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Hours MISSION 11a–5p Daily, except Tuesdays The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, part of the Sam Fox 11a–8p First Friday of the month School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in Closed Tuesdays, University holidays St. Louis, is committed to preserving and developing its art collection and continuing its legacy of collecting significant art Admission of the time; providing excellence in art historical scholarship, Admission to the Museum is always free. education, and exhibition; inspiring social and intellectual Membership inquiry into the connections between art and contemporary life; Support the Museum—become a member! and engaging audiences on campus, in the local community, 314.935.7382 | kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/support across the nation, and worldwide.

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2017 MFA Thesis Givens Steinberg Bixby TO US 64/40TO Exhibition Opening FORSYTH BLVD Barney A. Ebsworth Gallery Curated by Meredith Malone, associate curator LOCATION AND PARKING The Museum is located directly west of Forest Park on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis. Metered parking on campus is $1/hour during the week and is free after 6p on Fridays and on the weekends. The Museum is easily accessible from the Skinker MetroLink Station; bike racks are also available. NEW EXHIBITIONS Director’s Note 3 : Who Does She Spring Exhibitions 4 4 Think She Is? Calendar 8 Spotlight Series 11 Teaching Gallery 12 Collection 14 Education 16 6 News 17 Spectacle and Leisure in Paris: Membership 18 Degas to Mucha Women and the Kemper 19

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Rosalyn Drexler (American, b. 1926), The Dream, 1963. Acrylic and paper collage on canvas, 40 x 30". Collection of Bryan Davidson Blue and Garth Greenan, Brooklyn, New York. © 2017 Rosalyn Drexler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), Chanteuse de café-concert (The Café-Concert Singer), 1875–76. Pastel over monotype on paper, 6 1/2 x 4 3/4" (plate). Private collection.

Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617), The Great Hercules, 1589. Engraving, 22 1/2 x 16 1/4". Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis. University purchase with funds from Mrs. Mahlon B. Wallace, Jr., by exchange, 2004.

COVER: Rosalyn Drexler (American, b. 1926), The Syndicate, 1964. Acrylic and paper collage on canvas, 68 x 79 1/2". Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Broughton, St. Louis, Missouri. © 2017 Rosalyn Drexler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), 12 New York. (Re)Presenting Heroes, Defining Virtue

FYI SPRING 2017 CONTENTS 1 DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Spectacle—defined as a visually striking performance The Museum’s new state-of-the-art, 2,700-square-foot or scene—is so ubiquitous in contemporary life that at exhibition space and spacious, light-filled lobby are both times we may not even notice it. Yet at other times we made possible through the incredible support of the may feel we cannot escape it. Two special exhibitions Kemper family. Named in on view at the Kemper Art Museum this season explore honor of the late Laura entertainment, performance, and spectacle from Kemper Fields, who had different time periods and vantage points, providing a lifelong passion for the a thought-provoking respite from our own image-driven visual arts, the gallery 21st-century life. will allow us to showcase a larger portion of our Rosalyn Drexler: Who Does She Think She Is? is a world-class collection, retrospective of the innovative work of the artist Rosalyn giving visitors the chance Drexler, whose collages and large-format paintings often to experience a greater comprise images cut from popular media, which the number of the Museum’s artworks, expanding curatorial artist alters and paints over. Drexler’s frank depictions opportunities, and enhancing the Museum’s temporary of sexuality and violence are unflinching yet enthralling, exhibition program. both appropriating and enthusiastically participating in the culture from which they are drawn. On view in Our striking new facade will be composed of thirty- Ebsworth Gallery, the exhibition was organized by the foot-tall pleated stainless steel panels that reflect the Rose Art Museum at and is curated surrounding landscape, while the redesigned main here by Associate Curator Allison Unruh. entrance—at ground level and oriented toward the University’s front lawn—will enhance visibility and Spectacle and Leisure in Paris: Degas to Mucha—on view accessibility. The outdoor sculptures of the Florence in Garen Gallery—examines the intersection of popular Steinberg Weil Sculpture Plaza will be relocated to a entertainment and the visual arts in late 19th-century beautiful setting north of Weil Hall. Paris, one of the most celebrated and critical times in the history of European art and visual culture. A compelling Construction around the Museum will begin this summer, selection of prints, posters, photography, and early film with the grand opening of the expansion planned for depicts a wide array of entertainments, from dance and fall 2019. We will keep you updated about our progress theater to the racetrack and the café, considering the through this publication as well as on the Museum’s critical role images played at the time. The exhibition is website. To learn more about the entire east end curated by Elizabeth C. Childs, Etta and Mark Steinberg transformation, please visit campusnext.wustl.edu. Rendering of upcoming Museum expansion © KieranTimberlake. Professor of Art History and chair of the Department of Art History & Archaeology in Arts & Sciences. I am excited to be embarking on this journey with you! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this season’s programs, The Museum is also looking ahead expectantly to exciting and I look forward to seeing you in the galleries soon. changes in our built environment. In May the University will break ground on its largest construction project to With my very best wishes, date—a transformation of the east end of the Danforth Campus, central to which will be the construction of the Sam Fox School’s Anabeth and John Weil Hall and an Sabine Eckmann, PhD expansion of the Kemper Art Museum. William T. Kemper Director and Chief Curator

