A blog by staff and others about the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Interactive exhibition Beyond the Walls opens Sunday
September 3, 2014
In contrast to Forbidden City, which focuses on the world of the emperor, Beyond the Walls allows you a glimpse into the home of an 18th century merchant-class family in China. Plus, this exhibition, located in the Memorial Foundation for Children Teaching Gallery, is interactive! Families, school groups, and other visitors can participate in activities including writing…
Jacques Doucet at VMFA
August 26, 2014
Recently, there was an article in Architectural Digest about Jacques Doucet, the French fashion designer and art patron. Among the most important patrons of Paris Art Deco, Doucet added a studio called the Studio Saint-James to his residence in Neuilly, France (outside Paris) at the beginning of the twentieth century. In this studio, the celebrated…
VMFA Outside
August 15, 2014
The VMFA transformation continues. Taking full advantage of the spectacular summer weather, we invite visitors to enjoy the initial phase of VMFA Outside. We’ve learned from our advisors at the Project for Public Spaces that people want movable tables and chairs to enable them to find the perfect patch of sun or shade, and to…
Gallery Hunting: Ryan McGinness Style
August 12, 2014
Rarely do people enter an art museum hoping to see art being made, but rather they venture in to see the completed masterpieces. At least not until recently, that is. Ryan McGinness: Studio Visit is a full-blown recreation of contemporary artist (and VMFA favorite) Ryan McGinness’s New York loft studio, right inside the museum. This…
Happy Birthday Andy Warhol
August 6, 2014
Blog post courtesy of http://warholessays.tumblr.com/ Andy Warhol was born 86 years ago today. Since we have Warhol’s Triple Elvis print on display, we thought it appropriate to celebrate the King of Pop Art and his print of the King of Rock and Roll. Why is Warhol the King of Pop Art? His accessible consumer content…
The VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship Program Has Supported Virginia’s Artists and Art Historians Since 1940
August 5, 2014
Need help with your art school tuition? How about some cash for art supplies? Over the past 74 years, the VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship program has awarded more than $4.6 million to help more than 1,100 professional artists, art students, and art historians in Virginia realize their educational and career goals. “This Fellowship is really…
A personal reaction to Posing Beauty
August 4, 2014
I never met an exhibit I didn’t like, by which I mean to say that I never came away from an exhibit that didn’t give me something. So, here comes this show with so many images of beauty that I admired throughout my childhood and adulthood that they brought back the old mythologies of childhood:…
Art of the First World War Remembered at VMFA
July 28, 2014
VMFA is among the first art museums in the United States to commemorate the centenary of the start of World War I with its exhibition THE GREAT WAR: Printmakers of World War I (on view now through November 11, 2014). Comprising more than 28 works on paper by European and American artists, THE GREAT WAR considers the role of…
Continue the Conversation: VMFA and African American Art and Heritage
July 25, 2014
As visitors enjoy the final days of VMFA’s powerful companion shows, Posing Beauty in African American Culture and Identity Shifts, they will find a panel in the galleries inviting them to “Continue the Conversation” by visiting two additional exhibitions. Those smaller unticketed shows, States of Change in Africa and Signs of Protest: Photographs from the…
Conversation. Uncensored. Question Bridge: Black Males at VMFA
July 24, 2014
When I first saw Question Bridge Black Males, I was shocked by the raw and unapologetic nature of the film. There are no special effects, no music, no over-the-top dramatic storytelling — it’s just real. The viewer is forced to confront the multifaceted realities of being a black male without any sugarcoating. Rarely are there…