a Pop artist, along with Roy Lichtenstein , Andy Warhol, and others who were transporting
everyday, commercial images into the realm of high art . Grooms's work, ho¥ever, is not so
easily categorized. In discus s ing the relationship of Red Grooms to Pop art, noted art
critic and writer Carter Ratcliff asserts that, "Grooms did and does something similar - more -
KMJ
\j KUUl"lb
GUN T ' lJ
similar but not the same. Instead of l eaping the boundary that separates high art from
low, he blurs it. Right from the beginning, Grooms let his Pop images retain some of
their direct market-place appeal~ At the same time, Grooms's subjects are imbued with
his own sensibility. This sensibility, with its predilection for satire, immense variety
in form and color, and even affecti on, is clearly expressed in works depicting such
themes as city life, represented in this exhibition by the installation entitled
City of Chicago (1967), and many other paintings, sculptures, and works on paper
inspired by urban environments.
Grooms's continued fascination with the history of art and the lives of artists
will be represented by the pseudo-Romanesque Notre Dame de Badminton (1980), William
Penn Shaking
, Hands with the Indians (1967), and Mr. and Mrs. Rembrandt (1971).
Subjects relating to the performing arts and the history of the movies have inspired
Grooms, as seen in the portrait of Carol Lombard (1973) and James Cagney- and Friends
(1966). The history of music, dance, and theater haye also i~formed the artist's
imagery.
--
Portraits of family and friends, as -well as a group of striking self-portraits
whi ch have never before been exhibited, will constit ute an important element of t his
retrospective. Al so on display will be seldom-seen props related to such early
happenings as "A Play Called Fire" of 195H. Un~xpected aspects of Groo~s's sub j ects,
~p~lit i cs, for example , will be evident in the sardonic wit of the l arge~scal~ sculpture
entitled The Patriot's Parade (1-_967 f and the_grim v'i s ion ()f ter~orism expressed in
-
-
the painting Exploding Room (19H3). Red Grooms has worked on collabor ative projects
with such not able contemporaries as Claes Oldenburg, George Segal, Rudy Burkhardt,
Kennith Koch, and Edwin Denby.
Accompanying t hi s exhibi t ion is a fully-illustrated catalogue, which will document and
analyze Grooms ' s diverse productions. The catalogue will contain essays by Dr. Stein,
Newsweek art critic John Ashbery, and film historian Janet Cutler.
The exhibition is funded in part by grants from the Atlantic Richfield Foundation,
CIGNA Corporation, and Industrial Valley Bank & Trust Company. After its appearance
at
the Academy, the exhibition will be on display at the Denver Art Museum from November 2,
-.
1985 , through January 5, 1986; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, from March 12,
1986, through June 29, 1986; and the Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, from August 17,
1986 , through October 26, 1986.
The Pennsylvani a Academy of the Fine Arts, located at Broad and Cherry Streets in
Philadelphia, is the oldest art museum and art school in North America. During the run of
the Grooms retrospecti ve, museum hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. and Sunday from 12 noon to 5 p . m.
On Tuesdays, when museum admission is free, the
galleries will be open from 10 a.m. t o 8 p.m.
General museum admission for the Grooms
exhibiti on is $3, $2.00 senior citizens, and $1 students with identification; free
Tuesdays .
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS .TO SPONSOR A WALKING TOUR OF
PHILADELPHIA SCULPTURAL MONUMENTS ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 ..• PUBLIC INVITED
(Philadelphia, Pa. - September 20, 1985) -
To celebrate the recent
publication of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts's book, Sculptural
Monuments in an Outdo or Environment, the Academy will be offering a walking tour of
outdoor sculpture in Center City on October 5, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
(raindate: October 6, same time). The tour, which begins at the Academy's Broad and
Cherry Streets museum, is open to members of the public by reservation at the cost
of $7 per participant ($6 for members of the Academy).
Pat Stuart, an art historian and critic who teaches at the
Philadelph~a
College of Art and Moore College of Art, will lead the walking tour. Ms. Stuart
will concentrate on the sculpture at City Hall and its immediate environs. She will
discuss .with the participan t s many of the tDpics addressed in the book - the
historical role of public art i n urban centers, the aesthetic changes effected on
the artworks by our industrial environment, and the ethical problems historians and
conservators face working in outdoor sculpture preservation. The itinerary f or this
site-seeing expedition includes City Hall, Robert Indiana's Love sculpture, Claes
Oldenburg's Clothespin, Jacques Lipchitz' Government of the People, and others.
Following the tour, the group will return to the Academy for refreshments, a
chance to speak individuall y with Pat Stuart, and an opportunity to look at the
Academy's sculpture book. Re gistration for this e vent is limited and will be taken
in the order that it is received. For reservations, please call the Academy's
membership office at (215)
972-~630.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall.
convenient to public transportation and parking.
It is
It is open to the public from
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Wednesday evenings until 7:00
p.m., and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
senior citizens, and $1.00 for students.
General admission is $2.00, $1.50 for
The public is admitted free of charge on
Tuesdays.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PH.ILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS CELEBRATES NATIONAL ARTS WEEK,
SEPTEMBER 23 - 29, 1985, IN HONOR OF TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
.
(Philadelphia, Pa. - September 20, 1985) - During the week of September 23
through 29, · the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and other arts institutions
and agencies across the country will be celebrating National Arts Week.
This
specific period has been designated to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of
the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Created by Congress on
September 29, 1965, the NEA became an independent agency of the government, charged
with the mission of fostering in the arts of the United States, excellence,
diversity, and vitality, and of helping to broaden their availability and
appreciation.
Over the last several years the Pennsylvania Academy has acquired nineteen
works of art by contemporary American artists with the assistance of funds provided
by the Endowment.
To acknowledge this partnership, a selection of these works will
be on view in the Academy museum's History Gallery during National Arts Week.
Included will be Black in Hiding by Robert Motherwell, Monte Migiana Still Life by
William Bailey, Andree's Balloon by Edwin Dickinson, and Night by Alex Katz, among
others.
"It is with a special sense of pleasure and pride that the Pennsylvania
Academy joins the national salute of the NEA," observed Linda Bantel, director of
the Academy's museum. "Over the last twenty years the Academy musem's increased
profile is directly related to the NEA's generous support of our exhibitions,
programs, publications, conservation, and acquisitions. This unique alliance with a
Federal agency has been of invaluable benefit to the nation by enhancing worldwide
appreciation of American art and culture of all periods."
During National Arts Week, the museum shop will feature a display of major
exhibition catalogues published with the support of the NEA.
For the week of
September 23 through 29 only, these publications will be on sale at a 20% discount.
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent Federal agency, created
in 1965 to encourage and support American arts and artists.
Its mission is to
foster the excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in the United States and
to help broaden their availability and appreciation.
zations.
- more -
To fulfill this intent, the Endowment receives annual appropriations from the
Congress, from which it awards matching grants to nonprofit, tax-exempt arts
organizations of outstanding quality, and fellowships to artists of exceptional
talent.
By law, the Agency also provides a minimum of 20 percent of its program
funds in matching grants to the state arts agencies and to regional arts
organization. The great majority of Endowment grants require a match in non-Federal
dollars .of from $1 to $3 for each grant dollar received, with the notable exception
of fellowship grants, which require no ma·t ch.
Thus the agency works as a catalyst
to increase support for the arts by encouraging donations from private citizens,
public and private
organi~ations,
and states and communities.
