Tag Archives: Barnes Foundation

2019

MAJOR PHILADELPHIA ART EXHIBITS FOR 2019 Philly Museums Celebrate A Year Of Creative DiversityFrom Bondage to Freedom, by Jerry Pinkney, appeared in the National Park Service Underground Railroad Handbook and is part of “Freedom’s Journal: The Art of Jerry Pinkney” at the Woodmere Art Museum, February 16-May 12, 2019. Photo courtesy Jerry Pinkney

MAJOR PHILADELPHIA ART EXHIBITS FOR 2019
Philly Museums Celebrate A Year Of Creative Diversity

PHILADELPHIA, December 17, 2018 – Philadelphia’s celebrated history of dynamic artistic expression shines in a fascinating breadth of art exhibitions in 2019. The lineup features a diverse range of artists and media exploring personal stories and issues of the day.

Major museum shows include the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s multimedia impressionist works in The Impressionist’s Eye. The Barnes Foundation hosts a body of work by contemporary video artist Bill Violaand the Brandywine River Museum looks at the varied work by N.C. Wyeth in New Perspectives.

Smaller yet just-as-mighty exhibits represent provocative, beautiful work by artists from minority communities. These include a year-long, three-part artistic examination of the legacy of slavery with Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts and Banal Presents at the Institute of Contemporary Art; a retrospective of artist David Lebe, known for his homoerotic photographs, in Long Light: Photographs by David Lebe at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and an exhibit from contemporary artists Sonya Clark and Jacolby Satterwhite that challenges traditional assumptions at The Fabric Workshop and Museum.

Here’s a look at what art fans can look forward to in the year ahead:

Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 763-8100, philamuseum.org

  • Re-opening of the Galleries of Chinese Art – In tandem with architect Frank Gehry’s overall plan for the museum, the renovation and reinstallation of the Chinese art collection debuts early in 2019. The collection spans 4,000 years and consists of more than 7,000 pieces, including 500 paintings dating from the 12th to the 20th century, plus costumes, textiles, furniture, jades, lacquer wares, cloisonné and contemporary works. February 3, 2019
  • The Impressionist’s Eye – The museum’s collection of work in a rich variety of media by esteemed impressionist painters shows the artists’ versatility. Paintings, watercolors, drawings and sculptures by Manet, Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Renoir, Morisot, Cassatt, Seurat, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and Rodin comprise the exhibit of approximately 70 works. April 16-August 18, 2019
  • Yoshitoshi: Spirit and Spectacle – Honoring Japanese master printmaker Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), this exhibit showcases highlights from more than 1,200 prints. Yoshitoshi’s work reflects cultural traditions and the upheavals of the modern world that followed Japan’s opening to the West after 200 years of isolation. The exhibit includes selections from the artists final project and his best-known series, One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, 1885-1992April 16-August 18, 2019

Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2525 Pennsylvania Avenue, (215) 763-8100, philamuseum.org

  • Long Light: Photographs by David Lebe ­– David Lebe’s first retrospective features powerful work from his 1994 documentation of his and his partner’s daily struggles with AIDS, images from late-1960s anti-war marches and The Great March on Washington in 1987 for lesbian and gay rights. Born in Manhattan in 1948, the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts)-trained photographer is known for the homoerotic themes in his work that present and examine gay life. February 9-May 5, 2019
  • Souls Grown Deep – Works by luminaries Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, Ronald Lockett, Hawkins Bolden and Bessie Harvey are part of this exhibit featuring 24 acquisitions from Atlanta’s Souls Grown Deep Foundation. With a focus on art-making with found objects and everyday materials, the artists’works range in size from modest wall pieces to sculptures more than 12 feet wide. Displaying alongside them: 15 exquisitely made quilts by women from Gee’s Bend, Alabama. June 8-September 2, 2019
  • Collage and Assemblage from the Collection – Complementing Souls Grown Deep are select examples from the museum’s collection of early- to mid-20th-century Modernist and contemporary art. June 8-September 2, 2019