2 FYI SPRING 2017 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 3 BARNEY A. EBSWORTH GALLERY FEATURED EVENTS Rosalyn Drexler: Who Does She Think She Is? EXHIBITION OPENING February 10–April 17, 2017 Friday, February 10 6p member preview 7p public reception

My pictures are like ice floes, jarred loose PERFORMANCE and floating nowhere. On them, the people Friday, March 24, 6p

act violently, but their foothold is melting. Selected Plays by Rosalyn Drexler: – Rosalyn Drexler (American, b. 1926) Utopia Parkway and Room 17C Directed by Andrea Urice, senior Zeroing in on sexual and cultural stereotypes lecturer and director in the Performing and mass-media spectacle, Rosalyn Drexler’s Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, groundbreaking work explores such themes as Washington University students will intimacy, violence, and masculinity in ways both perform dramatic readings of two one-act plays by Rosalyn Drexler. humorous and subversive. In the early 1960s Drexler earned critical acclaim for visually arresting collage-paintings in which she cut out MEMBER BOOK DISCUSSION and painted over figures from movie posters, Saturday, April 1, 11a newspapers, and advertisements, setting them against vivid backgrounds suggestive of Rosalyn Drexler, I Am the Beautiful contemporary color field painting. Seemingly Stranger (1965) familiar characters—King Kong, gangsters, FBI Museum members are invited to join agents, lovers embracing or fighting—become award-winning poet Mary Jo Bang and fiction writerDanielle Dutton, strange in these isolated scenes. both professors in the Department Night Visitors, 1988. Oil on canvas, 24 x 30 1/8". Private collection, Westport, Connecticut. of English in Arts & Sciences, for © 2017 Rosalyn Drexler / Artists Rights Society In this first full-career retrospective, almost fifty major paintings a discussion of Rosalyn Drexler’s (ARS), New York. and collages are presented alongside rarely seen early sculptures first novel. See page 18 for details. as well as archival material relating to Drexler’s wide-ranging career from the 1950s to the present. In addition to being a visual artist, Drexler is a novelist, award-winning playwright, EXHIBITION CATALOG and screenwriter. Her numerous plays and novels often reveal A fully illustrated catalog, the most an offbeat, darkly absurdist sensibility that, like her visual art, comprehensive documentation engages with a variety of cultural and sexual mores. For the first of Rosalyn Drexler’s work to date, time ever, Rosalyn Drexler: Who Does She Think She Is? and its accompanies accompanying programming bring together the many facets of the the exhibition. artist’s creative work for the viewer to experience over the course Edited by Katy of the season. Siegel, the book also features excerpts from Drexler’s plays The exhibition was organized by the Rose Support is provided by the William T. Kemper TOP: Sorry About That, 1966. Acrylic and paper ABOVE: Love and Violence, 1963. Acrylic, oil, and novels. Art Museum at Brandeis University and Foundation; the Missouri Arts Council, a on canvas, 48 x 72 1/4". Walker Art Center, and paper collage on canvas, 67 3/4 x 60 3/4". cocurated by Katy Siegel and Caitlin Julia state agency; the Regional Arts Commission; Minneapolis, Gift of the T.B. Walker Foundation, Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody. © 2017 Published by Rubin. Its presentation at the Mildred Lane the Hortense Lewin Art Fund; and members 1966. © 2017 Rosalyn Drexler / Artists Rights Rosalyn Drexler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), Gregory R. Miller & Co., 224 pages, Society (ARS), New York. New York. Kemper Art Museum is curated by Allison of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. illustrated throughout, $50. Available Unruh, associate curator. in the Museum shop. Members receive a 10% discount. 4 FYI SPRING 2017 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 5 GAREN GALLERY FEATURED EVENTS Spectacle and Leisure in Paris: Degas to Mucha EXHIBITION OPENING February 10–May 21, 2017 Friday, February 10 6p member preview 7p public reception

Long before Twitter, Instagram, or even People magazine, PERFORMANCE celebrity culture thrived in turn-of-the-century Paris. The Thursday, March 2 names of dancers and actresses like Jane Avril, Sarah Bernhardt, 5p gallery conversation and Loïe Fuller were on the lips of café-goers, and their images 5:45p performance appeared on posters throughout the city. Paris was a global Art Inspiring Dance: cultural capital where the varied Discovering Loïe Fuller forms of entertainment reflected Dancer and choreographer Jody the liberty, creativity, and diversity Sperling, founder and artistic of modern urban life. The city’s director of Time Lapse Dance, joins spectacles of entertainment were exhibition curator Elizabeth C. Childs not only hugely popular, they were for a discussion of the unique genre a source of pride and identity of dance developed by Loïe Fuller for Parisians—and a source of (1862–1928) in the late 19th century, followed by a dramatic Fuller- inspiration for many artists. inspired performance.