The Arts Endowment is directed by a chairman and advised by the National
Council on the Arts, a Presidentially-appointed body composed of the Endowment
chairman and 26 distinguished citizens who are widely recognized as artists or
experts in the arts.
The major funding programs of the Arts Endowment are guided by advisory
panels of private citizens who are artists or recognized experts in their
particular field.
The programs are: Artists in Education; Challenge and
Advancement Grants; Dance; Design Arts; Expansion Arts; Folk Arts; Inter-Arts;
Literature; Test Program of Support for Local Arts Agencies; Media Arts:
Film/Radio/Television; Museums; Music; Opera-Musical Theater; State Programs;
Theater; and Visual Arts.
The advisory panels serve the Endowment's programs much
as the National Council serves the Agency as a whole,by providing a system of peer
review to evaluate applications, identify problems and develop policy.
The Council
reviews the panel decisions and makes the final recommendations on grants and
policy to the chairman.
The Endowment's chairman is appointed by the President, with the advice and
consent of the U.S. Senate, for a four-year term.
Council members serve six-year
terms, staggered so that roughly one-third of the membership rotates every two
years.
Panelists also serve rotating terms for a maximum period of three years.
Francis S.M. Hodsoll, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, was sworn into
office as chairman of the Nat i onal Endowment for the Arts on November 13, 1981.
succeeded Livingston L. Biddle, Jr., who served a four-year term in office.
He
Other
chairmen were Nancy Hanks (1969-1977) and Roger L. Stevens (1965-1969).
The National Endowment for the Arts' budget for fiscal 1985 is $164 million.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry
Streets in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of City Hall.
convenient to public transportation and parking.
It is
The Academy is open to the public
from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesdqy through Saturday; 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on
Wednesday; and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
$1.50 for senior citizens, and $1.00 for students .
charge on Tuesdays.
-30-
General admission is $2.00,
The public is admitted free of
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972 -7600
For further information, contact:
Wendy P. Metzger P.R. Coordinator
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
732-0721 (Home)
AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS AND CONSTRUCTIONS BY BOB BETOF AND
SCULPTURE BY JOE BRENMAN TO BE ON VIEW IN THE PEALE HOUSE GALLERIES
OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS FROM OCTOBER 10 - NOVEMBER 2, 1985
(Philadelphia, PA, October 4 , 1985 ) - The works of two artists will be on
view in the Peale House Galleries of the Pennsylvani a Academy of the Fine Arts,
1820 Chestnut Street, from October 10 through November 2 , 1985.
This exhibition i s
composed of paintings and constructions by Bob Betof and sculpture by Joe Brenman .
An opening reception, to which the publ i c is invited , will be held on
Wednesday, October 9, 1985, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Bob Betof's recent st udie s, entitled The Migration Series, expl ore a
synt hesis of paintings and scul pture.
These relie f s of acrylic, wi re, and acetat e ,
examine the interactions of color and l ight with form.
The Migration Series is
c ompo sed of approximately thirty to fort y works, several of which are monochromatic
while the r e st of his work is very colorful. The ma j ority of Betof ' s work is three
feet in size and were executed within the last three years.
A native of Philadelphia, where he still resides, Betof studied at the
Pennsylvania Academy from 1962-1966.
He received his B.F.A. from the University of
Pennsylvania in 1968 and studied f or two years at the Bar nes Foundation in Merion,
PA.
Betof's work has been included in several Aca demy Fell owship Exhibiti on, and
he has also had several one-man s hows in the Phila delphia area.
In 1968, Betof
de veloped the first Fine Arts Program for the State Correctional System at Eastern
St at e Penitentiary , where he taught classes in drawing , paintings, and art
apprec i ation.
He a lso organized inma te exhibitions whi ch were he l d at many
locations in the Philadelphia area.
In 1984 he rece i ved a Merit Award at th e
University of Delaware Biennial Exhibi t ion.
-more-
Betof/Brenman p. 2
Joe Brenman, the other artist in this Peale House exhibition, will have
approximately fifteen pieces of sculpture on view.
Working in terra cotta, fired
clay , fiber glas s , and concrete, Brenman's sculpture is based on the human figure
and are close to life-size in scale.
This show will include work completed within
the last two to three years, including his most recent sculpture of refugees from
El Salvador and Guatemala.
While a student at the Pennsylvania Academy (1971-1977), Brenman received the
St impson Prize (1976) and a special c ommendation for the prestigious Cresson
European Traveling Scholarship ( 1976 ) .
Joe Brenman currently lives in Philadelphia.
The Peale House Galleries, located at 1820 Chestnut Street,' Philadelphia,
display a rotating series of stimulating exhibitions in all media.
In addition to
Academy students, the shows in the Peale House galleries features artists who have
not recently exhibited i n the Philadelphia area.
These shows are organized for the
benef i t and education of the Academy School students.
Hours are Tuesday through
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sundays from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
charge.
#30
No admission
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND C HERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE EXHIBITION CONTEMPLATING THE AMERICAN WATERCOLOR TO BE ON DISPLAY AT
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS FROM OCTOBER 23, 1985, THROUGH
JANUARY 5, 1986
(Philadelphia, Pa. - October 8, 1985) - From October 23, 1985, through January 5,
1986, a selection of approximately sixty-five works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century
American watercolors from the collection of the Transco Energy Company will be shown at
the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Included are examples by artists such as
Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Maurice Prendergast, Charles
Demuth, Edward Hopper, Charles Bu rchfield, Thomas Hart Benton, Andrew Wyeth, and Milton
Avery.
Contemplating the American Watercolor, presented in Philadelphia by the
Philadelphia Electric Company and Philadelphia Gas Works, will be displayed i n the
museum's upstairs galleries.
"The Transco col lection has extraordinary range an d quality, particularly for a
c ol lection that was so recently formed," said Linda Bantel, director of t he museum.
"It
was assembled by a water colorist, Jack Bowen, chairman of the board and chief execut i ve
off icer of Transco, who is clear l y sensitive to the airy translucent quality of the
water-color medium.
This is an intimate and beautiful show that invites sustained,
contemplative viewing."
Transco, a diversified energy company that has its headquarters in Houston, Texas,
has been forming this collection for the past three years and is one of the first United
States corporations to focus exclusively on collecting historically important American
watercolors.
During 1985 and 1986 the Transco water-color collection will be exhibited
at several American museums in cities in which Transco operates - The Brooklyn Museum,
the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and
the New Orleans Museum.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located at Broad and Cherry Streets
in Philadelphia, just two short blocks north of Ci ty Hall.
transportation and parking.
It is convenient to public
It is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday; and 11:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
$1.00 f or students.
General admission is $2.00, $1.50 for senior citizens, and
The public is admitted free of charge on Tuesdays; donations are
appreciated.
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PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA, PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AMERICAN INDIAN DANCERS, FILMS, NATIVE CRAFTS DEMONSTRATIONS, STORYTELLING,
SONG AND DRUM TROUPE, . AND A SYMPOSIUM TO ENHANCE PLAINS INDIAN DRAWING
EXHIBITION AT PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
(Philadelphia, Pa. - October 16, 1985) - Several special events are planned for the
opening weekend of the
exhibition Images of a Vanished Life: Plains Indian Drawings from
the Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
On Saturday, October 26, at
11:00 a.m., the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers will perform at the museum; at 12
noon two films will be shown: Tribes of the Eastern Plains, and The Rise of the Horsemen;
from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. there will be native crafts demonstrations; and at 2:00 p.m.
two other films, Tahtonka: Plains Indian Buffalo Culture, and The Pride and the Shame;
will be screened.