MAJOR PHILADELPHIA ART EXHIBITS FOR 2019 Philly Museums Celebrate A Year Of Creative DiversityCecilia Vicuña’s site-specific installation, Precarios, includes 110 to 112 found-object sculptures of stone, shells, glass, wood, plastic, thread and debris, presented in a field of sand, along a wall and on small shelves made of wood. This view is from the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. The installation is part of “Cecilia Vicuña: About to Happen,” at Philadelphia’s Institute of Contemporary Art, February 1-March 31, 2019. Photo by Alex Marks / Copyright © 2017 Alex Marks

Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), 118 S. 36th Street, (215) 898-7108, icaphila.org

  • Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts and Banal Presents – A three-part exhibit examines the everyday ways that slavery and colonialism continue to leave marks on American culture. The exhibit’s consecutive shows include Mundane Futures (February 1-March 31), featuring work by contemporary artists Martine Syms, Kevin Jerome Everson, Aria Dean and Dave McKenzie. The second, Quotidian Pasts (April 26-August 11), examines the complexities of collecting and displaying African objects, with artifacts from the Penn Museum displayed alongside new work by Matthew Angelo Harrison. The final installment, Banal Presents (September 13-December 22), features new and recent work by Sable Elyse Smith, Cameron Rowland and Carolyn Lazard. February 1-December 22, 2019
  • Cecilia Vicuña: About to Happen – The first major solo exhibition of this Chilean-born poet, artist, filmmaker and human rights activist boldly tackles social and political issues. Vicuña’s work flows from concept and craft, text and textile to address economic and environmental disparities and the reclamation of her ancestral traditions. February 1-March 31, 2019
  • Introducing Tony Conrad: A Retrospective – This exhibit presents the first large-scale survey of an avant-garde artist whose 1960s groundbreaking work in film and Minimalist music challenged barriers between mediums. A sensory experience that invokes the spirit of Conrad’s participatory and performative approach, this exhibit is a showcase for his far-flung interests in sculpture, painting, film, video and installation. February 1-August 11, 2019

Barnes Foundation2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 278-7200, barnesfoundation.org

  • Pat Steir Silent Secret Waterfalls: The Barnes Series – In the first installation of paintings on view in the Annenberg Court, the Barnes Foundation presents 11 seven-foot-tall oil paintings by American artist Pat Steir. The works reference the artist’s lauded Abstract-dripped Waterfall series that she began creating in the 1980s. January 12-November 17, 2019
  • From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in France and Britain – Exploring the fertile period in the early history of photography when the medium’s pioneers adapted and transformed this rich and complex medium, the Barnes’s second survey of photography presents nearly 250 early photographs—most of which have never before been exhibited—created by British and French photographers between the 1840s and 1880s. February 24-May 12, 2019
  • I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like: The Art of Bill Viola – This exhibition brings together a selection of major works reflecting on the history of painting by renowned video artist Bill Viola, including screen-based works and large scale installations. June 30-September 15, 2019
  • 30 Americans – This exhibit showcases painting, sculpture and photos by influential African-American artists of the past three decades. October 27, 2019-January 12, 2020

Fabric Workshop and Museum1214 Arch Street, (215) 561-8888, fabricworkshopandmuseum.org:

  • Sonya Clark (exhibit name TBA) – The Virginia-based textile and performance artist presents work that weaves together her interests in symbols, history, race and identity. Clark’s previous performance art includes Unraveling and Unraveled, in which she meticulously unraveled the threads of a Confederate flag. March 29-August 4, 2019
  • Jacolby Satterwhite (exhibit name TBA) – A multidisciplinary artist embraces the role of provocateur with performance, music and animation. As a queer African-American man, Satterwhite addresses issues that impact his personal experience and explores issues of nostalgia, family and music.September 13, 2019-January 19, 2020

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), 128 N. Broad Street, (215) 972-7600, pafa.org