Bringing together an array of LECTURE prints, posters, photographs, Wednesday, March 22 and film, Spectacle and Leisure in Paris: Degas to Mucha offers 6p reception, Kemper Art Museum 6:30p lecture, Steinberg Auditorium an overview of the flourishing entertainment culture of Paris Mediated by Images: Entertainment Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973), La femme and Experience in Fin-de-Siècle in the last decades of the 19th au chapeau bleu (Jane Avril) (Woman with a Blue Hat [Jane Avril]), c. 1901. Pastel and charcoal Montmartre century. The art of Pierre Bonnard, on paper, 12 x 9 1/2". Private collection. © 2017 Howard Lay, associate professor Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. in the Department of the History of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Art at the University of Michigan, Pablo Picasso, and others addresses the pulsating life of the offers a nuanced analysis of Henri boulevards, the speed of the racetrack, and the glamorous de Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters, performance worlds of the cabaret, ballet, opera, and theater. providing additional context on the Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860–1939), These themes inspired traditional as well as innovative mediums: promotional imagery of late 19th- La samaritaine (Woman of Samaria), Georges Meunier (French, 1869–1942), Folies-Bergère, Loïe Fuller, 1898. Lithograph, 48 x 33" (image). 1897. Lithograph, 69 x 23 ½". The Art fine art prints by Édouard Vuillard and Degas are rivaled by the Collection of Mary Strauss. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. century Paris. Institute of Chicago, Mrs. Victor F. Lawson Collection, 1925.829. rapid development of the popular commercial poster in the hands of Jules Chéret, Alphonse Mucha, and Toulouse-Lautrec The exhibition is curated by Elizabeth C. EXHIBITION CATALOG as well as the emerging technology of moving pictures practiced Childs, Etta and Mark Steinberg Professor of An accompanying catalog is published by the Kemper by the Lumière brothers and Georges Méliès. Encompassing Art History and chair of the Department of Art Museum, edited by Elizabeth C. Childs with essays film, advertising, celebrations of popular performers, and Art History & Archaeology in Arts & Sciences. by Childs; Colin Burnett, assistant professor of Film more, Spectacle and Leisure explores both the creation and Support is provided by the William T. Kemper and Media Studies; and graduate students in the consumption of imagery during this vibrant time. Foundation; the Department of Art History Department of Art History & Archaeology, all in Arts & & Archaeology and a Classroom Innovation Sciences. Distributed by the University of Chicago Press, Grant in Arts & Sciences; the Hortense Lewin 96 pages, 62 full-color illustrations, $30. Available in the Art Fund; and members of the Mildred Lane Museum shop. Members receive a 10% discount. Kemper Art Museum. 6 FYI SPRING 2017 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 7 SPRING 2017

