Born in Tokyo, Kawase Hasui was a master of Japanese landscape prints. He began his journey as an illustrator for books and magazines but soon discovered his heart belonged to printmaking. In 1918, he began creating Shin-hanga (new prints) and designed more than 600 prints during the following 40 years.
This exhibition in the Works on Paper Gallery is curated by Li Jian, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of East Asian Art, and features 14 prints. The works are drawn from René and Carolyn Balcer’s 2017 gift to VMFA. The Balcers have been donating works from their collection to the museum for more than a decade.
IMAGES Morning in Beppu (detail), from the series Japanese Sceneries, 1922, Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883-1957), woodblock print; ink and color on paper. René and Carolyn Balcer Collection, 2017.535
Cormorant Fishing, Nagara River (detail), 1954, Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883–1957), carved by Namikawa Siezo, printed by Horikawa Shōzaburō, published by Watanabe Shōzaburō (Japanese, 1885–1962), ink and color on paper. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, René and Carolyn Balcer Collection
It is evident that the great cheapness and universality of pictures must exert a powerful, though silent, influence upon the ideas and sentiment of present and future generations.
—Frederick Douglass, “Lecture on Pictures,” December 3, 1861
Introduced in 1839, photography revolutionized how ordinary people saw themselves and others. In the two decades following its invention, photography spread rapidly across the United States and played a crucial role in shaping concepts of identity, family, citizenship, and race. For African Americans in particular, photographic portraits offered a means of self-representation and empowerment. The abolitionist Frederick Douglass—who was himself the most photographed man of the 19th century—consistently championed the medium for its capacity to affirm the humanity and dignity of its sitters and challenge dehumanizing, racist stereotypes. Other Black Americans, including native Virginian James Presley Ball (1825–1904), practiced and shaped the medium from its earliest years.
At the same time, photography was also employed to support slavery and racial segregation. Slaveholders commissioned photographs of enslaved nannies or servants that affirmed a white supremacist social order and projected myths of “benevolent” bondage. On occasion, photographs were used to identify and pursue fugitive slaves.
Drawn from the collection of Dennis O. Williams and presented in the Photography Gallery, some 25 portraits of Black Americans—some enslaved, others free—offer a powerful and poignant way to explore these complicated histories. This installation, which includes daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and early works on paper made from the 1840s through the 1880s, features a small selection of work by Ball. This installation was conceived to complement the upcoming exhibition Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour—Frederick Douglass.
A Powerful Influence is curated by Dr. Sarah Kennel, VMFA’s Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography and Director of the Raysor Center.
Civil War Soldier (detail), 1863–65, American, 19th century, tintype. Collection of Dennis O. Williams
Young Girl in a Gingham Dress (detail), ca. 1855, American, 19th century, daguerreotype. Collection of Dennis O. Williams
Andy, Mary E. Hendra, and Willie (detail), ca. 1850, American, 19th century, daguerreotype. Collection of Dennis O. Williams
The varied aspects of romantic love is one of the most prominent themes in the arts of India. Authors produced treatises on the many types of lovers and their differing temperaments. Poets compiled cycles of verse likening love’s phases to the passage of the seasons. Writers compared the religious quest for unity with the divine to the pursuit of one’s beloved. Composers crafted musical arrangements to express love’s many moods. And artists created paintings to visualize these and myriad other musings on the subject of love.
This exhibition’s twenty-three paintings are assembled from VMFA’s permanent collection, and more than a third of them on display for the first time. They were created in a variety of styles by artists working at courts scattered across north, central, and western India. Rather than their formal qualities, however, this presentation explores their subject matter: love’s many facets and the wide range of emotions it can produce—from enchantment, passion, and joy to betrayal, self-pity, and anguish.