  • Zanele Muholi & The Women’s Mobile Museum – Acclaimed photographer Zanele Muholi and the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center worked with 10 women in a yearlong paid apprenticeship to create this photographic exhibition that addresses questions such as “Whose portraits are shown in museums?” and “Who is art for?” December 22, 2018-March 31, 2019
  • Invisible City: Philadelphia and the Vernacular Avant-Garde – Appearing at four venues—PAFA, the University of Arts, the Philadelphia Art Alliance and Gershman Hall—this exhibition explores Philadelphia from 1956 to 1976, when the city was a hotbed of Pop Art, architectural and urban-planning innovation and post-war art school expansion. On display: photographs, paintings, films, posters by Ree Morton, Jody Pinto and Hannah Wilkie, along with achievements by architect Denise Scott Brown. March 18-June 28, 2019
  • From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic – A scenic tour of the local landscape as captured by Philadelphia painters from the Early American Republic to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, this exhibit shows how Philadelphia-area artists influenced the Hudson River School. This is the first major exhibit to look at Philadelphia’s role in the development of American landscape painting. June 29-December 29, 2019

Woodmere Art Museum9201 Germantown Avenue, (215) 247-0476, woodmereartmuseum.org

  • Freedom’s Journal: The Art of Jerry Pinkney – This exhibition of works by Germantown-born illustrator (and Caldecott winner) Jerry Pickney reflects his focus on issues surrounding African-Americans and includes his powerful illustrations for historian Charles L. Blockson’s article, “Escape from Slavery: The Underground Railroad,” which appeared in National Geographic, and watercolors for The Old African, a book Pinkney considers one of his most important accomplishments. February 16-May 12, 2019
  • Our Town: A Retrospective of Edith Neff – This Philadelphia artist and leading realist painter used Philadelphia, her friends, neighbors and students (she taught at PAFA until her death) as subjects in work. Although the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art have acquired some Neff pieces, Our Town is the first large-scale exhibition of her work in more than two decades. April 13-October 27, 2019

Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens1020 South Street, (215) 733-0390, phillymagicgardens.org

  • Patterned Paintings by Claes Gabriel and Andrew Chalfen – Two artists present work marked by an ornate expression of design, layering and color play. While Gabriel’s works incorporate Haitian culture with color, folklore and fantasy, Chalfen’s reference cartography, fractal blooms and other complex patterns. March 1-April 28, 2019
  • Paintings by Isaiah Zagar – Though more well-known for his mosaics, Zagar is also a painter with an extensive portfolio that informs his work in 3-D. May 3-July 7, 2019
  • Stained Glass Works by Justin Tyner – Tyner’s work mixes salvaged and repurposed glass to manipulate light in his distinctive psychedelic style. July 12-September 8, 2019
  • Collaborative Works by Martha Clippinger – In this exhibit comprising tapetes (rugs), ceramics, repurposed wood and hand-woven textiles, Clippinger explores artistic collaboration’s potential to break down conceptual barriers between craft and fine art. The tapetes are the centerpiece of the exhibition and were made in collaboration with weavers from Oaxaca, Mexico. September 13-November 10, 2019

Eastern State Penitentiary2027 Fairmount Avenue, (215) 236-3300, easternstate.org

  • Hidden Lives, Illuminated – Twenty commissioned, animated short films by artists living or working in prisons look inside the daily life of America’s correctional system. Each film is projected onto Eastern State’s facade and is accompanied by a customized soundtrack. Discussions about criminal justice issues accompany the films. August 17-September 14, 2019

Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia19 S. 22nd Street, (215) 560-8564, muttermuseum.org

  • Bones, Books & Bell Jars – Photographer and physician Andrea Baldeck went behind the scenes and explored the museum’s collection, then selected items and combined them for her still life photographs. As presented in this exhibition, her images capture the fascinating beauty of some of the Mütter’s medical objects. Through May 2019
  • Spit Spreads Death: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 in Philadelphia – The Mütter opens its most ambitious exhibition to date in a multi-disciplinary recounting of a global pandemic that took thousands of local lives in two years. History, art, science and contemporary issues offer a unique view into the terrifying time. Included in the exhibition is a work by the artist group Blast Theory and digital interactives that allow visitors to explore data from more than 20,000 death certificates from Philadelphia neighborhoods. October 17, 2019-August 5, 2024

