VMFA Blog

A blog by staff and others about the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Conservator

Conserving art for the ages

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,…

Charging Bull

From French sculpture to America-inspired silhouettes

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…

Cornell

Rembrandt film deflates the vane and vacuous

Perhaps the greatest painter in European art, Rembrandt van Rijn also became the namesake of a particular style of cinematic lighting used often in Film Noirs and most any moody set piece. Therefore, it should be of no surprise that the brash Baroque artist made for a compelling subject in Alexander Korda’s 1936 British film…

Indian-influenced aquisitions

The last feautured new additions to your art collection–attained through our privately supported acquisition program–are of Indian influence, adding to the South Asian collection. The most intriguing of the variously shaped bronze artifacts produced in great quantities in north India during the 3rd through 2nd centuries BCE are those of abstracted humanoid design. How these…

photo 8

VMFA campers create & reflect

Kids summer camps are in full swing at the museum this week! The children are having a ball creating art at the MVW Art Education Center and learning about art in the galleries. From pastel still-life drawings to colorful sculptures, these summer camps offer a variety of artsy subjects to explore. After lunchtime today, a…

Monica Serra

Wesselmann model visits VMFA

Monica Serra, Wesselmann’s longtime studio assistant, model and a country music singer traveled from New York to savor VMFA’s Pop Art and Beyond: Tom Wesselmann retrospective. Serra worked for Wesselmann and now the Wesselmann studio for the past 20 years. How did she snag such a fascinating job? A mutual friend invited her to an…

Untitled

More additions to YOUR art collection @VMFA

Pieces ranging from the painted glass work of a Virginian painting professor to a photograph documenting the visual traditions of Indian Royalty have recently been added to your art collection at the VMFA. These pieces have been brought to you through the VMFA’s privately supported acquisition program. Richard Roth, a painting professor at Virginia Commonwealth…

Tree

Red oak damage not life-threatening

After undergoing minor amputative surgery, our red oak remains standing strong. So many of you thoughtfully inquired about the damage to the VMFA red oak that occurred recently, that I wanted to describe what we found as Davey Tree, Inc. completed the arbor care and clean up.In the photo below, you will see a darkening…

Brandywine Macchia

2013 Chihuly workshop studio editions on sale

During the wildly popular Chihuly exhibition, which ended in February, his studio editions in the VMFA shop were quite a hit. We’re pleased to announce that new 2013 editions, fresh out of Chihuly’s workshop, are now available. It was the spirit of experimentation that led Dale Chihuly to work with all 300 colors available in…

Pair of Girandole Mirrors

More additions to YOUR art collection @VMFA

Through our privately funded aquisition program, VMFA regularly aquires significant pieces to be added to our permanent collection. We welcome you to visit and enjoy recent aquisitions such as these at the museum. This singular pair of girandole mirrors is a spectacular manifestation of decorative arts as sculpture. The unusual inclusion of Native American motifs—arrows,…