Exhibition Highlights
The Months of Shravana and Bhadra, ca. 1780, Indian, Rajasthan, Bundi, opaque watercolor and gold on paper, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
A Lady after Her Bath, Holding a Lotus Bud Received from a Winged Messenger, early 19th century, Indian, Rajasthan, Jaipur, opaque watercolor and gold on paper, Friends of Indian Art and the Robert A. and Ruth W. Fisher Fund
Page from a Rasikapriya Series, Radha and Her Confidante Discuss the Absent Krishna, ca. 1660–80, Indian, Central India, Malwa, opaque watercolor and gold on paper Robert A. and Ruth W. Fisher Fund
Page from a Rasikapriya Series, ca. 1630-40 Indian, Central India, Malwa, opaque watercolor and gold on paper, Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment
Page from a Gita Govinda Series, Krishna and Radha Make Love, ca. 1775-80, Indian, Punjab Hills, Kangra, opaque watercolor and ink on paper, Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment
A Heroine, Longing for Her Lover, Gazes at Mating Pigeons, ca. 1770–80, Indian, Rajasthan, Bundi, opaque watercolor and ink on paper, Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Gift of Paul Mellon
The Months of Shravana and Bhadra (detail), ca. 1780, Indian, Rajasthan, Bundi, opaque watercolor and gold on paper, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
A Lady after Her Bath, Holding a Lotus Bud Received from a Winged Messenger (detail), early 19th century, Indian, Rajasthan, Jaipur, opaque watercolor and gold on paper, Friends of Indian Art and the Robert A. and Ruth W. Fisher Fund
Page from a Ragamala Series, Bhairavi Ragini (detail), 18th century, Indian, Rajasthan, Bundi or Kota, opaque watercolor and ink on paper, Gift of an anonymous donor in memory of Muriel B. Christison
This exhibition features designer renderings and garments created by fifty-seven Virginia students in grades six through twelve who participated in the May 7, 2023 Teen Stylin’: Illusion Runway Show. The garments on view include winners in these categories: Best in Show, Best Use of Materials, Most Creative Construction, Best Interpretation of a Work of Art, Best Interpretation of the Theme, and Most Wearable.
Held annually, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Teen Stylin’ program challenges students with a passion for clothing design, studio arts, installation art, and creative construction to make a unique, wearable work of art. Participants worked for twelve weeks, from February to May, with local fashion designers and studio arts instructors to construct garments inspired by objects from the VMFA collection. Participants could either participate during on-campus weekly workshops or as part of the independent study program. Teen Stylin’ culminates with a runway exhibition featuring students’ designs. of a Work of Art, Best Interpretation of the Theme, and Most Wearable.
This year’s theme, Illusion, inspired students to transform materials that are available to them in the studio and their surroundings in innovative and unexpected ways.
This exhibition features designer renderings and garments created by 64 Virginia students in grades six through twelve who participated in the May 15, 2022, Teen Stylin’: Journey Runway Show. The garments on view include winners in these categories: Best in Show, Best Use of Materials, Most Creative Construction, Best Interpretation of a Work of Art, Best Interpretation of the Theme, and Most Wearable.
Held annually, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Teen Stylin’ program challenges students with a passion for clothing design, studio arts, installation art, and creative construction to make a unique, wearable work of art. Participants worked for twelve weeks, from February to May, with local fashion designers and studio arts instructors to construct garments inspired by objects from the VMFA collection. Participants could either participate during on-campus weekly workshops or as part of the independent study program. Teen Stylin’ culminates with a runway exhibition featuring students’ designs.
This year’s theme, Journey, was inspired by VMFA’s special exhibition, Tsherin Sherpa: Spirits. Students reflected on the historical background of their artwork, and considered how the passages that their art object has made reflects, connects to, or diverges from the personal journeys they are on as young people.
VMFA is pleased to present works of art selected from our Early Childhood Education programs. Each work on display was created in one of our many programs designed to reach children ages three months to five years. These works demonstrate the diverse experiences our youngest audiences gain through these exciting and popular programs.
With offerings including individual classes, multiday camps, and group visits for early learning centers, VMFA Early Childhood Education programs benefit every young child!
As painter and photographer, and as an arts administrator, the artist John Covert made significant contributions to the development of American modernism. Covert was an active participant at the salon-like gatherings famously held at the apartment of preeminent modern art patrons Walter and Louise Arensberg (Covert and Walter were first cousins), at 33 W. 67th Street, where, in the late 1910s, New York Dada largely transpired. The recently acquired works in this exhibition descend directly from the Arensberg family. Most importantly, they shed light on the critical role of photography as a medium and an inspiration in New York Dada.
Before he created figurative works, still lifes, and abstract compositions, Covert produced over 200 known photographs. Most common are multiple studies of a single figure in the artist’s studio, often in preparation for a painting—two such oils are featured in the exhibition. Covert also photographed wooden dolls and related toys as studies.
The photographs suggest Covert’s keen interest in the expressive possibilities of the human figure. Where other artists divested the figure of her human identity, Covert suggests a liberated sense of self in his photographs of nudes. Unlike works by Alfred Stieglitz, for example, none of the prints crop out body parts, and, in each work, there is plenty of elbowroom.
Covert’s photographs are not insulated by classical allusions. He depicts women in less heroic activities such as dancing, smiling, and sleeping. The figures also relate to the New York Dada interest in puns and codes, which Covert also explored in later drawings and are on view in the Photography Gallery.