CALENDAR 7 Tue–9 Thu 7p FILM SERIES 24 Fri 6p PERFORMANCE APRIL Rosalyn Drexler’s Cinematic Connections: Selected Plays by Rosalyn Drexler: 1 Sat 11a MEMBER BOOK DISCUSSION t 22 Sa FAMILY FUN DAY FEBRUARY Comedians, Gangsters & Fighters Utopia Parkway and Room 17C Rosalyn Drexler, I Am the Beautiful Stranger 11a–3p Funded in part by the Women’s Society of 10 Fri EXHIBITION OPENING Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Directed by Andrea Urice, senior lecturer (1965) Washington University and Women and 6p member preview and director in the Performing Arts Mary Jo Bang, professor, Department of the Kemper 7 Tue My Little Chickadee (1940) 7p public reception Department in Arts & Sciences, performed English in Arts & Sciences Directed by Edward F. Cline 24 Mon 5p SPOTLIGHT TALK Rosalyn Drexler: Who Does She Think She Is? by Washington University students Danielle Dutton, assistant professor, Department of English in Arts & Sciences Homme Oiseau (Man-Bird) Spectacle and Leisure in Paris: 8 Wed White Heat (1949) 25 Sat 9a SPECIAL EVENT Register at [email protected] or (early 20th century) Degas to Mucha Directed by Raoul Walsh Triptych: A Tour of Modern Paris alumni.wustl.edu/memberbook. Aoife O’Brien, Korff Postdoctoral Fellow Teaching Gallery: (Re)Presenting Heroes, 9 Thu Raging Bull (1980) in Three Parts in Oceanic Art, Department of Art History Defining Virtue Directed by Martin Scorsese Shuttle departs Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 5 Wed 6p THINKING THE MUSEUM & Archaeology in Arts & Sciences and Saint Louis Art Museum 3716 Washington Boulevard Museum as Career Catalyst 11 Sat 1p GALLERY TALK 22 Wed LECTURE Elizabeth C. Childs, Etta and Mark James Cohan (BA82) James Cohan Gallery, Rosalyn Drexler: Who Does She Think She Is? 6p reception, Kemper Art Museum 25 Tues WOMEN AND THE KEMPER Rosalyn Drexler (American, b. 1926), Sueño Revista (Rosalyn and Steinberg Professor of Art History and New York p 4–6 SPECIAL EVENT Allison Unruh, associate curator Sherman in a Rousseau), 1989. Acrylic and paper collage on canvas, 6:30p lecture, Steinberg Auditorium 65 x 80". Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. chair, Department of Art History & Morgan Dowty (BFA15) curatorial assistant, Central West End Gallery Crawl Rosalyn Drexler, artist Mediated by Images: Entertainment and © 2017 Rosalyn Drexler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Archaeology in Arts & Sciences Experience in Fin-de-Siècle Montmartre Register at [email protected] or Simon Kelly, curator of modern and Robert W. Duffy (BA67) arts journalist, St. Louis 20 Mon 5p PERFORMANCE Howard Lay, associate professor, alumni.wustl.edu/WAKcwe contemporary art, Saint Louis Art Museum Jan Schall (MA79) Sanders Sosland Curator Art Inspiring Music: Paris at the Turn of the Department of the History of Art, Tamara Schenkenberg, associate curator, of , Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 19th Century University of Michigan MARCH Pulitzer Arts Foundation Kansas City A collaboration with the Department of $20, $10 students. Register at Moderated by Meredith Malone, Music in Arts & Sciences. Featuring music by 2 Thu PERFORMANCE [email protected]. associate curator Debussy, Massenet, Ravel, and others. 5p gallery conversation 5:45p performance 22 Wed WOMEN AND THE KEMPER Art Inspiring Dance: 27 Mon WORKSHOP 7 Fri 6p EXHIBITION OPENING STUDY SESSION Discovering Loïe Fuller 4–7p Pop Art in Practice: The Collage of Arthur Greenberg Undergraduate Curatorial 10a reception Jody Sperling, founder and artistic director, Rosalyn Drexler Fellowship Exhibition 10:30a program Time Lapse Dance Maria Ojascastro, artist and facilitator The Modern Meal: Sustenance through Ritual Behind the Scenes: The Life of Elizabeth C. Childs, Etta and Mark Allison Taylor, head of education and Rosalyn Drexler Steinberg Professor of Art History and chair, community engagement 12 Wed WOMEN AND THE KEMPER Allison Unruh, associate curator Department of Art History & Archaeology in $10, free for members. Register at STUDY SESSION 10a reception Arts & Sciences 314.935.7918 or [email protected] Visitors view the fall 2016 exhibition. 24 Fri FILM SCREENING 10:30a program 6p reception, Kemper Art Museum 3 Fri 5–7p WOMEN AND THE KEMPER 30 Thu 5p GALLERY TALK From the Vaults: Fernand Léger’s Les grands MAY 6:30p screening, Steinberg Auditorium SPECIAL EVENT Spectacle and Leisure in Paris: Degas to Mucha plongeurs (The Divers) (1941) 1 Mon 7p FILM SCREENING French Film at the Turn of the Century: Fashion of the Belle Époque Elizabeth C. Childs, Etta and Mark Meredith Malone, associate curator Eva Hesse (2016) Spectacles de curiosité A collaborative program among the Steinberg Professor of Art History and Directed by Marcie Begleiter Colin Burnett, assistant professor, Film Sam Fox School Fashion Design Program, chair, Department of Art History & 17 Mon 5p GALLERY TALK Steinberg Auditorium and Media Studies in Arts & Sciences Women and the Kemper, the Woman’s Archaeology in Arts & Sciences The Modern Meal: Sustenance through Ritual 5 Fri 4p GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY Club, and the Women’s Society of Lauren Johnson and Kirsten Marples, Mary Jewel Brown (BFA17) and East Danforth Campus Transformation 27 Mon 5p SPOTLIGHT TALK Washington University PhD candidates Jack Radley (BFA18), Arthur Greenberg Isa Genzken’s Bill II (2001) and Meg Galindo and Lindsay Sheedy, PhD students Undergraduate Curatorial Fellows Little Crazy Column (2002) 15 Mon 10a WOMEN AND THE KEMPER 6 Mon 5p GALLERY TALK SPECIAL EVENT Svea Bräunert, DAAD Visiting Associate (Re)Presenting Heroes, Defining Virtue 19 Wed ART ON CAMPUS LECTURE Private Tour of John Lesser’s Collection Professor in German Studies, University of Susan Blevins, postdoctoral teaching fellow, All events are free and held at the Museum unless 6p reception, Kemper Art Museum Limited number of participants Cincinnati Department of Art History & Archaeology in otherwise indicated. For full event descriptions, 6:30p lecture, Steinberg Auditorium Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901), Divan Japonais, from Register at [email protected] or Arts & Sciences the series Les Mâitres de l’Affiche (Masters of the Poster), 1893, published visit kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/calendar. Tom Friedman (BFA88), artist 1896. Lithograph, 15 3/4 x 11 1/2". Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, alumni.wustl.edu/WAKtour. Offsite Event Remember to Register Member Event Washington University in St. Louis. Gift of Melissa Henyan Redler, 1981. 8 FYI SPRING 2017 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 9 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 10 SPOTLIGHT SERIES FEATUREDTEACHING GALLERY The Kemper Art Museum’s Spotlight Series of online essays invites both established and emerging scholars to offer an array of perspectives on a ARTHUR GREENBERG UNDERGRADUATE CURATORIAL FELLOWSHIP EXHIBITION range of artworks in the Museum’s collection. Each season gallery talks EVENTS provide visitors the chance to join the authors for deeper analysis and stimulating conversation. (Re)Presenting Heroes, Defining Virtue The Modern Meal: Sustenance through Ritual (RE)PRESENTING HEROES, February 10–March 19, 2017 April 7–August 6, 2017 DEFINING VIRTUE Isa Genzken, Bill II and Little Crazy Column EXHIBITION OPENING Monday, February 27, 5p Friday, February 10 Svea Bräunert, DAAD Visiting Associate Professor, Department of 6p member preview What would Superman be without his bright blue tights and More than merely satisfying hunger, German Studies, University of Cincinnati 7p public reception the curl on his forehead? Who isn’t familiar with the image of food creates communal experiences, and the shared meal holds within Bill II (2001) and Little Crazy Column (2002) belong to a group Muhammad Ali standing over a vanquished opponent? But what it a desire for a deeper sense of of column-shaped sculptures that artist Isa Genzken (German, GALLERY TALK did Hercules, Perseus, or other heroes from ancient stories and belonging and fulfillment. The Modern b. 1948) produced between 1994 and 2003. Paradigmatic of Monday, March 6, 5p history look like—and what do portrayals of them reveal? Meal: Sustenance through Ritual Genzken’s interest in architecture, sculpture, modernism, and investigates modern and contemporary the readymade, the columns are adorned with commonplace and Susan Blevins, postdoctoral teaching (Re)Presenting Heroes, Defining Virtue considers the presentation Isa Genzken (German, b. 1948), LEFT: Little Crazy fellow, Department of Art History & of the hero in Western visual art and popular culture across the visual representations of the meal as Column, 2002. Reflective glass and holographic primarily reflective materials. Their surfaces multiply, refract, and Archaeology in Arts & Sciences a ritual connected to larger issues foil on fiberboard support, 102 3/8 x 12 3/16 x fragment images of their surroundings, including the onlooker, centuries, exploring the archetypes of paragon, savior, founder, 12 3/16". RIGHT: Bill II, 2001. Reflective glass, and divinity through a wide range of objects such as early Greek of place, resources, and social holographic foil, and paper on fiberboard creating an intriguing and at times dizzying viewing experience. support, 110 1/4 x 13 3/16 x 12 3/16". Mildred pottery, ancient coins, 16th through 20th-century prints, and organization. Drawing primarily from Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington Reminiscent of skyscrapers, they evoke the hustle and bustle of THE MODERN MEAL: contemporary comic books. What values do these images convey? the Museum’s collection, the exhibition University in St. Louis. University purchases, urban life and invite us to experience some of the contradictions SUSTENANCE THROUGH Charles H. Yalem Art Fund, 2003. How do they reflect—and even includes works by such artists as that make up our contemporary world. RITUAL shape—the narratives we John Baldessari, Howard French, EXHIBITION OPENING Bräunert’s talk will explore the paradoxes Genzken presents with construct about heroes? and Sharon Lockhart and asks us to Bill II and Little Crazy Column, looking in particular at Genzken’s Friday, April 7, 6p consider them in relation to themes of engagement with New York City before and after the terrorist The exhibition will social equality, identity, globalization, attacks of September 11, 2001, and her use of everyday materials. GALLERY TALK examine religious and and food availability. Monday, April 17, 5p political uses of images of heroes as well as the The Modern Meal is divided into Homme Oiseau (Man-Bird) Mary Jewel Brown (BFA17) and relationship between the three sections, each structured around Jack Radley (BFA18), Arthur historical person (if there is a duality—“Place | Displacement,” Monday, April 24, 5p Greenberg Undergraduate one) and the imaginative “Plenitude | Scarcity,” and “Freedom | Regimentation”—that Howard French (American, b. 1957), Eat Your Aoife O’Brien, Korff Postdoctoral Fellow in Oceanic Art in the Dinner 2, 2006. Medium format print mounted Curatorial Fellows construction of the hero, highlights a spectrum of experiences explored in the works on on foam core, 13 1/16 x 13 1/8". Mildred Lane Department of Art History & Archaeology in Arts & Sciences and Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in at the Saint Louis Art Museum looking in particular at view. Many of the artworks represent the tension between real and St. Louis. Gift of Howard W. French, 2008. This Teaching Gallery connections between imagined eating spaces, while others reveal the effects that labor, Seemingly both bird and human, this roof finial from the late 19th exhibition is curated by ancient depictions of marginalization, and war can have on the character of a meal. to early 20th century encompasses many narratives and histories, Susan Ludi Blevins, individuals, images Together they suggest the complexity of this ostensibly simple Unknown (Oceanic, New Guinea, Sepik River), both indigenous and Western. Originally used to decorate the Homme Oiseau (Man-Bird), early 20th century. postdoctoral teaching fellow from the Renaissance, social interaction. Carved polychrome wood, 48 x 43 3/4 x 18". gable of a ceremonial men’s house in the middle Sepik region in the Department of Art and more recent Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis. University purchase, of Papua New Guinea, the figure served a focal symbolic and History & Archaeology in Arts & representations of Kende Sale Fund, 1945. decorative role within village life. Yet, during the course of the Sciences, in conjunction with the America’s founding fathers he exhibition is curated by the recipients of the 2016–17 Arthur Greenberg Support is provided by the Arthur early 20th century, the objectification and commodification of courses “From Hercules to Harry T and comic book superheroes. Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship, Sam Fox School students Mary Jewel Greenberg Exhibition Program Potter: Picturing Heroes in Ancient The complete archive of Oceanic art by Euro-Americans obscured and marginalized the Viewers are invited to reflect Brown (BFA17), Claire Cofelice (BFA18), and Jack Radley (BFA18), all of Fund, the Mark Weil Tribute Fund, Greece, Rome, and Beyond” and Spotlight essays can be found at original significance of the object. Indeed, the title now ascribed critically on the powerful whom are also pursuing a major or minor in art history. The Fellowship is a and members of the Mildred Lane “Roman Art and Archaeology,” both kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/ this object, “Homme Oiseau,” is a Western construct. competitive program offering upper-level art history students the opportunity Kemper Museum. offered in spring 2017. potential for such images not spotlight/archive. to curate an exhibition in the Museum’s Teaching Gallery. The faculty and In her talk O’Brien will explore the sculpture’s meaning to only to inspire and unite but also to potentially alienate and divide. museum advisors for 2016–17 are John Klein, professor in the Department the culture that created it and relate it to mythologies and Long-Nose Painter (Greek, Attic), Neck Amphora, Available in the Museum Shop, 540–525 BC. Terracotta, 20 1/8 x 10 3/4". Mildred of Art History & Archaeology, and Allison Unruh, associate curator. Spotlights: Collected by the interpretations of bird iconography in this region of New Guinea. Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University She will also discuss the composition and decoration of the figure in St. Louis. Gift of Robert Brookings and Charles Mildred Lane Kemper Art Parsons, 1904. Museum features a selection of and how objects such as this influenced Western artists. 46 Spotlight essays, highlights from the ongoing scholarly project. kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 11 12 FYI SPRING 2017 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 13 Katharina Grosse (German, b. 1961), Untitled, 2016. Acrylic paint on wallboard, wood veneer, and steel, 480 x 960 x 67". COLLECTION Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis. University purchase, Art on Campus fund, Gary M. Sumers Recreation Center, 2016.