The next day, Sunday, October 27, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Toni
Lone Hawk, storyteller, and the Spirit Voice Singers, an intertribal song and drum troupe
will perform.
These events are open to the public with museum admission, and are
completely free to Academy members.
Two gallery talks are scheduled for November.
On Friday, November 8, at 12:00
noon, William S. Wierzbowski, cocurator of the exhibition, will speak on "Plains Indian
Culture," and on Friday, November 15, also at 12:00 noon, Wierzbows ki will discuss
"Drawings and Dancing."
These gallery talks are open to the public with museum
admission, and are completely free to Academy members.
The Academy's museum education department has organized a family program on
Saturday, November 16, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Entitled "Dancing and Singing the
Native American Way," this program will be conducted by NademaAgard, a Plains Indian
artist.
This event is open to those over age 8, and since the number of participants is
limited, advance registration is required.
Those interested in this program should call
the museum education department at (215) 972-7608; the fee for Academy members is $5, and
for the public is $6.
On Saturday, November 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Academy will hold a
symposium in connection with Images of a Vanished Life, in the museum auditorium at Broad
and Cherry Streets.
The symposium will focus on Plains Indian art, ethnography, and the
history and status of Indian advocacy.
Linda Bantel, museum director, will make
introductory remarks, and scheduled speakers include: John C. Ewers, ethnologist
- more -
p.2
AMERICAN INDIAN EVENTS (CONT'D)
emeritus, Smithsonian Institution; George P. Horse Capture, curator, Plains Indian
Museum, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming; Melanie Beth Oliviero, executive
director, Indian Rights Association; Robert F. Engs, associate professor of history,
University of Pennsylvania; Mary Lou Hultgren, curator of ethnology, Hampton University
Museum; William T. Hagan, distinguished professor of history, State University of New
York, College at Fredonia; Suzan Shown Harjo, executive director, National Congress of
American Indians; and John Echohawk, executive director, Native American Rights Fund.
Registration fee for the symposium is $15.00 for the general public, $12.50 for
Academy members, $10 for students with valid identification; box lunches are available
for $6.00.
Seating is limited, and reservations are accepted in the order in which they
are received.
For information on registration procedure, please call (215) 972-7630.
-30-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972 - 7600
NEWS
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS ANNOUNCES NEW HOURS, INCLUDING
EVENING HOURS ON WEDNESDAY
(Philadelphia, Pa. - October 16, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
announced today that there will be new museum hours, effective October 23, 1985, when
the exhibition Contemplating the American Watercolor opens to the public.
Beginning on Wednesday, October 23, the Academy's museum hours will be 10:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on
Wednesday; and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. This schedule represents an increase
of nine hours a week that the public can visit the museum.
"By establishing evening hours, we hope to appeal to center-city employees and
residents, who would prefer an after-work midweek visit to the Academy, or as a break
from shopping," said Linda Bantel, director of the museum of the Pennsylvania Academy.
"Because we are so conveniently located, and because so many people took advantage of
the special evening hours that were in effect during the Red Grooms exhibition, we hope
that these extended hours will better serve our center city constituency."
The admission fee structure that was in effect prior to the Grooms show will also
resume on October 23:
$2.00 general admission, $1.50 senior citizens, and $1.00 for
students. The public is admitted free on Tuesdays; donations are appreciated.
From October 23, 1985, through January 5, 1986, a selection of approximately
sixty-five works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American watercolors from the
collection of the Transco Energy Company will be shown at the Pennsylvania Academy.
Included are examples by artists such as Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, James
McNeill Whistler, Maurice Prendergast, Charles Demuth, Edward Hopper, Charles
Burchfield, Thomas Hart Benton, Andrew Wyeth, and Milton Avery.
Contemplating the
American Watercolor, presented in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia Electric Company and
Philadelphia Gas Works, will be displayed in the museum's upstairs galleries.
Please note- Hours for the Peale House Galleries, located at 1820 Chestnut Street,
will remain as follows: Tuesday through laturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and
Sundays from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.
No admission charge.
#30
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA, PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
IMAGES OF A VANISHED LIFE: PLAINS INDIAN DRAWINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS TO BE ON DISPLAY AT THE ACADEMY
FROM OCTOBER 26, 1985, THROUGH JANUARY 5, 1986
(Philadelphia, Pa., - October 16, 1985) - From October 26, 1985, through January
5, 1986, the exhibition Images of a Vanished Life: Plains Indian Drawings from the
Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will be on display at the
Academy's museum at Broad and Cherry Streets in Philadelphia.
The exhibition will then
travel to the Plains Indian Museum, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, where
it will be on display from March 1, 1986, through June 20, 1986.
This show provides a unique opportunity for the Pennsylvania Academy to celebrate
an aspect of American art it has previously left unrecognized.
The exhibition will
center on forty drawings made by nineteen Plains Indian young men in 1879.
are colorful and lively, and of considerable artistic merit.
The drawings
They are also important
because each drawing tells a story about the life the artist had known, from ritual
dances to buffalo hunts, a life that for the most part had already vanished.
While the exhibition will feature this group of drawings, all part of the
Academy's permanent collection, it will also include borrowed artifacts similar t o the
dress and ornaments described in the drawings.
The show's cocurators are William S.
Wierzbowski of the University of Pennsylvania and Academy staff member Helen
Mangelsdorf.
The exhibition catalogue (on sale in the museum shop for $14.95) includes
an essay by John C. Ewers, ethnologist emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution.
Both
the show and the catalogue emphasize the tradition of Plains Indian painting; explain·
the subject matter depicted in each drawing; give biographical information about the
artists; and briefly explore the complex history of Indian-white relations surrounding
the creation of the drawings and speculate about their connection to Philadelphia
history and to the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
This exhibition is serendipitous, for it came into being as a direct result of an
ambitious Academy project to publish catalogue raisonnes of the three areas of the
museum's collection: painting, sculpture, and prints/drawings.
- more -
p.2
IMAGES OF A VANISHED LIFE (CONT'D)
The prints/drawing project, encompassing over 6000 objects, has resulted in the
cataloguing of many previously undocumented treasures; among those treasures, the forty
Indian drawings were found.
The drawings were created by students at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural
Institute (now Hampton University), in Hampton, Virginia.
The school was founded in
1868 as a school for freedmen to receive industrial and educational training in the
post-Civil War South.
The Academy's artists were among the first Indian students at
Hampt on and in the eastern United States.
Two of the artists (Bear's Heart, a Cheyenne, and Zone Keuh, a Kiowa, had a rriv ed
at Hampt on in the spring of 1878, after a three-year imprisonment by the United States
government at Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida.
They had been among seventy-two
warriors, fr om several Plains tribes, accused of various atrocities and deporte d t o the
East under the supervision of Captain Richard H. Pratt.
the education and "civilization" of his charges.
At Fort Marion, Pratt undertook
When he was able to secure their
release, three years later, he convinced twenty-two to stay in the East for further
education.
Various benefactors were found for scholarship aid, and Hampton's
principal , General Samuel C. Armstrong, agreed to take on seventeen of the young men.
