12 Anniversary Preview

12th Anniversary 22 www.antiquesandfineart.com HIGHLIGHTS February 4–May 13, 2012 Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash Street, Manchester, NH For information call 603.669.6144 or visit www.currier.org The development of the modernist movement from the 1920s to its continuing impact on artists today is explored through 125 works drawn from the Currier Museum of Art’s growing collection of historic photographs. Modernist photographers created images of isolated elements from nature and the manmade world from unexpected and often close-up vantage points. The results are striking abstract compositions that emphasize the repetition of shapes or patterns, dramatic contrasts of light and shade, or disorienting views of urban and natural worlds. This new vision made form and composition as important as subject matter. Reflecting the international nature of modernism, A New Vision includes images by American and European photographers and explores the reciprocal influences among all media that shaped the modern art movement. To illustrate this interconnectedness, paintings and drawings by Marsden Hartley, Charles Sheeler, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Arthur Dove will be paired with photographs in this exhibition. AMERICAN SCENERY: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting February 26–May 13, 2012 Blanton Museum of Art, MLK, Jr., Blvd. and Congress Ave., Austin, TX For information call 512.471.7324 or visit www.blantonmuseum.org The works of the Hudson River School, a loose collective of artists active in upstate New York from 1825–1875, comprised America’s first native artistic style. Founded in 1825 by Thomas Cole, the Hudson River School drew its inspiration from America’s landscape. Its artists shared a spiritual awe of nature and believed in the notion that the country’s untamed wilderness reflected aspects of its national character. American Scenery investigates the group’s shared aesthetic and philosophical principles and situates the paintings in the context of nineteenth-century American values. The exhibition’s unique point of view stresses the artist’s eye, pairing and grouping paintings that explore the visual characteristics of particular sites, or that examine the subtle changes that can be observed during varied seasons, times of day, and weather conditions. Thomas Cole, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Asher B. Durand, Frederic Edwin Church, John Frederick Kensett, and John William Casilear, among others, are represented by 116 paintings in the show. Simone Wicha, director of The Blanton states, “This special exhibition offers the opportunity to experience a remarkable period in American art. The works capture the pioneering spirit of the artists who were captivated and moved by the immense beauty of this country’s landscape.” Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971), Turbine, Niagara Falls Power Co. , 1928. Gelatin silver print, 13½ x 9½ inches. Photo © Estate of Margaret Bourke-White/Licensed by VAGA, New York. A NEW VISION Modernist Photography Asher Brown Durand (1796-1886) Woodland Interior, c. 1855 Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches Private Collection