New Acquisitions The Museum has recently acquired several significant contemporary artworks that explore relationships Ukraine, a city located close to the border of among art, design, and image circulation within a culture dominated by digital technologies. Using Russia. Featuring fractured images of sandbag a variety of materials and techniques—often within one piece—these works ask us to consider the piles, buildings, and a volunteers’ tent manned multitude of ways we see, interpret, and live with images in the contemporary world. by Ukrainian nationalists, this multilayered work Art on Campus employs the political aesthetics of photomontage Parallel Planar Panel (Rust, Black, Off-White, resembling a security pattern for sensitive to illuminate realities of simulation, surveillance, Katharina Grosse (German, b. 1961) is Grey) (2016) by Andrea Zittel (American, b. 1965) mail. The painting’s surface is dominated by war, and geopolitics. internationally known for her physically and exemplifies the artist’s longstanding investigation thick smears of polystyrene foam and digitally visually immersive site-specific installations into the boundaries between abstraction and printed images of a rubbery pencil that appears that fuse painting, architecture, and sculpture. figuration or formal artwork and functional to be threaded through the work. This oblique Steyerl’s critical approach to artmaking is deeply object. Consisting visualization of secrecy within our surveilled informed by the experimental documentaries of Grosse’s three-story installation Untitled (2016), of both a woven environment provocatively pairs abstraction with German filmmaker Harun Farocki (1944–2014). which covers the interior east wall of the new wool textile and a photorealism and matter with illusion. Engaging such topics as imprisonment, terrorism, Gary M. Sumers Recreation Center, is the most rectangular plane and war, Farocki’s films often comprise found recent of the University’s Art on Campus public of powder-coated and archival footage, including surveillance art acquisitions. aluminum, Parallel tapes, home movies, and corporate training films. Planar Panel is flexible Images of the World and the Inscription of War Using a highly saturated palette of colors, Grosse in its configuration. (1988) and Schnittstelle (Interface) (1995) are typically paints directly on walls with an industrial It can exist in three among Farocki’s most critically renowned works. spray gun and has developed a taxonomy of dimensions when the Together they speak to the range of his practice painting marks, including drips, spirals, and textile is attached and the scope of his investigations into how areas of overspray, that emphasize the theatrical to its aluminum images are used to inform, instruct, persuade, nature of her public works. The intense, visceral support or as a and propagandize. layering of primary and secondary hues also two-dimensional reveals her physical process of application.