Both Armstrong and Pratt felt that Hampton's program of training in practical work
skills, as well as the three R's, was the perfect combination for the education of young
Indians.
Armstrong was soon able to convince Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Inter ior,
t hat t he " so fa r encouraging ex periment in Ind i an civilization be tried more f ul l y by
bringing some younger material, girls especially."
Pratt was detailed to go to the
reservations along the upper Missouri River and there recruit new students.
In November
of 1878 Pratt arrived at Hampton with more students, forty boys and nine girls.
The ma jority of the Academy's artists were from this group.
Over half of t hem
we r e fr om various Sioux tribes, but there were also several Arikaras, Mandans, Gros
Ve nt res , and one Pawnee.
Most of the boys were in their mid- to l a te-teens, but sever al
(Oscar Brown, Ka-What, Arihotchkish, Charlie T. Robb, and David Simmons) were only
twelve or thirteen.
Most of the artists in the Academy show stayed at Hampton for approximately three
years (the amount of time the government thought necessary to complete their
education!).
This education consisted of farmwork, instruction in various trades
( t insmi thing, shoemaking, carpentry, etc.), and classes in English, as well as basi c
cou r ses in subjects such as mathematics and geography.
They also received religious
training in the denomination affiliated with each individual's reservation.
dress was a cadet-style uniform, and a military parade began each morning.
-more-
The school
IMAGES OF A VANISHED LIFE (CONT'D)
p.3
The drawings were made to earn pocket money.
ongoing promotional activity.
They were part of the school's
Each new subscriber to the school newspaper, The Southern
Workman, would receive "a picture drawn by one of the Indian Boys at Hampton, on plain
paper, in water colors or with colored pencil."
Painting, though formerly done on hides, was a traditional part of the Plains
Indians' life.
Pratt had encouraged this activity among the Fort Marion prisoners, and
they had sold many to tourists there.
Armstrong, like Pratt, recognized that the
drawings served well in a fund-raising capacity, but Armstrong and his staff seemed also
to have recognized their artistic merit.
During a speech in Philadelphia, Armstrong was
quoted as saying:
Many of them have a talent for painting, in a rude way of course, on
pottery, on paper, and their efforts have been encouraged for the
purpose of keeping alive and developing the art.
Other artists were among the generation that saw the complete
destruction of not only the buffalo but of the Indian way of life.
The United
States was rapidly expanding, and even the most enlightened white citizen felt
that the Indian must face "civilization or destruction."
Nomadic hunting
tribes were forced to become farmers, and traditionally sedentary farming
tribes were relocated.
Attempts were made to convert the Indians to
Christianity, to make them give up traditional dress ("the blanket"), and to
abandon tribal customs.
Many of these young men did adopt the values they were taught at
Hampton.
However, few were able to integrate well into the life to which they
returned at the reservation.
Many of them died young (Ecorruptaha, one of the
artists, is buried at Hampton), and most struggled against abject poverty and
blatant discrimination.
Even today Samuel Armstrong's words ring true about
the drawings:
Our Indian Paintings are much sought after, and are doing good in many
places, as reminders of the needs of a noble but wronged people.
The Images of a Vanished Life exhibition catalogue is funded, in part,
by grants from the Samuel S. Fels Fund and the John Sloan Memorial Foundation.
In addition to the catalogue, the Academy's museum shop has stocked
other show-related items, including postcards, jewelry, and books.
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"~ I
,,'
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
215 972- 7 600
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 191 0 2
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
AN EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURE BY TOM BUTTER TO BE PRESENTED BY THE
MORRIS GALLERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
FROM NOVEMBER 1 THROUGH DECEMBER 29, 1985
(Philadelphia, Pa., October 16, 1985) - From November 1 through December 29,
1985, the Morris Gallery of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will present
an exhibition of sculpture by Tom Butter.
An opening reception, to which the public is invited, will be held on
Thursday, October 31, 1985, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
This exhibition will be composed of seven works of sculpture that consist of
fiber glass and polyester resin and were executed between 1984 - 1985.
Three of
the sculptures are wall-mounted and painted.
As Judith Stein, coordinator of the Morris Gallery, describes Tom Butter's
work, "When it comes to the intimation of light, sculptors can't hold a candle to
the legerdemain of painters.
Because they are dealing with actual rather than
implied volumes, sculptors must employ rea l light to suggest light.
Every once in
a while a sculptural prestidigitator presents himself, who is able to harness the
literalness of the medium, making a virtue out of necessity.
Tom Butter is such an
artist, a past master of translucent masses and radiant planes.
Fabricating airy
volume out of fiber glass and resin, Butter creates luminous forms with just a hint
of an organic identification."
Butter is currently a member of the sculpture faculty at the Philadelphia
College of Art.
Born in Amityville, New York, in 1952, Butter received his B.F.A.
from the Philadelphia College of Art in 1975 and his M.F.A. from Washington
University, St. Louis, two years later.
He is the recipient ot two National
Endowment for the Arts Grants for Emerging Artists (1980 and 1982).
Special
outdoor installations of his work have been part of the Hammarskjold Plaza
Sculpture Garden, NY (1983) and Art Across the Park, Central Park, NY (1982).
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BUTTER, P.2
One-person exhibitions have been held at the Lawrence Oliver Gallery,
Philadelphia (1983, 1984) and the Grace Borgenicht Gallery, NY (1983, 1984).
shows include:
Group
Transfiguration of the Minimal Style, Sculpture Center, NY (1984);
Language, Drama, Source, and Vision, the New Museum, NY (1983); Intoxication,
Monique Knowlton Gallery, NY (1983); American Abstraction Now, ICA,Virginia Museum
of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (1982); Critical Perspectives, P.S. 1, Long Island City,
NY (1982); Color, Light, and Mass: Ten Sculptors, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY (1981);
and Art for the Eighties, Galerie Duban, Caracas, Venezuela (1980).
Butter's work is included in the Pennsylvania Academy's own collection as
well as those of of The Metropolitan Museum, NY; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Chase
Manhattan Bank; Prudential Insurance Company of America; and the Hospital
Corporation of America, Nashville, TN.
On Friday, November 22, at noon, the artist will deliver an informal gallery
talk at the museum at Broad and Cherry Streets; free with the priceof museum
admission.
The Morris Gallery, located in the Academy museum at Broad and Cherry
Streets, displays the work of outstanding contemporary artists with a connection to
Philadelphia, determined by birth, schooling, or residence.
Hours are Tuesday
through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5 : 00 p.m.; Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.;
Wednesday evenings until 7:00 p.m.
citizens; and $1.00 students .
Admission: $2.00 general; $1.50 senior
Free Tuesdays; donations appreciated.
Morris Gallery exhibitions are chosen by a committee composed of area
artists, museum personnel and collectors, and the curatorial staff of the Academy.
Currently serving on the Morris Gallery Exhibition Committee are:
Cynthia Carlson,
Jennie Q. Dietrich, Dr. Helen Herrick, Harold Jacobs, Jay Richardson Massey,
Charles E. Mather III, Cheryl McClenney, John Moore, Mark Rosenthal; and Academy
staff:
Judith Stein - Morris Gallery Coordinator, Frank H. Goodyear, Jr, Linda
Bantel, Betty Romanella; and Academy students Ed Lewis and Anna Yates.
