THE PRINT, DRAWING & PHOTOGRAPH SOCIETY OF THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART NewsletterI I VOLUME 35 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2016 GIFTS FOR A NEW CENTURY The New Arrivals exhibition celebrates the success of the BMA’s Campaign for Art by showcasing some of the more than 3,500 gifts, promised gifts, bequests, and purchases of art added to the Museum’s collection. 3 ALSO INSIDE D O PRESIDENT’S LETTER 2 O H O R WHEN PHOTOGRAPHS TACKLE ART HISTORY 6 T I M : O THE DIRECTOR’S COLLECTION 10 T O H P . EVAN LINDQUIST 14 N A M D TAMING THE GARRETT COLLECTION 20 L E F E N BROOMBERG & CHANARIN: OPTICS & CONFLICT 24 I L A © GEORGE ALOYSIUS LUCAS, A BALTIMOREAN IN PARIS 28 Aline Feldman (American, born 1928) Night Grid, 2009 Color white line woodcut Sheet: 1011 x 659 mm. (39 13/16 x 25 15/16 in.) Gift of the Artist BMA 2011.77 R E T T Dear Members of the Print, Drawing & Photograph Society, E BOARD OF DIRECTORS L Spring 2016 It is heartening to be writing a letter for our spring Newsletter as I am surrounded by almost S ’ PRESIDENT T 30 inches of snow! Susan Weiss N E VICE PRESIDENT D As I reflect back on this year so far, I know so many of you enjoyed our opening reception I Francine Krumholz S featuring the exhibitions Photographs from the O’Neil Collection and Late 20th-Century E TREASURER R P Photographs from Russia & Belarus. The tours given by curators Kristen Hileman and Rena Karen Fowler Hoisington were wonderful, and everyone so enjoyed mixing and mingling afterwards at SECRETARY the reception. Suzanne Hill IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT As always, the NYC day trip to the IFPDA print fair was a special treat, this year made even Judith Tobin better by the visit to The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University to receive NEWSLETTER EDITOR Scott Ponemone a special tour of the exhibition Rembrandt’s Changing Impressions. HIGHER EDUCATION LIAISON Many of us also attended the very interesting talk by artist George Walker (the subject of a Lisa Shifren fall Newsletter article) hosted by Scott Ponemone at his home. MEMBERS Miriam Arenberg In December we were treated to an enthusiastic tour of the exhibition Matisse Prints and Darnell Burfoot Evelyn Cogswell Drawings by Interim Co-Director Jay Fisher. We are so fortunate to be the recipient of many Betsy Cumming works from the Matisse heirs with many thanks to Jay for nurturing that relationship. Jo Helman Trudi Ludwig Johnson Now we look forward to the balance of the season: our ever-popular Winter Seminar Series, Judith Katz this year focusing on George A. Lucas; our spring collector visit; and finally our Annual Alison Morgan Meeting in June. BMA ADVISORS Rena M. Hoisington This will be my last letter as president of our group. I have been proud and honored to serve Jay Fisher as President. Every aspect of this post has been wonderful, from working with the dedicated board members and talented Newsletter staff to learning from the superb curatorial staff NEWSLETTER STAFF 2 of the PDP department. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: I especially love the EDITOR Scott Ponemone camaraderie of our group. It is such a pleasure every time we get together. I know we will CONTRIBUTING EDITORS all be well served when Francine Krumholz steps up to assume the position of our next Amy Beverungen president. Evelyn Cogswell Amy Huntoon Enjoy this Newsletter! You’ll find interesting articles with important information regarding Ursula West Minervini upcoming events. Nancy Patz EDITORIAL ADVISOR Sincerely, Rena Hoisington CURATORIAL ASSISTANT Susan Weiss, President Morgan Dowty Print, Drawing & Photograph Society DESIGN The Baltimore Museum of Art Nicole Clark, Stanton Design The Print, Drawing & Photograph Society Newsletter is a project undertaken by the Society for the use of its members. Articles are submitted by Society members, Museum staff, or guest authors as individual expressions of opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of The Baltimore Museum of Art or of the membership as a whole. Y R U NEW ARRIVALS: T N E C W E N A GIFTS OF ART FOR R O F T R A F A NEW CENTURY O S T F I G : S L A V I R R A W E N James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903) 3 Nocturne, 1879-1880 From the portfolio Twelve Etchings of Venice (First Venice Set) D O O Etching and drypoint H O R Sheet: 202 x 297 mm. (7 15/16 x 11 11/16 in.) T I