“HAIL SACRED GENIUS:” DRAWINGS BY BENJAMIN WEST FROM THE SWARTHMORE COLLEGE COLLECTION March 30 – June 8, 2008
Benjamin West, born in what is now the Philadelphia suburb of Swarthmore, was arguably the American colonies’ first art superstar. Embracing the hierarchy of subjects favored by the academies of Europe, West was a “history painter,” giving grand visual form to edifying tales from the Bible, from the ancient Roman past, as well as from recent events. The power and legibility of West’s canvases owed much to the method of their making. These noble narratives were first conceived in drawings and it is on these preparatory works, in which we see the artist imagining and distilling his ideas that the current exhibition of sixty works focuses. Represented in this show will be all phases of West’s career, from studies made during early travels in Italy to the spare, contemplative dignity of Neo-Classical subjects to gentle observations of everyday life and landscape to the athletic evocations of the Sublime that steered a new path toward Romanticism.
Benjamin West
Self-Portrait, c. 1762
Conté crayon with white chalk, 8 x 6 5/8 in.
Courtesy of Swarthmore College
Gallery Talks on Benjamin West Drawings
Gallery talks are 45 minutes. Talks are free and open to the public.
Thursday, April 3, 2pm
Pamela Birmingham, Robert L. McNeil Jr., Curator of Education
Thursday, May 15, 2pm
Art DiFuria, Visiting Scholar in Art History, Moore College of Art and Design
IN SEARCH OF MISSING
MASTERS:
THE LEWIS TANNER
MOORE COLLECTION OF AFRICAN
AMERICAN ART September
28, 2008 – January 4, 2009
A major exhibition of
selected works from the
collection of Lewis Tanner
Moore, In Search of Missing
Masters is the second in its
series of exhibitions
highlighting distinguished
private collections of art
from the greater
Philadelphia region.
Lewis Tanner Moore, a
descendant of the famed
19th-century African
American artist Henry Ossawa
Tanner, began his art
collection some three
decades ago, with a small
number of paintings handed
down to him from his father,
a prominent Philadelphia
attorney. From the outset,
Mr. Moore concentrated on
twentieth-century art and on
developing personal
connections with the artists
he was collecting. With a
devotee’s zeal, he pursued
not just the well-known
names but also the
unheralded masters whose
works and achievements had
slipped into obscurity.
Woodmere’s exhibition will
be composed of more than
one-hundred paintings,
sculptures, and works on
paper by some four to five
dozen artists. Included in
the ensemble will be such
well-known artists as Henry
Ossawa Tanner, Allan Freelon,
Dox Thrash, Selma Burke,
Charles White, and Romare
Bearden; local figures such
as Raymond Steth, Humbert
Howard, Louis Sloan, Ellen
Powell Tiberino, Moe Brooker,
Barbara Bullock, and Charles
Burwell; as well as a number
of talented and influential
– if not yet well-known –
artists whose works will be
presented here for the first
time in a museum.
James Edwards
Dancer on the Roof, 1988
ZING!FAMILY FESTIVAL
Saturday, October 25, 2008,
1-5pm
Storytelling by Linda Goss,
art and mask-making projects
with Barbara Bullock,
drumming by students from
Imani Education Circle
Charter School, magic by
Toe-Knee, refreshments, and
more.
COMMUNITY BANNER PROJECT
Young
students from around the
region will be working on
Woodmere’s summer art
project beginning in July
2008. Inspired by renowned
quilts made by women in
Gee’s Bend, Alabama, the banners will be on display
on Woodmere’s lawn.
WOODMERE
ARTS COLLABORATIVE SERIES
Saturday, November 15, 8pm
Performances by South
African choir THULA SIZWE,
jazz violinist DIANE MONROE
and the HALCYON TRIO.
Helen Millard Children’s Gallery
Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Nursery School April 27 – June 8
Reception: Sunday, April 27, 2-4pm
Pre-kindergarten students will be represented by a lively and charming array of paintings, drawings, fiber arts and sculpture.
Woodmere Reaches Out June 22 – August 4
Reception: Sunday, June 22, 2-4pm
This spectacular exhibit showcases the artworks created by hundreds of area school children participating in Woodmere’s educational outreach programs – 1, 2, Rhythm and Blue, Portrait Project, and The Way I See It, an arts and literacy program.
Jamming in the Jungle - Installation August 11 – 24 The exotic magic of the jungle comes to life in this summer art project. Watch the installation in progress August 11-15 in the Helen Millard Children’s Gallery. For more information about how to participate, contact the Education Department at 215-247-0948.
Woodmere
Art Museum
9201 Germantown Avenue - Philadelphia, PA 19118
Corner of Germantown Avenue and Bells Mill Road in Chestnut Hill
Telephone 215-247-0476
Fax 215-247-2387
Accredited by the American Associations of Museums
Museum Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday, 10am–5pm
Sunday, 1–5pm
Admission to the Museum is free.