#30
#3, Oct. '85
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
PHILADELPHIA , PA . 19102
BRO A D AND C HERRY STREETS
NEWS
215972-7600
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
FALL 1985 - WINTER 1987
CONTEMPLATING THE AMERICAN WATERCOLOR
Oct. 23, 1985 - Jan. 5, 1986
IMAGES OFA VANISHED LIFE: PLAINS INDIAN
DRAWINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
Oct. 26, 1985 - Jan. 5, 1986
AMERICAN GRAPHIC ARTS: WATERCOLORS,
Jan. 24, 1986 - April 13, 1986
DRAWINGS, AND PRINTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
THE 85th ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION
May 8, 1986 - June 1, 1986
THE VI TAL GESTURE: FRANZ KLINE IN
RETROSPECT
June 27, 1986 - Sept. 28, 1986
DRAWING TOWARD BUILDING: PHILADELPHIA
ARCHITECTURAL GRAPHICS 1732- 1984
Oct. 3, 1986 - Jan. 4, 1987
SCULPTURE FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
Oct. 17, 1986 - Jan. 11, 1987
CONTINUOUS
THREE CENTURIES OF AMERICAN ART: PAINTINGS, SCULPTURE & DRAWINGS
FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION
HOURS
Tuesday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Wednesday Evenings until 7 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
ADMISSION
$2.00 General
$1.50 Senior Citizens
$1.00 Students
Members Free
Free admission on Tuesdays; donations appreciated
The Exhi bitions Program of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is made
possible through the generous contributions from the Pew Memorial Trust, the
Institute of Museum Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, the
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Philadelphia Foundation, and the Samuel
S. Fels Fund. The Academy is grateful as well to the City of Philadelphia,
the Atlantic Richfield Foundation, CIGNA Corporation, the Industrial Valley
Bank and Trust Company, the Philadelphia Electric Company, the Philadelphia
Gas Works, and Transco Energy Company, Houston, Texas.
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p. 2
CONTEMPLATING THE AMERICAN WATERCOLOR
Oct. 23, 1985 - Jan. 5, 1986
This fall the Philadelphia Electric Company and the Philadelphia Gas Works
will present a selection of the works from Transco Energy Company's collection
of 19th and 20th century American watercolors at the Pennsylvania Academy.
This unique collection of approximately 100 works includes superb examples by
artists such as John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Maurice
Prendergast, Charles Demuth, Edward Hopper, Charles Burchfield, Thomas Hart
Benton, Andrew Wyeth, and Milton Avery. Winslow Homer's Daughters of the Sea
is one of the highlights.
Transco, a diversified energy company headquartered in Houston, Texas, has
been forming this collection for the past three years and is one of the first
United States corporations to focus exclusively on collecting historically
important American wat"ercolors. During 1985 and 1986 the Transco watercolor
collection will be exhibited in other cities in which Transco operates. The
show will travel to the Denver Art Museum; the Brooklyn Museum; the Corcoran
Gallery, Washington D.C.; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, and the New
Orleans Museum of Art. Contemplating the American Watercolor is presented in
Philadelphia by the Philadelphia Electric Company and Philadelphia Gas Works.
IMAGES OF A VANISHED LIFE: PLAINS INDIAN DRAWINGS
Oct. 26, 1985 - Jan. 5, 1986
The recent discovery in the Academy's print department of a collection of
19th-century drawings created by American Indian prisoners and students,
represents an opportunity to celebrate the cultural life and contributions of
Native Americans. This exhibition will center on forty drawings made by
ni ne teen Plains Indian young men in 1879. The drawings are colorful and
li vely, and of considerable artistic merit. They are also important because
each drawing tells a story about the life the artist had known, from ritual
dances to buffalo hunts, a life that for the most part had already vanished.
While the exhibition will feature this group of forty drawings, all part of
the Academy's permanent collection, i t will also include borrowed artifacts
simi liar to the dress and ornaments described in the drawings. The show's
cocurators are William S. Wierzbowski of the University of Pennsylvania and
Academy staff member Helen Mangelsdorf. The exhibition catalogue will include
an essay by John C. Ewers, ethnologist emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution.
AMERICAN GRAPHIC ARTS: WATERCOLORS, DRAWINGS, AND PRINTS IN THE
COLLECTION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
Jan. 24, 1986 - April 13, 1986
The story of Philadelphia's involvement in the graphic arts, from the days of
Charles Willson Peale to the present, will be told by approximately two
hundred and fifty prints, drawings, and watercolors from the Academy's
permanent collection. Beginning with late eighteenth-century work, this show
will include prints and drawings by Benjamin West, rare portrait profiles by
J.J. Audubon, watercolors by William Birch, lithographs and early engravings
by Philadel phia printmakers. Other highlights of the nineteenth century will
be seen in diverse styles and techniques, including: figurative drawings by
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p. 3
.AMERIGAN GRAPHIC ARTS (cont'd.)
artists such as Thomas Eakins and Cecilia Beaux, and landscape subjects by
Winslow Homer, W. T. Richards, the American impressionists, and the
printmakers of the period, including James McNeil Whistler, Joseph Pennell and
the Moran family. The Academy's holdings in twentieth-century graphics will
be represented by important early modernist works by Charles Demuth, John
Marin, Arthur B. Carles, Morton Schamberg, and others. Subsequent graphic
trends in abstraction and realism will be seen in recently acquired works by
prominent artists including William Bailey and Philip Pearlstein. The curator
for this exhibition is Dr. Kathleen A. Foster; an illustrated catalogue will
be available.
THE 85TH ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION
May 8,__ 1986 - June 1, 1986
The Academy is once again devoted to exhibiting the fresh and always exciting
work of its students. Featured each year are recent works in all media,
including painting, watercol-or, drawing, sculpture, and graphics. From its
founding in 1805, under the auspices of Charles Willson Peale and William
Rush, the Academy's purpose was to train, collect, conserve, and exhibit
American art and artists. Today the Academy, as represented by its
outstanding student work, has proven faithful to those original goals by
continuing to promote excellence and achievement in the fine arts.
THE VITAL GESTURE: FRANZ KLINE IN RETROSPECT
June 27, 1986 - Sept. 28, 1986
Franz Kline, a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism and one of the most important _
American painters of the twentieth century, is the subject of this
retrospective exhibition organized by the Cincinnati Art Museum. The Academy
is the sole East Coast site for the show. Guest curator ~or the exhibition is
Harry Gaugh of Skidmore College. The Vital Gesture consists of approximately
seventy-five paintings and twenty-five works on paper, representing a succinct
and balanced statement on Kline's achievement. The exhibition illustrates '
Kline's use of small-scale drawings, which were preparatory to his large-scale
paintings, as well as explores the artist's interest in executing pairs of
related works. A catalogue, written by Gaugh, contains an essay on Franz
Kline, a chronology, bibliography, entries for all paintings, seventy-six
color plates, and approximately forty black and white illustrations. The catalogue will be published in both paperback and hardback
editions.