Independence Seaport Museum211 S. Christopher Columbus Boulevard, (215) 413-8655, phillyseaport.org

  • O.TW. — On the Water: The Schuylkill River – Work by contemporary artists James Lancel McElhinney, Patrick Connors, Tom Judd, Deirdre Murphy, Stacy Levy, Jacob Rivkin and Joseph Sweeney address the Schuylkill as a nexus of American art, science, literature and commerce. Historic images are also included in the exhibition. Through September 2019

Brandywine River Museum of Art1 Hoffman’s Mill Road, Chadds Ford, (610) 388-2700, brandywine.org

  • American Beauty: Selections From the Richard M. Scaife Bequest – The Brandywine River Museum of Art and The Westmoreland Museum of American Art present 50 paintings from the bequest of their late, longtime trustee, Richard M. Scaife. Featured are 19th– and 20th-century American masterworks by Martin Johnson Heade, John Frederick Kensett, Albert Bierstadt, George Inness, William Merritt Chase and Guy Pene du Bois. March 9-May 27, 2019
  • N.C. Wyeth: New Perspectives – This exhibit takes a comprehensive look into the oeuvre of this master 20th-century illustrator. Though better known for his work illustrating classics such as Treasure Island and The Boy’s King Arthur, Wyeth had artistic output that went well beyond, with landscapes, portraits, murals, and still lifes. The exhibit will include about 70 paintings and drawings that reveal a fuller picture of this American icon. June 22-September 15, 2019

Michener Art Museum138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown, (215) 340-9800, michenerartmuseum.org

  • The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design – More than 40 chairs chosen for their significance tell the story of American aesthetics from the early 19th century to the present. Designers include John Henry Belter, George Hunzinger, Herter Brothers, Stickley Brothers, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Isamu Noguchi and Frank Gehry, among others. February 9-May 5, 2019
  • Nakashima Looks: Studio Furniture from the Permanent Collection – Artist Mira Nakashima, daughter of acclaimed woodworker George Nakashima, guest curates an exhibit that showcases some of the stunning work in the museum’s collection by both father and daughter. March 2-June 9, 2019
  • The Color of the Moon: Lunar Painting in American Art – More than 50 works of art depict the moon and reveal its prominence in American landscape painting in this unusually themed exhibit. Highlights include work by Thomas Cole, the father of the Hudson River School, and illustrations by Norman Rockwell. June 1-September 8, 2019

VISIT PHILADELPHIA® is our name and our mission. As the region’s official tourism marketing agency, we build Greater Philadelphia’s image, drive visitation and boost the economy.

On Greater Philadelphia’s official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com, visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages. Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the sites effective trip-planning tools. Along with Visit Philly social media channels, the online platforms communicate directly with consumers. Travelers can also call and stop into the Independence Visitor Center for additional information and tickets.

CONTACT: Cara Schneider,  (215) 599-0789, cara@visitphilly.com

Tweet Us: @visitphillyPR

Tweet It: Art exhibits in @visitphilly in 2019 reveal unsung works by famous and edgy artists: https://vstphl.ly/2E4m6Nw 

Thank you to Cara Schneider for the content of this post

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Two

Two, 3rd St Gallery, Pia De GirolamoGreen River Blue Mountain, Pia De Girolamo

Pia De Girolamo: Mountain Series and Carol Wisker: Accumulators.

Two Curated Exhibitions at 3rd Street Gallery

November 1-26, 2017

The 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA presents solo exhibitions by Pia De Girolamo and Carol Wisker, November 1-26. For Mountain Series, curator Christine Stoughton, Instructor of Aesthetics at the Barnes Foundation has selected a group of abstract landscape paintings for De Girolamo’s 3rd Street Gallery debut solo exhibition. Acting as a pictorial element across the series, the mountain is also a potent symbol of challenge, risk and refuge.