IMAGES Study #1 for “I Am That I Am,” ca. 1920, John Covert (American, 1882–1960), gelatin silver print. Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund. Gift of Mrs. Thelma Cudlipp Whitman, by exchange; Gift of John C. and Florence S. Goddin, by exchange, 2020.89
Untitled [Nude Woman Reclining with Eyes Shut], 1916–23, John Covert (American, 1882–1960), gelatin silver print. Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund. Gift of Mrs. Thelma Cudlipp Whitman, by exchange; Gift of John C. and Florence S. Goddin, by exchange, 2020.89
VMFA on the Road is the museum’s 21st-century Artmobile, coming to you from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. In fall 2023, VMFA on the Road will showcase the exhibition Love, Laughter, Tears: An Artist’s Guide to Emotions. This compilation of works from the VMFA collection examines the relationship between art and emotion across various cultures and time periods to explore human emotion as a unifying and universal factor.
In the aftermath of the pandemic and amid growing societal divisions, emotions, empathy, and self-reflection hold greater significance. Emotion and expression have always been integral to the creative process of artmaking. Artists convey emotions through their use of color, shapes, symbolism, and text. Artworks can reflect an individual’s emotions or the wider mood of a culture or historical period, shedding light on events and their impacts on people. The power of art lies in its ability to communicate these feelings and messages, fostering conversations and understanding among individuals and communities.
The works of art traveling in this exhibition are from VMFA’s vast collection, which spans 6,000 years of world history. VMFA on the Road will tour the state, bringing this unique presentation of that collection. Visitors will experience paintings, prints, photographs, and film by artists such as Kiyoshi Saito, Stephen Shames, Gabriel Sunday Tenabe, Nell Blaine, and others.
In 1953, VMFA became one of the first museums in the world to have an Artmobile. For four decades, as many as four Artmobiles toured 59 exhibitions and served more than 2.5 million Virginians. Due to conservation concerns and the fragility of traveling works of art, VMFA replaced the program in the early 1990s with a Statewide Partners program to deepen partnerships with schools, community centers, and museums around the state.
Renamed VMFA on the Road, the traveling museum relaunched in October 2018 as a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled trailer equipped with Wi-Fi and interactive components that meet 21st-century expectations. Now in fall 2023, the museum has acquired a new trailer with even more space for art and visitors.
VMFA on the Road meets residents of the Commonwealth where they are, inviting them to step inside and experience authentic works of art from VMFA’s collection up close and in person. VMFA on the Road is traveling to all corners of Virginia. The stops are selected from among the museum’s Statewide Partners program, which includes 1,000 locations, from community centers and small museums to colleges and universities. We’re coming to a town near you, Virginia!
Love, Laughter, Tears: An Artist’s Guide to Emotions
Tour Sponsors
The Jeanann Gray Dunlap Foundation
The William and Mary Greve Foundation
Joanne B. Robinson
The Heiner Family Fund of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation
The Rock Foundation
We are also grateful to the following donors whose generous gifts made the launch of VMFA on the Road possible:
The Commonwealth of Virginia | The Council of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The William and Mary Greve Foundation, Inc. | The Francena T. Harrison Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. William T. Miller | Dr. and Mrs. Harry A. Wellons, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Haywood Blakemore | James Hixon | Mr. and Mrs. Peter I. C. Knowles II
The Wall Foundation | Mr. and Mrs. John W. West III | WestRock Foundation
Capital Bank | The Reverend Doctor Vienna Cobb Anderson | Louise B. Cochrane Foundation
The Cook Foundation | Ralph R. Crosby, Jr. | The Jeanann Gray Dunlap Foundation
Anne and Gus Edwards | Mr. and Mrs. David R. Frediani | Margaret R. Freeman
Mary Mills Freeman | Norfolk Southern Corporation | Joanne B. Robinson | The Bob and Anna Lou Schaberg Foundation
Oluweri and Yemoja, 1968, Gabriel Sunday Tenabe (Nigerian, born 1941), oil on Masonite. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Terance and Rosemary Finegan in memory of Elizabeth and Harold Finegan
Cat, 1954, Kiyoshi Saito (Japanese, 1907–1997), woodblock print; ink and color on paper. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Marge and Jerry Silber
Summer Interior by Gloucester Harbor, 1971, Nell Blaine (American, 1922–1996), oil on paper. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
VMFA’s latest Interactive Gallery exhibition goes beyond the surface of six works of art from VMFA’s collection to investigate how art can be an expression of place or personal and cultural identity; how different cultures throughout time represent history and identity through art; and what histories are publicly told and which are hidden.
A magnifying glass is available so visitors can look closely at reproductions of the artworks to uncover hidden icons. These magnified details can then be opened to reveal more information about the work or artist. Discussion prompts are included to start conversations around personal stories that may relate to the art.
Uncovering the untold is also a task for VMFA as a museum. Two touch screens in the exhibition feature digital interactives that provide a virtual look at the VMFA grounds over the past 200 years through the lens of the Black experience. This immersive experience, available on any internet-enabled device, was developed by the storytelling team at Hidden In Plain Site™
Visit A Closer Look and you might discover more than meets the eye. For an online resource of this exhibition please visit A Closer Look on Learn.