Andrea Zittel (American, b. 1965), abstraction when the Parallel Planar Panel (Rust, Black, textile is hung flat. The Untitled transgresses the architectural Off-White, Grey), 2016. Dyed, woven boundaries of the space, moving over multiple wool and powder-coated aluminum, work is a condensed 84 x 32 x 60" (overall). Mildred Lane version of Zittel’s surfaces in a strong diagonal direction. The Kemper Art Museum, Washington installation’s vibrant and active presence University in St. Louis. University larger sculptural purchase, Bixby Fund, 2016. installations that generates an immersive experience that reflect on issues of space, context, and how we intensifies awareness of both the environment and the body in motion as one passes through experience the physical world. Seth Price (American, b. Israel, 1973), Untitled, 2016. Ultraviolet transfer and polystyrene foam on acrylic wood-fiber veneer, the multistoried space. 61 1/16 x 61 1/16 x 1 7/8" (framed). Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis. University purchase, New York–based artist Seth Price (American, Parsons Fund, 2016. b. 1973) also uses multiple mediums—video, FIND OUT MORE Learn about the University’s Art on Campus program— fashion, books, painting, sculpture, and prints— German artist Hito Steyerl (b. 1966) similarly including locations of the works and the Museum’s Cell to explore “what to do with pictures” in our investigates digital technologies. Both a Phone Tour—at kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/artoncampus. digitally driven society. He often appropriates, filmmaker and visual artist, Steyerl explores reformats, and distributes logos and other issues of militarization, the role of the media View Grosse’s installation in the Gary M. Sumers existing data as artistic interventions. in globalization, and the mass dissemination Recreation Center during open hours and the other recent Art on Campus work, Swamp Creature Friends, by Untitled (2016) employs the sans-serif logo of images. Tent / Texture II, Kharkiv (2015) is artist Tom Friedman (BFA88), on the South 40, the main for Google’s multinational parent company one in a series of montages created using 3-D Alphabet as background, the repeated logo Hito Steyerl (German, b. 1966), Tent / Texture II, Kharkiv, 2015. UV pigment residential area on the Danforth Campus. This season, scans of objects in the central square of Kharkiv, print on Dibond, 39 3/8 x 39 3/8". Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis. University purchase with funds from enjoy a lecture by Friedman on Wednesday, April 19 at Barbara M. and David W. Detjen, 2016. 6:30p. See the calendar (pages 8–10) for details. 14 FYI SPRING 2017 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 15 EDUCATION NEWS