DRAWING TOWARD BUILDING: PHLADELPHIA ARCHITECTURAL GRAPHICS 1732-1984
Oct . 3, 1986 - Jan. 4, 1987
The Pennsylvania Academy'~ building at Broad and Cherry Streets in
Philadelphia is a National Historic Landmark and one of architect Frank
Furness's best preserved masterpieces. Therefor~, it seems particularly
appropriate that the Academy's museum will display approximately two hundred
-more.,..
p. 4
DRAWING TOWARD BUILDING (cont'd.)
drawings created by Philadelphia architects from the colonial times to the
present, including contemporary works by many of the city's finest practicing
architects. Since Philadelphia is a center for architecture, the drawings in
the show will relate to projects, both realized and unrealized, for this city
and throughout the world. This exhibition will approach architecture not only
as a profession and fine arts discipline, but will demonstrate that
architectural drawing maintains its own technical and aesthetic integrity
while it relates to the fluctuations of taste and fashion that have shaped the
other fine arts. Approximately fifty of the drawings will be by contemporary
Philadelphia architects, selected from a competition held on June 29 and 30,
1984.
This exhibition is organized jointly by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts, the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and
the Foundation for Architecture. The organizing curator is the Academy's
museuLinda Bantel, and guest curators for the exhibition are Jeffrey A. Cohen,
architectural historian; G. Holmes Perkins, professor of architecture and
urbanism, Graduate School of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania; and George
E. Thomas, architectural historian and lecturer, University of Pennsylvania.
An illustrated catalogue, with major historical analysis contributed by James
F. O'Gorman, Grace Slack McNeil Professor of American Art, Wellesley College,
will be for sale. In addition to the catalGgue, a descriptive brochure will
be available to the public free of charge. After closing at the Academy, the
exhibition will travel to the Farish Gallery, Rice University School of
Architecture, Houston, Texas. Selected works amounting to approximately
seventy-five drawings, will also be displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago.
SCULPTURE FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY
OF THE FINE ARTS
Oct. 17, 1986 - Jan. 11, 1987
One hundred and fifty objects representing almost two centuries of American
sculpture will be selected from the Academy's permanent collection and
installed in a roughly chronological sequence to illuminate the general trends
in the history of American sculpture. The sculptural tradition of naturalism,
specific to Philadelphia, will be a major component in this selection.
Introduced by Thomas Eakins in the last quarter of the nineteenth century,
this tradition was perpetuated by the much-loved and influential teacher,
Charles Grafly, who taught sculpture at the Academy's school from the
mid-1890's until his d~ath in 1929. A large collection of Grafly's bronze
portrait busts and allegorical subjects will be an important aspect of this
exhibition. A group of works by his twentieth century followers such as
Albert Laessle, Harry Rosin and Charles Rudy, all of whom were teachers at the
Academy, will show the continuation of Eakins's legacy into the twentieth
century. Other highlights of the twentieth century will be a large group of
figurative works in the direct carving tradition of the 1930's and 1940's and
non-representational works of the postWorld War II period by artists such as
David Smith, Richard Stankiewicz, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, Alexander
Calder, Dennis Oppenheim, and Harry Bertoia. Organized by Linda Bantel,
director of the Pennsylvania Academy, this exhibition has been mounted to
coincide with the first publication of the catalogue of the Academy's
permanent collection.
-more-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA , PA. 19102
215 972-7600
THE MORRIS GALLERY
FALL 1985 - WINTER 1986
In addition to main gallery exhibitions, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts sponsors exhibitions by contemporary artists in the Morris Gallery at
Broad and Cherry Streets. The Morris Gallery displays the work of outstanding
artists with a connection to Philadelphia, determined by birth, schooling, or
residence.
Nov. 1Dec. 29 -
1985
1985
TOM BUTTER - Floor Sculpture - On display will be
his recent series of free standing sculpture of
fiber glass and poly resin. Both transculent and
colored, these graceful pieces suggest organic
forms without specific references.
Jan. 10 Feb. 23 -
1986
1986
Adela Akers - Fiber sculpture, wall-mounted
March 8 Apr. 20 -
1986
1986
Group Theme Exhibit - Personal Narrative
(Chosen thus far: Anda Dubinskis)
May 2
June 15 -
1986
1986
David Hannah - Large-scale abstract oil paintings
and drawings
June 20 Aug 24 -
1986
1986
Joyce Fillip - Large-scale drawings: natural
phenomenon and disaster series
Sept. 12 - 1986
Nov. 2 - 1986
Harriet Feigenbaum - Multimedia installation on
her environmental art project in the stripmining
section of centr~l Pennsylvania
Nov. 14 Jan. 4 -
Phoebe Toland - Large-scale abstract paintings on
fabric
1986
1987
For more information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith
Wendy Pollard Metzger
Joan Irving
Public Relations Office ·
(215) 972 - 7642
#30
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADELPHIA, PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For further i nformat i on, contact:
Wendy Pollard Metzger , P . R. Coordinator
(215) 972 - 7642 (Academy)
843- 9917 (Home)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
88th ANNUAL FELLOWSHIP EXHIBITION ON DISPLAY AT
THE PEALE HOUSE GALLERIES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
FROM NOVEMBER 9 THROUGH DECEMBER 7 , 1985
( Philadelph ia , Pa . , November 7, 1985 ) - The 88th Annual Fellowship Exhibition will
be on view in the Peale House galleries of the Penns yl vania Academy of the Fine Arts,
1820 Ches t nut St reet, Philadel phia, fr om No vember 9 thr ough Decemb er 7, 1985 .
An openi ng reception, to whi ch the pub l ic is i nv ited, will be held on Fri day ,
November 8 f rom 5: 00 p . m. to 7:00 p .m.
The Fellowshi p of the Pennsylvania Academy of th e Fine Arts is an independent
no np rofit or ga niza t ion run by a boar d of di r ectors ele cted by its members, who ar e
stud ents or alumni of the Pennsylvania Academy, who ha ve completed at least two years of
Academy tr a i ning .
The 88th Annual Fellowship Exhibition is a juried show that is open to all
Fellowship members.
There are expected to be over five hundred entries by artists from
allover the country, and from t his group one hundred works of art will be selecte d fo r
the exhibi t ion.
Works in all media will be represented, including paintings, drawi ngs,
pr ints, s culpture, and video art .
The exhibition will be judged by ar ti sts Michael J . Al l ison and Jan C. Baltze ll .
Allison, a paint er and sculptor, is pr e sently curator a t the Southern Allegen ie s Museum
of Ar t , Loretto , Pa .
Baltzell, a painter, is coordinator of the Academy's evening
scho ol and currently t eaches at the Philadelphia College of Art .
Twelve cash pri zes will be awarded to artists in t he exhibi tio n, i nc l udin g t he
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fi ne Arts/Fellowship Purchas e Prize of $1, 000.
The Peale House Galler ies, locate d at 1820 Chestnu t St re et , Philadelphia, display
a rotating seri e s of stimulating exhi bitions in all media.
In addit i on to Academy
students , the shows in the Peale House Galleries feature artists who have not r e cent l y
exhibite d in the Philadelphia area .
These shows are organi zed for the benefit and
education of Academy art school students .
Hours are Tuesday th r ough Saturday from 10
a . m. to 4 p.m . , Sunday from 12 noon t o 4 p . m.
#30
No admis s ion charge.
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA, 19102
215 972-7600
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information, contact:
Wendy P. Metzger, P.R. Coordinator
(215) 972~7642 (Academy)
8L~3-9917 (Home)
FULL STUDENT EXHIBITION TO BE ON VIEW IN THE PEALE HOUSE
GALLERIES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
FROM DECEMBER 12 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 1985
(Philadelphia, Pa., December 3, 1985) - Over one hundred works of art by
students at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts can be seen at the
Academy's Peale House Galleries, 1820 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, when the
Full Student Exhibition goes on display from December 12 through December 31,
1985.