A Closer Look is generously supported by the Community Foundation for a greater Richmond, the Jeanette S. Lipman Endowment for Children’s Education, and Maggie Georgiadis.
Man Ray: los años en París se centra en las innovadoras fotografías de retratos que el artista estadounidense Man Ray realizó en la capital francesa entre 1921 y 1940. En las primeras décadas del siglo XX, París se hizo famosa en todo el mundo como un poderoso centro de libertad artística y la experimentación atrevida, que explica la extraordinaria migración allí de un gran número de artistas, arquitectos, compositores, bailarines, diseñadores de moda, cineastas, músicos y escritores. Poco después de su llegada en julio de 1921, Man Ray se embarcó en una campaña sostenida para documentar la vanguardia internacional en París entre las dos guerras mundiales en una serie de retratos notables que establecieron su reputación como uno de los fotógrafos líderes de su época.
Organizado por el Virginia Museum of Fine Arts y comisariado por Dr. Michael R. Taylor, curador en jefe y subdirector de arte y educación de VMFA, Man Ray: los años en París está programado para celebrar el centenario de la llegada de Man Ray a la capital francesa. La exposición incluye más de 100 retratos de luminarias culturales como Kay Boyle, André Breton, Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp, Ernest Hemingway, Miriam Hopkins, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, Meret Oppenheim, Pablo Picasso, Alice Prin (Kiki de Montparnasse), Elsa Schiaparelli, Erik Satie y Gertrude Stein. Los retratos de Man Ray fueron más allá de la mera grabación de apariencias externas y, en cambio, capturaron la esencia de sus modelos como individuos creativos y documentaron la naturaleza colectiva y el carácter de Les Années folles (los años locos) de París entre las dos guerras mundiales.
Man Ray, quien fue criado en Brooklyn por padres inmigrantes judíos y llamado Emmanuel Radnitzky al nacer, usó la fotografía para desafiar las tradiciones artísticas y romper los límites, incluidos los roles de género fijos. Los retratos pioneros que el artista hizo en París reflejan el individualismo desenfrenado de la era posterior a la Primera Guerra Mundial, en la que Man Ray y sus modelos utilizaron la autoinvención como un escape del conformismo restrictivo de la época.
Los retratos de la artista capturan un componente importante de la vanguardia en este momento, a saber, la femme moderne (mujer moderna). Mujeres modernas aventureras, ambiciosas, asertivas, atrevidas, emprendedoras, autosuficientes y seguras de sí mismas como Berenice Abbott, Nancy Cunard, Valentine Hugo, Lee Miller y Janet Scudder aprovecharon al máximo su libertad sin precedentes y su acceso a oportunidades educativas y profesionales. participar como iguales a sus homólogos masculinos en la vanguardia parisina. Aunque estas mujeres provenían de clases y entornos económicos muy diferentes, compartían el objetivo colectivo de ser creativamente, financiera e intelectualmente independientes. Al rechazar los roles y expectativas tradicionales de género, las mujeres modernas también estaban interesadas en borrar la diferencia sexual y, a menudo, abrazaron las trampas simbólicas y la autonomía de sus contrapartes masculinas, incluido el uso de ropa de hombre, conducir autos veloces, fumar y lucir cortes de pelo muy cortos.
Además, esta exposición cuenta las historias importantes de sujetos negros como Henry Crowder, Adrienne Fidelin, Elsie Houston y Ruby Richards, quienes han sido injustamente relegados a los márgenes del modernismo debido al legado del colonialismo y el racismo. La serie de retratos de la artista de la bailarina y cantante Ruby Richards, quien nació en St. Kitts en las Indias Occidentales Británicas y creció en Harlem, Nueva York, saca a la luz a una importante intérprete de color cuyo trabajo con Man Ray nunca antes había sido ha sido reconocido en relatos anteriores de la obra del artista. Richards se mudó a París en 1938 para reemplazar a la legendaria artista afroamericana Josephine Baker como la atracción estrella en el Folies Bergère, y el famoso salón de música de cabaret encargó a Man Ray que la ayudara a presentarla al público francés a través de sus retratos. La exposición ilumina las historias de Richards y otros cuyas vidas y retratos rompieron las barreras del color.
