Thursday, September 27, 2007

Rockwell Kent: A Documentary by Frederick Lewis

Rockwell Kent was an illustrator, oil painter, best-selling author, and adventurer. During the 1930s and 1940s he was famous, rivaling his contemporary Norman Rockwell in popularity. But political controversy made him unpopular, and as the years went by, obscure. Filmmaker Frederick Lewis set out on an epic journey to discover the life and work of Kent. His efforts will be shown in the resulting documentary Rockwell Kent: A Documentary by Frederick Lewis on Sunday, September 30 at 2 p.m. at the de Young.

Read a feature piece about this exciting documentary here: "Voyaging Southward in Search of Rockwell Kent." It's a PDF (768KB).

Admission to the film is free. For more information, check our online calendar.

Posted by: | September 27 at 5:22:13 PM
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Listed under: General News

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Conserving Falls of Eternal Despair

Falls of Eternal Despair--Before



Falls of Eternal Despair--After

In every museum, there are numerous "behind-the-scenes" specialists whose work, while not obvious to most visitors, is extremely important in getting works of art displayed in the galleries. One of the most important roles is played by the conservation departments at the Museums, who are responsible for ensuring that works of art are safe and secure, and, perhaps most dramatically, for bringing damaged objects back to life.

An excellent example of the challenges that face the Museums’ conservators is the 1895 lithograph Falls of Eternal Despair, a preaching diagram by Martin Wells Knapp (American, 1853–1901). The restored print is currently on display in the exhibition Rembrandt to Thiebaud: A Decade of Collecting Works on Paper, on view at the Legion of Honor through October 7, 2007.

A recent gift to the Museums by local artist and collector Eleanor Dickinson, Falls of Eternal Despair was in rough shape when initially received (see the "before" image above). Works on paper are inherently fragile, and are vulnerable to damage from light, water, and even the chemicals contained in the paper they’re drawn or printed on. In the course of its 112-year existence, Falls of Eternal Despair was afflicted with tears, losses, and discoloration as seen in the "before" photograph. The finished product, also shown above, is a testimony to the skill and artistry of the Museums’ paper conservation staff.

Here are a couple detail shots of the print, showing one of the more badly damaged areas before conservation and after... [more]

Posted by: Andrew Fox | September 13 at 4:56:18 PM
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Listed under: Legion of Honor News | Conservation

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Last Chance Look

Three remarkable, photo-based exhibitions at the de Young close this month.

Guise: Recent Prints by Deborah Oropallo—Closing September 16
Deborah Oropallo deconstructs and enhances images to investigate the seduction and power that are evoked by gesture and pose. She layers images of contemporary women in provocative costumes with images of men from 17th- and 18th-century portrait painting, including several from the collection of the Fine Arts Museums. Through re-employment of the vast symbolism of classic portraiture, Oropallo raises issues about gender, costume, fantasy, potency, power, and hierarchy. More information »

Hiroshi Sugimoto—Closing September 23
The extraordinary 30-year career of photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto is celebrated in a retrospective of over 50 luminous photographs, made from 1976 to the present. This presentation constitutes the first major survey of Sugimoto's oeuvre and includes such iconic works as Chrysler Building, 1997, and Ligurian Sea, Frumura, 1993. One of Japan's most important contemporary artists, Sugimoto is known for his ongoing, multiple series of hauntingly beautiful black-and-white photographs, that explore the themes of time, memory, dreams, and natural histories. Working with a large-format camera, his glowing images range from the starkly minimal to the richly detailed, and are often suffused with expanses of light and space... [more]

Posted by: Robin Wander | September 13 at 2:45:12 PM
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Listed under: de Young News | Exhibitions