Long time 3SG member, Carol Wisker presents Accumulators, an exhibition of sculptural assemblages, selected by curator Barbara Bassett, the Constance Williams Curator of Education for School and Teacher Programs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In Wisker’s recent exhibition Left Behind, the Accumulators brought together textiles and findings from a variety of cultures left behind due to migration. In this new exhibition Wisker extends her definition of the Accumulators to also include aggregations of “created natural growth” in her fiber, wood and textile sculptures.

Highlights:

Artist Reception and Talks: Saturday November 11, 5:00 – 8:00pm.

Artist Talk by Pia De Girolamo: A Wild Peace: Art, Nature and Wellbeing. Saturday November 11, 6:00pm

Artist Talk by Carol Wisker: Accumulator…I Am! Saturday, November 11, 6:30pm.

First Friday: November 3, 5:00 – 9:00pm

Pia De Girolamo: Mountain Series

Curator Christine Stoughton says of De Girolamo’s landscape series: “She strips away the details to capture the vibration of colors, the geometric structure of the forms and the ambient space. While the viewer recognizes these abstracted works as a landscape we are given the opportunity to see this environment in a whole new way, which is what art is all about”.

Pia enjoys being out in nature, especially in the mountains. She finds that the key word in that sentence is “being”.

She states, “All the senses are engaged as I pocket smooth stones, sketch, smell the thyme and clover, taste the tartness of wild plants and listen to the sounds of nature as well as its silence. Then back in the studio, I explore what makes these landscapes beautiful and mysterious to me, letting the natural forms, the surrounding emptiness, and the sense of gravity influence how I use color and shape. As I work, the paintings evolve, and while some of them refer to real places, others spring from composite memories of shapes or vistas. All are a record of what is for me of the essence in these landscapes, whether they are in Iceland, Hawaii, the Canadian Rockies, or the American Southwest”.

In her artist talk, A Wild Peace: Nature, Art and Well-being De Girolamo will talk about her work and also link it to recently elucidated scientific thinking affirming the importance of exposure to nature and art to maintaining the individual’s physical and psychological health.

Pia De Girolamo grew up in New York City and lives in the Philadelphia area. She has had sequential careers, first as an Infectious Diseases physician and since 2003, as a visual artist. Recent exhibitions include the Professional Artist Members Exhibition at Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA and a solo show curated by Inliquid at the Courtyard Mariott at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 2017. Her work is in corporate and individual collections including those of PNC Bank Headquarters in Pittsburgh and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. A full member of 3rd Street Gallery, she is also a member of the Cerulean Gallery Collective, Main Line Art Center, Inliquid.com. Her website is

www.piadegirolamo.com

Curator Christine Stoughton is an art educator, sculptor, printmaker and formerly a practicing psychologist. She is an Instructor in Art Aesthetics at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA and at West Chester University, West Chester, PA. She is also a printmaking instructor at Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA. She has exhibited her work, including public art installations, in Philadelphia and the surrounding region, in New York City, Toronto and in Washington, DC.

Two, 3rd St Gallery, Carol WiskerCumulus, Carol Wisker

Carol Wisker: Accumulators

Curator Barbara Bassett says of Wisker’s installation: “Carol’s work takes what the world leaves behind: hinges, gears, fabric and fibers, furniture and antiques, bones and cocoons… and imbues them with new stories and purpose. In each, we find the familiar transformed, compelling us to look deep within ourselves.”

The works in the abstract Accumulator series are fashioned using the domestic art techniques of crochet, wrapping and braiding to form surface textures on a variety of shapes and forms that will be ceiling, floor and wall-hung. In this exhibition Wisker also presents painting like fiber works created through her hand and finger manipulation of painted wool roving in its basic combed state, depicting multi-colored flora, hills and valleys on round and square fields of dense off-white cotton.