Los retratos de Man Ray a menudo reflejan un diálogo o negociación entre la visión del artista y la autoconstrucción de sus sujetos. Ya sea que se les tomara un retrato para promover su trabajo, afirmar su propia imagen, proyectar sus deseos, cumplir sus sueños o crear una nueva identidad, los modelos de Man Ray no eran objetos inanimados, como bloques de mármol, para moldearlos y coaccionarlos. sino líderes culturales y de pensamiento altamente creativos que participaron activamente en el acto creativo. Man Ray: los años en París empodera a los sujetos retratados en estas fotografías contando sus historias y dándoles una agencia y una voz que no se suele escuchar en los relatos monográficos de artistas modernos. Informado por una extensa investigación de archivos, este proyecto de exposición y el catálogo que lo acompaña ofrece un relato más completo de los años de Man Ray en París al enfocarse no solo en su logro como fotógrafo y sus excelentes dotes como retratista, sino también en las amistades y el intercambio de ideas que tuvo lugar entre el artista y sus sujetos en París entre 1921 y 1940.
Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Exhibition Endowment
Julia Louise Reynolds Fund
Mr. and Mrs. R. Augustus Edwards III
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Garner, Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. William V. Garner
Elisabeth Shelton Gottwald Fund
The Francena T. Harrison Foundation
Nancy and Peter Huber
Don and Mary Shockey
YouDecide
Birch Douglass
Christopher English and Meda Lane
Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc.
Dr. John B. Herrington III and Mr. Keith Toth
Locks Foundation
Margaret and Thomas Mackell
The Anne Carter and Walter R. Robins, Jr. Foundation
Michael Schewel and Priscilla Burbank
Tom Williamson and Janet Brown
Ann and Jim Belk | Page and Sandy Bond | Ms. Virginia R. Edmunds | Dr. William J. Frable | Hugh and Nancy Harrison | Mr. Phillip and Dr. Kandace McGuire | John and Maria Shugars | Mark and Deborah Wlaz | Dr. and Mrs. Harry A. Wellons, Jr. | Ting Xu and Evergreen Enterprises
Man Ray: The Paris Years focuses on the innovative portrait photographs that the American artist Man Ray made in the French capital between 1921 and 1940. In the early decades of the 20th century, Paris became famous the world over as a powerful center of artistic freedom and daring experimentation, which accounts for the extraordinary migration there of a large number of artists, architects, composers, dancers, fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians, and writers. Shortly after his arrival in July 1921, Man Ray embarked on a sustained campaign to document the international avant-garde in Paris between the two world wars in a series of remarkable portraits that established his reputation as one of the leading photographers of his era.
Organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and curated by Michael Taylor, VMFA’s Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Art and Education, Man Ray: The Paris Years is timed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Man Ray’s arrival in the French capital. The exhibition includes more than 100 portraits of such cultural luminaries as Kay Boyle, André Breton, Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp, Ernest Hemingway, Miriam Hopkins, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, Méret Oppenheim, Pablo Picasso, Alice Prin (Kiki de Montparnasse), Elsa Schiaparelli, Erik Satie, and Gertrude Stein. Man Ray’s portraits went beyond merely recording outward appearances and instead captured the essence of his sitters as creative individuals and documented the collective nature and character of Les Années folles (the crazy years) of Paris between the two world wars.
Man Ray, who was raised in Brooklyn by Jewish immigrant parents and named Emmanuel Radnitzky at birth, used photography to challenge artistic traditions and break boundaries, including fixed gender roles. The groundbreaking portraits that the artist made in Paris reflect the rampant individualism of the post–World War I era, in which Man Ray and his sitters used self-invention as an escape from the restrictive conformity of the age.
The artist’s portraits capture an important constituency of the avant-garde at this time, namely the femme moderne (modern woman). Adventurous, ambitious, assertive, daring, enterprising, self-reliant, and self-assured modern women like Berenice Abbott, Nancy Cunard, Valentine Hugo, Lee Miller, and Janet Scudder took full advantage of their unprecedented freedom and access to educational and professional opportunities to participate as equals to their male counterparts in the Parisian avant-garde. Although these women came from vastly different classes and economic backgrounds, they shared a collective goal to be creatively, financially, and intellectually independent. Rejecting traditional gender roles and expectations, modern women were also interested in erasing sexual difference and often embraced the symbolic trappings and autonomy of their male counterparts, including wearing men’s clothes, driving fast cars, smoking, and sporting tightly cropped “bobbed” haircuts.
In addition, this exhibition tells the important stories of Black subjects such as Henry Crowder, Adrienne Fidelin, Elsie Houston, and Ruby Richards, who have been unfairly relegated to the margins of modernism due to the legacy of colonialism and racism. The artist’s series of portraits of the dancer and singer Ruby Richards, who was born in St. Kitts in the British West Indies and grew up in Harlem, New York, brings to light an important performer of color whose work with Man Ray has never before been acknowledged in previous accounts of the artist’s work. Richards moved to Paris in 1938 to replace the legendary African American performer Josephine Baker as the star attraction at the Folies Bergère, and the famous cabaret music hall commissioned Man Ray to help introduce her to French audiences through his portrait photographs. The exhibition illuminates the stories of Richards and others whose lives and portraits broke color barriers.