M Plate: 199 x 292 mm. (7 13/16 x 11 1/2 in.) : O T Given in Memory of Edward Bruce Baetjer O H P BMA 2011.322 BY AMY BEVERUNGEN T R monumental exhibition has opened at The Museum over the years. Speaking through objects, A F O Baltimore Museum of Art. New arrivals to the exhibition tells a story of how the BMA's M U E S the Museum's collection—including gifts, collection has grown since its founding in 1914 U M A E promised gifts, bequests, and purchases made with and signals where the Museum is headed in the R O M newly donated funds from the last ten years—are 21st century. I T L A being exhibited with related works in the permanent B E With over 200 objects on view, the exhibition invites H collection in a large-scale show entitled New Arrivals: T F viewers to see the ways that objects from all of O Gifts of Art for a New Century (through May 8). The Y T E the Museum's departments correlate through I C exhibition celebrates the Museum's Campaign for O meaningful object pairings. A 20th-century Ishungu S H Art, which welcomed over 3,500 objects into P (a culture group located in South Africa) snuff A R the collection. The exhibition demonstrates the G O container fashioned from gourd, brass, and iron will T O flourishing of each department's collections while H be posed with a 19th-century French snuff box made P highlighting the ways in which they have evolved. & G from gold, enamel, diamonds, and porcelain. Such N I With such a bountiful display of the breadth, depth, W A a pairing elicits a bond between different regions R D and variation of the BMA's collection, New Arrivals: , and time periods and invites viewers to analyze T N I Gifts of Art for a New Century pays homage to the R variations in cultural style. P E individuals who have contributed so greatly to the H T Y In addition to cross-cultural juxtapositions, the Lovers of works on paper will be elated to see the R U exhibition will also pair pieces by artists who work scope of prints, drawings, and photographs on T N E in various media. Two sculptures by Alexander view in this exhibition. Of special note is a recent C Calder will be displayed with a brush and tusche acquisition of a variation of James McNeill W E lithograph by the artist, which he created as a Whistler's Nocturne print, which recently joined N poster for an exhibition of his work. In this 1956 three long-term holdings of impressions of the A R lithograph, Calder, the viewer can see the way piece. With all four unique variations on display, O F the artist’s iconic sense of form and composition viewers may closely inspect the changes that T R carries over into the two-dimensional plane. Whistler made to this fine print of a ship crossing A F A print and a drawing from Bruce Nauman's a lagoon in 19th-century Venice (see page 3). O Violins/Violence series will be included in the S On view for the first time, six prints from Gustav T exhibition. They correspond to the large-scale F I Wolf's portfolio entitled World will be included in G neon piece that illuminates the exterior of the : the exhibition. (For more information on the series, S BMA's east wing at night. L see the Fall 2015 Newsletter.) The portfolio was A V I acquired through the generosity of PDPS. Woodcut R R enthusiasts will especially enjoy World and its A variety of woodcut techniques applied brilliantly W E in this dynamic series. New acquisitions of N photography will also be presented in the show. Three of Edward Burtynsky's powerful, large-scale chromogenic color prints of the post-industrial landscape are on display in conjunction with early 20th-century photographic works that explore human and nature relationships, as in Anne W. 4 Brigman's elegant photographs of the nude form embedded in the natural landscape. Recent acquisitions add new meaning to many of the BMA's long-term holdings. A 2008 gift of a 75-sheet sketchbook by Benjamin West offers a look into the artist's style and process. It adds perspective to existing holdings of West's work, including The Death of Aaron, a masterful graphite drawing with ink and watercolor wash that will be on display with the sketchbook in the exhibition. Another recent gift adds a different perspective to existing work in the Museum, in a more literal sense. A 1915 Pierre Bonnard painting from the Cone Collection, titled Woman with a Basket of D O Fruit, is a Post-Impressionist painting of a lady with O H O R T fruit from a slightly raised point of view.