There will be an opening reception, to which the public is invited, on
Wednesday, December 11, 1985 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
On view in both the front and student ,galleries, the Full Student
Exhibition includes paintings, graphics, drawings, and sculpture.
Academy day
students, from first through fourth year, including part-time students ,
submitted one work of art to a faculty jury and the pieces chosen by the jury
will compose the Academy's Full Student Exhibition.
Most of the works in this show are available for purchase, and with the
holiday season upon us, this is an excellent opportunity to purchase, as
gifts, works of art by the Academy's talented students.
The Peale House Galleries, located at 1820 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia, display a rotating series of stimulating exhibitions in all
media.
In addition to Academy students, the shows in the Peale House
Galleries feature artists who have not recently exhibited in the Philadelphia
area.
These shows are organized for the benefit and education of Academy art
school students.
Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Sunday from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
No admission charge.
#30
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19102
215 972 - 7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS INVITES ONE AND ALL TO ITS ANNUAL
HOLIDAY PARTY ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15
(Philadelphia, Pa., December 4, 1985) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts board of trustees and the Academy Al umni Association's board of directors
cordially invite one and all to the Academy's annual holiday party at the Furness
building at Broad & Cherry Streets in Philadelphia on Sunday, December 15, from
3 :00 p.m. t o 5:00 p . m.
Music, refreshments, and an art raffle will be featured on
this festive occasion.
The music will be pro vided by the Clarendon Brass Quintet from the Set tlement
Music School, who will play music appropriate for the holid ay se ason, and The Men
and Boy Choir of St. Peter's Church, who will sing Christmas Carol s.
Those in
attendance will also provide music, for some t raditional car ols will be sung by all.
The Academy's Christmas tree wil l be on display in t he rotunda of the museum,
and will be fe stooned with ornaments from around the world, which will be made at a
~o r kshop
at the Academy on December 7.
The countries to
b~ r ep re~ented
will
include Peru, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Bahama Islands, Kenya, and Burma, among
others.
There will als o be a pinata, containing candy and toys, that will be
broken, with the "goodies" being distributed to the children in attendance.
Another highlight of the party will be a r af fle of six works of art, the
proceeds of which will go toward scholarships for Academy school students.
The
artists represented, all from Pennsylvania, are Robert Nelson, Dick Ranck, Ellen
Soffer, Bill Scott, Barbara Sosson, and Jim Repenning.
Raffle tickets will be sold
at the party at $10 each, before the winning tickets are drawn at about 4:30 p.m.
This party is free to members and alumni of the Pennsylvania Academy, and
their families, and is free to the general public with museum admission.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is located a t Broad and Cher ry
Stree t s in Philadelphia, just two shor t blocks north of City Hall .
c onvenient to public transportation and parking.
It is
It i s open to the public from
10 :00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; 10: 00 a.m. to
~:OO
p.m. on Wednesday; and 11:00 a.m. to 5: 00 p . m. on Sunda y.
is $2.00, $1.50 fo r senior citizens, and $1.00 for students.
General admission
The public is
admitted free of charge on Tuesdays; donations are appreciated.
-30-
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
PHILADEL PHIA , PA . 19102
215 9 72 - 7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Information Officer
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS BY STANLEY WHITNEY TO BE ON DISPLAY AT
THE MORRIS GALLERY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
FROM JANUARY 11 THROUGH FEBRUARY 24, 1985
(Philadelphia, Pa. - December 19, 1985) - The work of painter Stanley
Whitney is one of Philadelphia's best-kept secrets. Although he has exhibited
nationally in a series of important shows during the past twelve years, his
forthcoming Morris Gallery appearance marks the first time his paintings will
be on view in his native
city~
Visitors to the Pennsylvania Academy at Broad
and Cherry Streets will have an opportunity to see four of the artist's large
oil paintings and several smaller ink on mylar drawings in the exhibition
entitled Stanley Whitney: Paintings and Drawings, on view from January 11
through February 24, 1985.
An opening reception, to which the public is invited, will be held on
Thursday, January 10, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., in the Morris Gallery.
Whitney has always been a non-objective painter, attracted by the challenge
of defining his own imagery.
The paintings which will be on view at the Morris
Gallery are oils on canvas, done recently after a breakthrough series of
monoprints led him away from the acrylic medium and toward the exploration of
the more sensuous qualities of oils. Gestural, playful, and intensely colored,
these new works investigate the relationship of figure and ground in the arena
of the large-scale canvas.
In regard to the affinities of Whitney's work to that of the Abstract
Expressionists who preceded him, Marilyn A. Zeitlin, director of the Anderson
Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, has recently written:
Despite the personal and intuitive strength
in his work, Stanley Whitney is a canny painter
He is so well-versed in technique that he
hardly seems to think about it. The work reveals
that he is knowledgeable about art history. It is
a rare thing to see such intelligence, beauty, and
above all, freshness, in a work that is also clearly
part of a long-standing historic movement.
While the bold black and white imagery of Whitney's India ink on mylar
drawings shows an unabashed kinship with the work of Jackson Pollock, the
rhythms are Whitney's own, "fuller and denser, more vegetation in the forest,"
in Zeitlin's description.
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WHITNEY CONT'D
2
Stanley Whitney was born in Philadelphia in 1946. An associate prof essor at
the Tyler School of Art, where he has been teaching since 1973, Whitney has
also taught at the University of Rhode Island and at Yale University . In New
Haven, he was an assistant in painting to William Bailey. He earned his B. F . A.
de gree (1968) from the Kansas City Institute and his M.F.A. from Yale
University (1972), and was the recipient of a John Ferguson Weir Scholar ship.
In 1978 Whitney was a Visiting Artist at the Brandywine Graphic Workshop in
Philadelphia .
In 1972 his work was part of a national travelling exhibition entitled
Black Artists in America, which was sponsored by Bell Telephone. In that year
he also had a solo show at the University of Rhode Island. Other exhibitions of
his work include: Exhibition for Artist' Rights, Town Hall, New York City
(1 975); Contemporary Reflections, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art,
Ridgefield, Conn. (1976); Soho Center for the Visual Arts, two-person painting
show (1977); Artists' Books, Franklin Furnace, New York (1980);. Jazzonia
Gallery, Detroit (1981); Cinque Gallery, New York, group show (1981);
Post-Modernist Metaphor, Alternative Museum, New York (1981); Enroute: Six
Contemporary Artists, The Studio Museum in Harlem (1981); Peg Alston, New York,
solo show (1982); Brooklyn Academy of Music, solo show (1983); Masters of
Contemporary Drawing IV: Stanley Whitney, Anderson Gallery, Virginia
Commonwealth University, Richmond (1984).
In conjunction with Black History Month, Stanley Whitney will
deliver two
lectures at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts . Whitney will discus s his
current work during an informal gallery talk to be held on Friday, Febr uary 1,
at noon, in the Morris Gallery. In addition, the artist will present a slide
lecture on contemporary black artists on Sunday, February 10, at 2 p . m. in the
museum auditorium at Broad and Cherry Streets. Both the gallery talk and slide
lecture are free with museum admission; general admission is $2.00, $1.50
senior citizens, and $1.00 students. Free admission on Tuesday.
The Morris Gallery displays the work of outstanding contemporary art ists
with a connection to Philadelphia determined by birth , schooling or residence.