Man Ray’s portraits often reflect a dialogue or negotiation between the artist’s vision and the self-fashioning of his subjects. Whether they had their portrait taken to promote their work, affirm their self-image, project their desires, fulfill their dreams, or create a new identity, Man Ray’s sitters were not inanimate objects, like blocks of marble, to be shaped and coerced, but were instead highly creative cultural and thought leaders who were active participants in the creative act. Man Ray: The Paris Years empowers the subjects portrayed in these photographs by telling their stories and giving them an agency and voice that is not typically heard in monographic accounts of modern artists. Informed by extensive archival research, this exhibition project and accompanying catalogue thus offers a more complete account of Man Ray’s Paris years by focusing not just on his achievement as a photographer and his superb gifts as a portraitist but also on the friendships and exchange of ideas that took place between the artist and his subjects in Paris between 1921 and 1940.
Man Ray: The Paris Years will be presented in English and Spanish. VMFA is committed to representing the cultural and linguistic diversity of our community and to creating a more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming experience for all.
Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Exhibition Endowment
Julia Louise Reynolds Fund
Mr. and Mrs. R. Augustus Edwards III
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Garner, Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. William V. Garner
Elisabeth Shelton Gottwald Fund
The Francena T. Harrison Foundation
Nancy and Peter Huber
Don and Mary Shockey
YouDecide
Birch Douglass
Christopher English and Meda Lane
Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc.
Dr. John B. Herrington III and Mr. Keith Toth
Locks Foundation
Margaret and Thomas Mackell
The Anne Carter and Walter R. Robins, Jr. Foundation
Michael Schewel and Priscilla Burbank
Tom Williamson and Janet Brown
VMFA is also grateful to the following Sponsors:
Ann and Jim Belk | Page and Sandy Bond | Ms. Virginia R. Edmunds | Dr. William J. Frable | Hugh and Nancy Harrison | Mr. Phillip and Dr. Kandace McGuire | John and Maria Shugars | Mark and Deborah Wlaz | Dr. and Mrs. Harry A. Wellons, Jr. | Ting Xu and Evergreen Enterprises
This list represents sponsors as of September 16, 2021.
Ancient Egyptians believed that everything they knew and experienced was part of a cycle, from the annual flood of the Nile River that nourished their land to the daily rising and setting of the sun. Even their own lives were a cycle, which moved from birth to death to rebirth. Explore more about Egyptian life in this hands-on exhibition for all ages!
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Program is a vital source of funding for the visual arts and art history in Virginia. VMFA is committed to supporting professional artists as well as art students who demonstrate exceptional creative ability in their chosen discipline. Since its establishment in 1940 by the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg, the Fellowship Program has awarded nearly $5.5 million in fellowships to Virginians. 2015 marked the 75th anniversary of VMFA’s Fellowship Program.
As part of our commitment to Virginians, the Pauley Center Galleries, Amuse Restaurant, the Claiborne Robertson Room, and select spaces at the Richmond International Airport are dedicated to showcasing the work of VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship recipients.
The Good Steward, Sterling Clinton Hundley The Good Steward, Sterling Clinton Hundley
Big Cartel, Fruitless Endeavor, Sterling Clinton Hundley Big Cartel, Fruitless Endeavor, Sterling Clinton Hundley
Another Sunday, Sterling Clinton Hundley Another Sunday, Sterling Clinton Hundley
Aggregate
By Sterling Clinton Hundley
Jul 1, 2021 to Jan 31, 2022 | Pauley Center Galleries
Aggregate is a survey of work from American painter and graphic artist, Sterling Clinton Hundley ranging from 2009- 2021. Throughout Hundley’s work, time is an indelible theme explored through drawing, collage, painting and sculpture that collects life in motion into a series of compressed images that blur the line between traditional cell animation and painting
Hundley is a VMFA 2020-21 Professional Fellow and his work is held in private collections internationally, from Russia, Norway, England, Germany and throughout the United States and can be found in the permanent collections of Amazon, the Museum of American Illustration, Capital One Bank, Rolling Stone Magazine, as well as on display in the US Senate Building.
His book can be found in the Museum Store.
