Fenimore Art Museum Announces 2008 ExhibitionsPublication Date:
February 2008
Press Release Category:
Exhibition Press Releases
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Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel From gilded lions to high-stepping horses, the sacred to the secular, and the Old World to the New, this exhibition traces, for the first time, the journey of Jewish woodcarvers and paper cut artists from Eastern and Central Europe to America. Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel, organized by the American Folk Art Museum, New York, highlights the unsung role these artisans played in establishing a distinct Jewish culture in communities throughout the United States and provides a surprising revelation of the link that was forged between the immigrant Jewish woodcarvers and the American carousel industry. The exhibition brings together extraordinary examples of majestic synagogue carvings—gilded lions, Decalogues, crowns and eagles as well as intricate paper cuts—juxtaposed against dynamic carousel figures created for Brooklyn’s great amusement park, Coney Island, and others. Featuring 100 rarely exhibited artworks, drawn from private and public collections in the United States, Eastern Europe and Israel, the exhibition tells the story of this fascinating aspect of Jewish and American visual culture. Organized by Guest Curator Murray Zimiles and coordinated by the American Folk Art Museum’s Senior Curator Stacy C. Hollander, the exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated 192-page book, Gilded Lions And Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel, co-published by the American Folk Art Museum with Brandeis University Press, an imprint of the University Press of New England. In addition, please visit the exhibition website at gildedlions.org, which was conceptualized by George Blumenthal and funded by The Center for Online Judaic Studies, Inc. Major support for the exhibition and catalogue was provided by Michael Steinhardt; Kekst and Company; the David Berg Foundation; the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation; the Smart Family Foundation; the Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation, Allentown, Pennsylvania; the Betty and John A. Levin Fund; the Robert Lehman Foundation; the Nathan Cummings Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts; and the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Gustav Stickley: The Enlightened Home The Fenimore Art Museum presents an exhibition on the furniture of celebrated turn-of-the-century designer and manufacturer and leading spokesman for the American Arts and Crafts Movement, Gustav Stickley. Gustav Stickley: The Enlightened Home features 40 pieces of original Stickley furniture and decorative objects drawn from The Stickley Museum, Fayetteville, N.Y.; Dalton’s American Decorative Arts, Syracuse, N.Y.; The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Morris Plains, N.J. and private collections. The exhibition explores Stickley’s well-designed and carefully crafted furniture within the context of his philosophical contribution to the American Arts and Crafts movement. Inspired by the ideas of British Arts and Crafts philosopher William Morris, who advocated a return to fine craftsmanship, honest design, and dignity of labor, Stickley generated his own “Craftsman” philosophy, which catapulted him to the forefront of the American Arts and Crafts movement. Rejecting the superfluous ornamentation characteristic of Victorian homes, Stickley championed functional homes whose beauty derived from simplicity and harmony. Gustav Stickley: The Enlightened Home, which includes two period rooms, a 1904 living room and a 1907 dining room, highlights several pieces from Stickley’s rich body of work and illustrates how Stickley redefined the American home with his Arts and Crafts-inspired items. Stickley’s philosophy of building in harmony with the environment by using natural materials was fully realized in his home, Craftsman Farms in Morris Plains, New Jersey. His functional approach to design was a departure from the Victorian era’s dark and overly ornamental interiors. Stickley’s unornamented, clean-lined furniture was exemplified throughout the interior and exterior design of his home. While individual pieces of furniture used construction as decoration, embodied simplicity, and prioritized utility, these tenets were also implemented on a much grander scale within the home. Rural Icons: Photographs by Richard Walker This exhibition features nearly 100 compelling portraits, still-lifes and landscapes of rural upstate New York by local photographer Richard Walker. The exhibition presents the region’s physical beauty, enhanced by its architecture, people and material culture in the context of a declining agricultural landscape and its architectural legacy. Richard Walker is a commercial photographer of objects, antiques, sculpture, paintings, architecture and interiors, and people with their art and collections. He is especially known for his still-life compositions of products, antiques and collectibles, sports memorabilia, and historical ephemera. Bits of