A Closer Look at Student Docents Museum Wins St. Louis Arts Award Student docents play an important role in the Kemper Art Museum’s interactions with the public. The Arts and Education Council of St. Louis has presented the They facilitate conversations in which visitors are invited to express ideas and ask questions to help Kemper Art Museum with an Excellence in the Arts award as illuminate the many lenses through which an artwork can be viewed. Docents give private tours for part of its 2017 St. Louis Arts Awards. A major funder for culture small groups, lead programs tailored for classes from kindergarten through high school, and conduct and education in the region, the Arts and Education Council special tours for Washington University faculty and students. presents the St. Louis Arts Awards as a way to honor individuals, organizations, and businesses that “achieve a legacy of artistic To prepare for this important role, each docent attends the semester-long Teaching in the Galleries excellence and enrich the region’s arts and cultural community.” program, where they gain knowledge about the Museum’s history, special exhibitions, and collection “We are deeply grateful for this recognition by A&E of the Kemper as well as insight into how to encourage an open-ended, discussion-based approach to learning. Art Museum’s commitment to bringing thought-provoking exhibitions and cutting-edge art to the St. Louis region,” said Natalie Edwards (BA18) and Jack Radley (BFA18), both juniors, have been active with the program Sabine Eckmann, William T. Kemper Director and Chief Curator. since they were freshmen.