IMAGES: The Good Steward, Sterling Clinton Hundley | Big Cartel, Fruitless Endeavor, Sterling Clinton Hundley | Another Sunday, Sterling Clinton Hundley
Fruit Fade, Claire Stankus Fruit Fade, Claire Stankus
Something Similar
By Claire Stankus
Jul 9, 2021 to Jan 23, 2022 | VMFA Amuse Restaurant & Claiborne Robertson Room
I make paintings to simplify immediate visual surroundings. They are inspired by familiar indoor scenes of cast shadows from house plants, patterns coincidentally matching, the grid of window frames, to shapes of flowers, oranges, or birthday sprinkles. I believe many people are attracted to these overlooked moments and my paintings provide an opportunity to revisit them. Beginning with a photo reference or memory, I create casual marks, flattened fields of color, and invented light and shadow to break down the recognizable into something ambiguous yet familiar. When these paintings are not recognized by their initial inspiration they can be admired purely by their patterns, subtle color shifts, and illusions of light and flatness. The remaining abstraction is where we may find unexpected curiosity or joy.
My newest paintings are heavily inspired by my experiences from two recent artist residencies: The Sam & Adele Golden Foundation in New Berlin, NY, and the Studios at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA. In both settings, one during winter, and one during summer, I was struck by each location’s architecture and sunlight. I used these simple themes to play with striking color combinations, balance speed and personality of brush marks, and create the possibility of space within a fairly shallow depth of field. Displayed as a large grouping or in pairs, my paintings are made to reference and complement each other’s visual components while honoring the location they were created in.
I want to share the value of contemporary abstract painting; that a particular balance of line and form can create compelling compositions, or how a minimal shape of paint can feel sweet, stubborn, playful, or funny.
Claire Stankus is a 2020 Emergency Relief Fellowship Recipient.
Great Falls, Sermin Ciddi Great Falls, Sermin Ciddi
Anatolian Fortress, Sermin Ciddi Anatolian Fortress, Sermin Ciddi
Minyatür: A Journey from the Classical to the Contemporary
By Sermin Ciddi
Jun 21, 2021 to Jan 10, 2022 | Richmond International Airport
Sermin Ciddi is a renowned Turkish artist skilled in modern miniature (minyatür) painting, one of the highly specialized visual arts of Ottoman and Turkish culture along with calligraphy (hat) and marbling paper (ebru). Born in Istanbul, Ms. Ciddi takes inspiration from a variety of sources: places she has lived and traveled to, the architectural salience of each location, and finally, their interaction with surrounding nature. Depictions of environmental themes and imagery through symbolism are recent additions to her existing portfolio. Scenes including Alexandria, Virginia, Ottoman and Turkish architecture, and the enduring relationship between dragons and phoenixes come to life on her canvases.
Sermin Ciddi is a 2020 Emergency Relief Fellowship Recipient.
IMAGES: Kızkulesi, Sermin Ciddi | Great Falls, Sermin Ciddi | Anatolian Fortress, Sermin Ciddi
This installation shines a spotlight on a printmaker whose lifetime achievements have been underappreciated in the years since his death. Born in the industrial heart of England, Short initially trained as a civil engineer. While working on a government inquiry into the pollution of the Thames River, he encountered a print by J. M. W. Turner, which proved transformative. Soon after, Short gave into “temptation,” as he called it, deciding to pursue a career in printmaking.
Absorbed into the burgeoning Etching Revival movement led in England by James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Sir Francis Seymour Haden, Short used his engineering mindset to experiment until he mastered every secret of etching. A reverence and desire to absorb the artistic lessons from the great artists of the past compelled Short to learn the historic traditions of mezzotint and aquatint. These techniques were made synonymous in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with the printed reproductions of oil paintings and watercolors.
Eager to provide quality alternatives to the anemic mass produced reproductions of the times, Short employed his formidable talents into creating magnificent and sympathetic interpretations of works by other artists—especially Turner. Compositional and iconographic lessons absorbed from these reproductions manifest in his original prints. However, unlike artists who were comfortable constructing compositions in the studio, Short went out into nature, seeking out vistas that inspired him.
Sir Frank Short: Out of the Shadows assembles over two dozen printmaking experiments, original compositions, and reproductive works that are drawn from the Frank Raysor collection, a generous ongoing gift to VMFA. This exhibition is curated by Dr. Colleen Yarger, Assistant Curator for European Art and the Mellon Collections, and supported by Ms. Anna Kay Chandler, Larry J. Kohmescher, and an anonymous donor.
A Wintry Blast on the Stourbridge Canal, 1890, Sir Frank Short (English, 1857–1945), drypoint printed in blank ink on laid paper. Promised gift of Frank Raysor, FR.1233
Dawn, Sir Frank Short (English, 1857–1945), Dawn, 1912, Aquatint printed in black ink on wove paper. Promised gift of Frank Raysor, FR.1169
On display at Piedmont Arts from Oct 22, 2021–Jan 28, 2022
Born to Italian immigrant parents and raised in Rochester, New York, Chiarenza’s interest in photography developed early in his childhood. From 1953 to 1957, Chiarenza studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology under the direction of Minor White and Ralph Hattersley. Since the late 1960s, Chiarenza has been a leading figure in a movement that seeks to expand the conceptual boundaries of photography. Chiarenza’s photographs have been included in more than 80 solo and 250 group exhibitions since 1957. His black-and-white photographs, which often contain elements of collage, have continued to challenge notions of landscape, abstraction, visitor perspective, and the very medium of photography itself.