Home Bits of Home juxtaposes disparate objects around the theme of home. Featuring more than 40 rarely seen artifacts drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, this exhibition offers insight into ordinary domestic objects. Through the Eyes of Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art The images of African Americans at the Fenimore Art Museum offer insights into the ways that Americans in the past viewed one another; how artistic representations of black people created and reinforced popular attitudes; and how these attitudes continue to affect us today. This is not simply a story for African Americans, but for all of us, because the issues represented in this exhibition— identity, self-portrayal, survival, resistance, and stereotyping—are issues that relate to each individual who has ever wondered about their own identity and to every group that has entered this country. This exhibition is curated by Gretchen Sullivan Sorin, Director of The Cooperstown Graduate Program and has been made possible by a generous grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency. Earl Cunningham’s America Earl Cunningham’s America examines the paintings of Earl Cunningham (1893-1977), one of the premier folk artists of the 20th century. This retrospective presents the artist as a folk modernist who used the flat space and brilliant color typical of Matisse and Van Gogh to create sophisticated compositions with complex meanings about the nature of American life. The exhibition features 50 of more than 400 canvasses Cunningham painted during his life. His imaginary landscapes are marvels of the unexpected and the unlikely. Pink flamingoes dot the shoreline of the Maine coast, New England cottages sit at the edge of Florida swamps and Seminole Indians wear feathered headdresses. Earl Cunningham’s America is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition will travel to the American Folk Art Museum in New York City (March 4, 2008 – August 31, 2008) and the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, Fla. (March 6, 2009 – August 2, 2009). The exhibition is made possible by generous support from Darden Restaurants Foundation; the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation; the Arts and Cultural Affairs Office of Orange County, Florida; CNL Financial Group; Bright House Networks; Lockheed Martin; and Friends of The Mennello Museum of American Art. The exhibition’s tour is supported in part by the C. F. Foundation, Atlanta. Remembering Cooperstown: Photographs by Smith and Telfer This exhibition, culled from the museum’s permanent collection, features familiar and rarely seen photographs drawn from the Smith and Telfer Photographic Collection. The spring and fall exhibits will each feature a different selection of photography showcasing the breadth of the collection. Cooperstown photographers ‘Wash” Smith and “Putt” Telfer compiled an exceptional record of Cooperstown’s people and places for almost a century. The Smith and Telfer Photograph Collection, donated to the museum in 1951, numbers nearly 55,000 glass plate negatives. Smith and Telfer’s legacy is rich, and includes not only standard studio work, but also a vast number of images of people and activities recorded outside of the studio. Their familiarity with Cooperstown’s people and places gave their images a natural, unposed quality, which captures the spirit and sensibility of small town life. Through their lens Cooperstown is remembered as the quintessential American rural village. (Please confirm exhibitions, titles, and dates)
Ongoing Exhibitions (April 1 – December 31, 2008) American Memory: Recalling the Past in Folk Art—Selections of folk art from the permanent collection. The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art—Selections from this comprehensive collection of Native American art from pre-contact times to present day. The Coopers of Cooperstown—Memorabilia and paintings associated with American novelist, James Fenimore Cooper. American Fine Art from the Permanent Collection—featuring 18th- and 19th-century landscapes, genre paintings, and portraits that represent the history and culture of New York State. About the Fenimore Art Museum The Fenimore Art Museum is located on 5798 State Hwy. 80, Lake Road, in Cooperstown. The museum’s Fenimore Café, overlooking beautiful Otsego Lake, features wonderful views and a tranquil setting amid the terraced gardens. The Museum Shop offers fine jewelry, art reproductions, and a wide selection of publications on folk art, history, and Native American art. Museum admission is $11 for adults, $9.50 for visitors age 65 and over, and $5 for children age 7 to 12; children 6 and under and NYSHA members are admitted free. Reduced price combination admission tickets that include The Farmers’ Museum and The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are also available. The museum is open from April 1 through December 31; closed January through March, except for special events and school groups. For museum hours or general information, please call 1-888-547-1450 or visit www.fenimoreartmuseum.org. ###
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