A blog by staff and others about the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
There’s no place like VMFA!
October 30, 2013
I’m excited for Hollywood Costume not just as an intern at VMFA, but as a Fashion Merchandising student at VCU. Since I’ll never get to wear the original Ruby Slippers from Wizard of Oz, I decided to make an inexpensive pair of my own that you can also make at home. After all, Halloween is…
Celebrating Géricault
September 26, 2013
Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) was one of the towering geniuses of the Romantic period. Partly self-taught and partly trained by Carle Vernet and Pierre-Narcisse Guerin, he arrived at a wholly personal style with which to portray modern life – turning his back and the grand mythological and religious subjects that had dominated art up to his…
Art-filled Saturday for Richmond
September 12, 2013
There is no shortages of things to do this weekend in Richmond. Saturday, in particular, will be a busy day! VMFA will be hosting a Family Day, which will celebrate the Art of Latin America: Peru!The event is packed with free activities for children and adults from 1 to 4 p.m. This will be a…
Breaking Bad’s Vince Gilligan: humor, humility, and staying true to your roots
August 28, 2013
“If I could go back in time and talk to my fifteen-year-old self, I would say ‘Smile a little, talk to people, and don’t be such a sheltered little nerd’.” Usually you don’t hear such honest self-reflection from anyone, let alone a world famous Hollywood producer, director, and writer! But Vince Gilligan is no ordinary…
Wesselmann’s pop art inspires poets
July 25, 2013
The Poetry Society of Virginia recently took an Ekphrastic Day visit to VMFA to write some art-inspired poems. “Ekphrastic” is the poets’ term for poetry inspired by artwork. Below are a couple of poems inspired by our current special exhibition Pop Art and Beyond: Tom Wesselmann. The exhibition ends this Sunday, July 28th, so if…
ARTrageous, a glittering evening of fun
July 23, 2013
ARTrageous 2013 looks ahead to Hollywood Costume, a dazzling blockbuster exhibition coming to VMFA in November from the Victoria and Albert Museum. A committee of volunteers, led by Jennifer and Geoff Sisk and Julee and Drew Spitzer, will bring the glamour of Hollywood to VMFA on September 7 for an evening that rivals the thrill…
With respect to Nelson Mandela on his birthday
July 18, 2013
Today is the birthday of Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of South Africa. He is 95. This is an appropriate time to consider a South African work in VMFA’s collection. Sue Williamson, a South African artist, found this object in a thrift shop. It’s a pass book, and a remnant of…
Conservators gather at VMFA for five intensive days of study
July 17, 2013
In conjunction with the Virginia Conservation Association, and with a grant from the Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, VMFA is hosting a workshop for practicing conservators on the Modular Cleaning Program formulated by Christopher Stavroudis, a conservator in private practice in Los Angeles and Richard Wolbers, professor of…
Conserving art for the ages
July 16, 2013
Conservation is one of many essential activities happening at VMFA. While you may be aware of some of the museum’s high profile projects, such as the removal and realignment of Caligula’s head or the discovery of condition changes and intentional artistic alterations in John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Mrs. Isaac Royall in the American galleries,…
From French sculpture to America-inspired silhouettes
July 16, 2013
Featuring more of the recently acquired pieces added to your permanent collection at the VMFA by our privately funded acquisition program, these pieces explore forms from small-scale bronze French sculpture to a black cut-paper silhouette depicting America’s racial and gender tensions. For more than a decade, Mrs. Nelson St. Clair Jr. has been enriching VMFA’s…