The exhibitions are chosen by a committee composed of area artists, museum
personnel and collectors, and the curatorial staff of the Academy. Currently
serving on the Morris Gallery Exhibitions Committee are Cynthia Carlson, Ofelia
Garcia , Jennie Q. Dietrich, Dr. Helen Herrick, Harold Jacobs, Jay Richardson
Massey, Charles E. Mather, III, Cheryl McClenny, John Moore,Mark Rosenthal;
and Academy staff Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., Linda Bantel, Betty Romanella and
Judith Stein, Morris Gallery Coordinator. In addition, two Academy scho ol
students, Anna Yeates and Ed Lewis, are members of this committee.
- 30 -
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS PHILADELPHIA, PA 19102
NEWS
(215) 972·7600
For further information, contact:
Kirby F. Smith, Public Relations Director
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PEALE FAMILY PAINTINGS ON VIEW AT THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
(Philadelphia, PA - December 23, 1985) -
The sale of a portrait by
Rembrandt Peale, entitled Rubens Peale with a Geranium (1801), made headlines
earlier this month when it garnered the highest price ever paid at auction for
a work of American art. The Peale family name, of course, has been closely
associated with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts since 1805, and
those who visit the museum can find out more about this remarkable
Philadelphia family and their ninete enth century contemporaries. Fourteen
paintings by various members of the Peale family are currently on view at the
Broad and Cherry Streets museum, including works by Charles Willson Peale, his
sons Rembrandt and Raphaelle, his brother James, and niece Sarah.
The legacy of Charles Willson Peale embraces his work as an artist,
museum pioneer, and naturalist. Best remebered for his renderings of prominent
citizens, Peale created seven portraits of George Washington. The Academy's
collection contains sixteen paintings by Peale; seven of these works,
includin g the artist's famous George Washington at Princeton (1779) and The
Artist in his Museum (1822), are on view at the Academy.
Throughout his career Charles Willson Peale supplied
R
high standard of
achievement for other painters in his family. Under his influence, the works
of James, Raphaelle, and Rembrandt exhibited the formal characteristics which
defin ed the family style. Attention to physical details, persistent use of
static neoclassical poses, restrained brushwork, and lack of interest in
surface textures establish their portraits in the Peale tradition and
differentiate them from the work of other portraitists in Philadelphia during
the ninteenth century. Among the Peal e family paintings on view at the Academy
now are The Artist and his Family (1795) by James Peale, which exemplifies the
Peale style of informal family portraiture; the still life Fox Grapes and
Peaches (1819) by Raphaelle Peale; Rembrandt Peale's renowned "porthole"
likeness of George Washington (Patriae Pater, ca. 1824); and the portrait Anna
Maria Smyth (1821) by Sarah M. Peale.
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p.2
PEALE FAMILY CONT'D
The Peale name maintains its association with the Pennsylvania
Academy not only through the works in the permanent collection by family
members, but through an important historic connection as well.
Established in 1805, the Academy counts among its seventy-one founders
Charles Willson Peale and his eldest son Rembrandt. The Peale family name
was assigned to a new building in 1964, when the Academy sought to open a
second facility to house a major part of the school's educational
program.
The current Peale House, located at 1820 Chestnut Street,
contains Academy school classrooms, private studios, administrative
offices, and galleries. In addition the Academy enjoys the patronage of a
group of members called the Charles Willson Peale Society, who have
dedicated themselves to maintaining a museum and school of art committed
to excellence - in collecting and exhibiting American art and in training
art students. The society was established to affirm these traditions and
to preserve and maintain the historic landmark buildings in which its
collection and school are housed. The Peale Club, a restaurant for
Academy members, is located at 1819 Chestnut Street.
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is the
oldest art museum and art school in North America. Its collection of
American art is housed in its third building, a National Historic
Landmark, designed by Frank Furness in 1876, and restored to its original
Victorian splendor in 1976.
Located just two short blocks north of City Hall, the Academy is
convenient to all public transportation and parking. Hours are Tuesday
through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday evenings until 7 p.m.,
and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Monday. General admission is
$2, $1.50 senior citizens, and $1 students. The public is admitted free
on Tuesday; donations are appreciated. Regularly scheduled museum tours
are given Tuesday through Friday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Wednesday
evenings at 5:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
- 30 -
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA, PA . 19102
215 972-7600
For further ' information, contact:
Wendy Pollard Metzger, P.R. Coordinator
(215) 972-7642 (Academy)
843-9917 (Home)
OIL PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS BY CAROLINE PEART TO BE ON VIEW
IN THE PEALE HOUSE GALLERIES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
FROM JANUARY 9 THROUGH FEBRUARY 2, 1986
(Phila delphia , Pa. , December 23 , 1985) - Oi l paint ings and dr awings by
Caroline Pea rt will be on view i n t he Peale House Galler i es of the
Pennsylvani a Academy of the Fine Art s , 1820 Chestnut Street, Philadel phia,
fro m January 9 through February 2 , 1986
Ther e will be an opening rec e pti on , t o which t he public is inv ited, on
We dnes day, Janua r y 8, 1986, fr om 5 p . m. to 7 p .m.
This exhibition of works from t he collection of Franklin and Marshall
Coll ege, Lancaster, Pa., will consist of twenty oil paintings, twenty- two
charcoal paintings, and twe nty oil sketches on A-cademy board.
Ther e wi-II also
be biographical memorabilia on view.
Born i n 1870 in Columbia, Pa., Caroline Peart's family soon afterwards
move d to Logan Square in Philadelphia, where her father was a prosperous
lumber deal er.
The family later moved to Rosemont, Pa., where they lived for
s ever al yea r s until they purchased in 1905, a man sion i n West Chester known as
Ardrossan.
Rai s ed as a Quaker, Caroline was educat ed at the Philadelphia's
Friends School.
She a lso attended the Pennsy l vania Academy of the Fine Arts
from 1895- 97 and was a c l assmate of Violet Oakley .
Beaux, who strongly influenced Peart's work .
She studie d unde r Ceci lia
Peart's style blen ds
i mpressionism with the realism so firm ly i mpart ed by the Academy a t that
time.
After studying i n Paris , Car oline r eturned to Philadel phia to continue
t o study, paint, and exhi bi t , un til the year her fat her died, 1906, when she
c eased to pai nt .
When her mother di ed in 1940 , Caroline moved to her pare nt' s
home in Lancaster, Pa, until her death in 1963.
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p. 2
Caroline Peart
During her short career as an artist, Caroline Peart received the Mary
Smith Prize at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1898 a nd exhibited at the Pan
Ame r i can Exposition in Buffalo (1901); the Penns ylvania Academy of the Fine
Art s; t he Corcoran Art Gallery , Washington, D.C.; the Chicago Art Institute;
and the Society of American Artists in New York.
In 1983 the Brandywine River
Museum . Brandywine, Pa . , mounte d a retros pective exhibition entitled The
Pai ntings of Caroline Peart .
The Peale Ho us e Gallerie s, l ocated at 1820 Ches tnut Street,
Phi l adelphia, display a rotating s eries of stimulating exhibitions in all
media.
In addition to Academy students , the shows in the Peale House
Galleries fea tu re artists who ha ve not recen tl y exhibited in the Philadelphia
area.
Thes e shows are orga nized f or the benefit and education of Academy ar t
schoo l students.
Hours are Tuesday th r ough Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Sun day from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
No admi s s ion charge.
#30
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