NATALIE EDWARDS A double major in art history and economics, Natalie Edwards first learned about the docent program while on a tour of the Museum. Initially just excited Twenty-five Artworks Conserved about the chance to spend more time around art, she soon became interested in the teaching aspect of the docent’s role—even when it doesn’t go exactly Thanks to a generous matching fund preservation grant as planned. from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, twenty-five artworks from the permanent collection During one of her first tours, Edwards led a discussion about Roberto Matta’s received critical conservation treatments over the past Abstraction (1959–60). Expecting the group to interpret the painting as she year. Conservators at the Midwest Art Conservation had—as conveying a dark and pessimistic mood—she discovered that part of Center in Minneapolis stabilized paint that was cracking her group saw the work’s bright colors as evoking energy and new life. “Each and lifting on paintings and cleaned and patched areas of of us saw the work in a completely different way,” Edwards said. “I used to loss on sculptures. Among other treatments performed, consider visiting museums a solitary activity, but I now realize that the context varnish that had been inappropriately applied to Jackson in which you view artwork can transform your experience. Discovering a Pollock’s painting Sleeping Effort (1953) was removed, painting with someone else can show me things I never would have seen.” and cracks deep within Henry Moore’s sculpture Reclining Figure (1933) were repaired with the assistance of digital ABOVE: Henry Moore (British, JACK RADLEY 1898–1986), Reclining Figure, x-radiography. New insights about several artworks were 1933. Reinforced carved Jack Radley—a double major in art and art history—joined the docent concrete, 17 1/4 x 31 x made during this process, such as the existence of stylus 12 7/8". Mildred Lane Kemper program because he wanted to learn more about the Museum’s collection marks beneath a portion of Thomas Eakins’s Portrait of Art Museum, Washington Interested in becoming a and about making art accessible to the public. Like Edwards he appreciates University in St. Louis. that his role is not just about teaching but also about learning from visitors’ Professor W. D. Marks (1886)—a fact revealed when the University purchase, Kende docent? Find out more at Sale Fund, 1946. © 2017 perspectives. “Great tours are conversations, not lectures,” he said. work was examined using infrared reflectography and Artists Rights Society (ARS), kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/ microscopes. Many of the recently conserved works were New York / DACS, London. docent. For Radley this has applied to a range of experiences. On one tour a young featured in last season’s 10th-anniversary installation LEFT: X-ray detail of child told him he looked like an abstract figure in a Karel Appel painting. and continue to be on display this season. Reclining Figure. For information on scheduling On another he led University students in crafting “six-word short stories,” a a customized tour visit writing exercise in which participants interpret a work of art and then distill kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/ the interpretation into a very brief narrative. Radley says this concise, poetic tours. form challenges participants to “get to what is at the core of each work.” To find out more about recent conservation efforts, visit kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/conservation. 16 FYI SPRING 2017 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 17 MEMBERSHIP WOMEN AND THE KEMPER

Member Program Highlight

BOOK DISCUSSION Rosalyn Drexler’s I Am the Beautiful Stranger Saturday, April 1, 11a

Museum members have the unique opportunity to discuss Rosalyn Drexler’s pioneering debut novel with award-winning poet Mary Jo Bang and fiction writer Danielle Dutton, both professors in the Department of English in Arts & Sciences.

I Am the Beautiful Stranger (1965) introduces readers to the precocious thirteen-year-old narrator Selma Silver. Even as Selma reveals her dysfunctional family and limited circumstances in the Depression-era Bronx, we also learn of her rich inner life, including her crushes, fantasies, and irrepressible zest for life. Written in short, stream-of-conscious-like fragments and overflowing with word play, this loosely autobiographical novel is a vivid mingling of the real and imagined, boldly exploring teenage sexuality and a complex self-awakening.

Mary Jo Bang is the author of seven books of poems, the most

Membership is essential to recent of which is The Last Two Seconds (2015). Among her ABOVE: A private tour of Kemper Art Museum ABOVE: Artist Sun Smith-Foret welcomes ABOVE: Kim Olson gives a tour of her collection furthering the Kemper Art numerous award-winning publications, Elegy (2007) received the objects on loan at the Saint Louis Art Museum. members to her studio. in November. BELOW: Marcia M. Bernstein, Pat Fogle, and BELOW: Karen Fields, Sun Smith-Foret, and BELOW: Sylvia Wright, Odester Saunders, Allison Museum’s legacy of exceptional National Book Critics Circle Award, and her 2012 translation of Barbara Bindler were among the members who Lynn Hamilton at the annual Women and the Taylor, and Debbie Gilula at the annual Women collections, exhibitions, Dante’s Inferno was named a Notable Book by both the Academy enjoyed a special tour at the annual Women and Kemper luncheon. and the Kemper luncheon. the Kemper luncheon in fall 2016. programs, and scholarship. of American Poets and the American Library Association. Danielle Dutton is the author of the story collection Attempts The generous support of at a Life (2007), novels SPRAWL (2010) and Margaret the First Women and the Kemper is a This past season Women and the Kemper members enjoyed a our members helps make it (2016), and artist’s book Here Comes Kitty: A Comic Opera (2015) special interest membership range of fascinating programs, including behind-the-scenes tours with images by Richard Kraft. Her fiction has appeared in such possible for the Museum to group, open to all members of Kemper Art Museum objects on loan at the Saint Louis remain free and open to the magazines as Harper’s, BOMB, Fence, and Noon. of the Museum, that offers Art Museum, textile artist Sun Smith-Foret’s studio, and Kim public. Members also enjoy an opportunity to meet new Olson’s collection of contemporary art. The group also convened a host of benefits and people, cultivate friendships, for their annual luncheon and a tour of the historic, building-wide oppor­tunities for engagement, This program is free to members, but we request that you register and develop a deeper installation of the Museum’s permanent collection. including exclusive events at [email protected] or alumni.wustl.edu/memberbook. engagement with the Museum and receptions, programs, Three Novels by Rosalyn Drexler, which includes I Am the Beautiful through unique social and We look forward to another exciting slate of programs this season! and special discounts. Stranger, is available for purchase in the Museum Shop. Members educational events. See the calendar for upcoming Women and the Kemper events, receive a 10% discount. and find out more at kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/WAK.

Join the Museum or renew your membership Learn more or join at at kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/support. kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/WAK. 18 FYI SPRING 2017 kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu 19