Chiarenza is inspired by both the beauty of and human connections to landscapes, but has been continuously dissatisfied with his outdoor nature photographs. In acknowledging that traditional depictions of landscapes in paintings are constructed, he began to approach his photographs as abstract and emotional constructions that allow us to examine nature in relation to the self.
The key characteristic that came to dominate Chiarenza’s style was nyctophilia, or a preference for and comfort in darkness. His photographs do not offer familiar faces or landscapes; there is no evident cultural or psychological framework for the viewer to build their response. Rather, the lack of specificity and sense of timelessness reminds us that all photographs are constructions of reality that produce various interpretations relative to each viewer. Chiarenza’s work invites individual reflection by forcing us to examine the subliminal workings of the mind. In these photographs, nothing is absolute, leaving all realities subject to each observer.
This exhibition is curated by VMFA Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. These works were all a generous gift of the artist.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts invites you to behold the drama and splendor of the American landscape as seen through the lens of photographer Ansel Adams. In Ansel Adams: Compositions in Nature, more than 70 photographs spanning over five decades showcase the breathtaking vistas, beguiling details, and inimitable style that define this most beloved and influential photographer. Considering Adams as artist, environmentalist, and musician, the exhibition includes iconic images, rarely seen early photographs, and musical recordings that also take you behind the camera.
Ansel Adams: Compositions in Nature presents photographs from every period of the artist’s celebrated career. Included are many of Adams’s most-famous and best-loved photographs as well as lesser-known works. Visitors will delight in elegant details of nature, architectural studies, portraits, and the breathtaking landscapes for which Adams is most revered. In addition to a selection of his most highly regarded works that Adams printed at the end of his career—“the Museum set”—the exhibition features donated photographs recently added to VMFA’s permanent collection.
The Conservationist
The Musician
The Photographer
The overview of the artist’s career explores changes in his aesthetics and technique, as well as his constant keen eye for composition. Visitors will experience Ansel Adams’s photographs that are some of the best-known images produced by any artist of the era, including Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, The Tetons and the Snake River, and Monolith, Face of Half Dome. In a study of Adams’s changing technique, the exhibition displays prints of the same photograph produced decades apart for visitors to compare and contrast.
Curated by Dr. Christopher Oliver, the Bev Perdue Jennings Assistant Curator of American Art, the exhibition explores the multifaceted artist who, in addition to photography, had a lifelong interest in both landscape conservation and classical music. Presentations within the gallery pay special attention to Adams’s tireless efforts to have wilderness and parks set aside for the public good. In a section of the exhibition that focuses on the artist’s affinity for certain pieces of music, visitors will hear selections from a 1945 recording of Adams playing several different classical compositions for piano.
The exhibition features some recent gifts to VMFA’s permanent collection, many of which have been rarely exhibited or published. Andrea Gray Stillman, a museum patron and former assistant to Ansel Adams, donated these works to VMFA beginning in 2018.
Adams profoundly influenced the course of 20th century photography not only through the example of his sumptuous and technically precise images, but also by means of his personal energy and devotion to advancing the cause of photography as an art form. As an artist, educator, innovator, and writer, he helped establish many of the institutions that have come to represent the highest aspirations of the medium of photography.
Ansel Adams: Compositions in Nature is organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, CA, and managed by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA.
VMFA is grateful to the following Sponsors:
Elisabeth Shelton Gottwald Fund
Birch Douglass
Mr. and Mrs. R. Augustus Edwards III
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Garner, Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. William V. Garner
The Francena T. Harrison Foundation
Brian and Mary Ann Peppiatt
Patricia R. St. Clair
Tina and Lewis Stoneburner
Kelly and Tiff Armstrong
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne A. Chasen
Mrs. Page Edgerton
Margaret R. Freeman
Mrs. Carter D. McDowell
Mrs. Patsy K. Pettus
VMFA Council Exhibition Fund
Marketing support for this exhibition is provided by the Charles G. Thalhimer Fund
VMFA is pleased to present works of art selected from our Early Childhood Education programs. Each work on display was created in one of our many programs designed to reach children ages three months to five years. These works demonstrate the diverse experiences our youngest audiences gain through these exciting and popular programs.
VMFA’s Early Childhood Education programs connect early learning to the museum’s world-renowned collection. Students enjoy play, music, and movement activities, gallery walks, and multisensory art projects. While building self-awareness and social skills, diverse subjects are explored, including world cultures, science, literature, and mathematics.