Carol Wisker is a sculptor, painter and installation artist, born in Brooklyn, NY and who now resides in the Philadelphia area. Carol studied textile arts and received a BA in psychology at Mansfield University and her Masters of Education from University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Her artistic practice included a fifteen-year tenure at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the Division of Education and she also instructed art history and studio art in maximum-security men’s Correctional Facilities for twenty years. Wisker’s work is in corporate collections and has been shown in museum exhibitions, most recently at the Delaware Art Museum. She is a member of Philadelphia Sculptors, Assemblage Artists Collective and the da Vinci Art Alliance, and has also participated in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in 2016 and 2017. She is a member of Inliquid.com and her website is www.carolwisker.com Curator Barbara Bassett is The Constance Williams Curator of Education or School and Teacher Programs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She has spent over 30 years leading programs and developing resources that encourage children and adults to have rich personal experiences with art.

Two, 3rd St Gallery, Agathe Bouton

Showing in the 3rd Street Annex Gallery: Agathe Bouton: Reflections and Light, a series of monotypes.

3rd Street Gallery, 45 N 2nd Street Philadelphia, PA 19106

www.3rdstreetgallery.com

215- 625-0993

Thank you to Pia De Girolama for the content of this post.

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Inspiration

Looking at Other Artists for Inspiration, Robert BohneFrederick John Mulhaupt, Gloucester, Sotheby’s

Looking at Other Artists for Inspiration

by Robert Bohne’

I discovered long ago in my career as an artist that painters, just like writers, can suffer from what I refer to as painters block. Trust me on this. Plenty of people have written on this subject, and what works for me may not necessarily work for you, but I’d like to share what I’ve found to be a very effective way to, not only work through this issue, but to push your work to the next level. And it’s totally painless. As a matter of fact, it’s actually fun.

I, like most if not all artists have times when I just can’t seem to produce. My solution is something that came naturally to me, and it’s quite possible that you deal with this issue the same way that I deal with it. A simple trip to a museum. If you’re lucky like me, you have a wide variety of museums in your area to choose from. It doesn’t have to be a major museum. As a matter of fact, some of the smaller museums offer an environment very conducive for an artists to relax and to meditate on the works of those who are considered to be the best of the best. Why a museum instead of a gallery? Galleries are great, and now and then you will find an exhibit of an exceptional artist who’s work you can relate to, but why not set your sites high?

Will you be able to learn more from studying the works of an up and coming landscape painter or from studying a Daniel Garber? Now you could argue that at one time, Garber was an up and coming landscape painter too. But the idea here is to look at the best of the best. If you’re fortunate enough to be in an area rich with museums, I would suggest that you find a specific artist, style or genre that you are interested in, and focus on that. For example, I’m interested in representational work, with a focus on landscape and cityscape. For representational landscape, I can visit the Brandywine River Museum. There I can study Garber, The Wyeth’s, William Lathrop, Redfield, and a host of others who’s work is good enough to be included in the worlds greatest collections.

Looking at Other Artists for Inspiration, Robert Bohne

The Poetry of Nature: A Golden Age of American Landscape Painting at Brandywine River Museum of ArtMarch 19, 2016 to June 12, 2016, Louisa Davis Minot (1788-1858)

I study the technique, the composition, the palette, I even study the matting and framing of works. After all, presentation should not be overlooked. Keep in mind that this works for any type of art. If your style is similar to Paul Cézanne, go to the Barnes Foundation. Marcel Duchamp? Go to PMA. The idea here is to study the work of those who inspire you.

There are other way’s of doing this too. A good collection of books on your favorite artists is always a good place to start. And let’s not forget a search of Google Images. I was recently studying the works of Frederick Mulhaupt, a turn of the century landscape painter who’s work I have always admired, in an attempt to discover what it was that made so many of his paintings appealing to me. Using the Google image search, I was able to see pages and pages of Mulhaupts, and I discovered a common denominator. The use of strong diagonals in his compositions. Something that I could look for in nature when choosing a scene to paint, and something that I can use when composing a painting.

And last, but certainly not least, you should surround yourself with art that you love. And this doesn’t have to cost a fortune. I’ve built a sizable collection of beautiful and inspirational artwork on a budget. Much of it bought at auction and at thrift stores. I’ve learned from years of experience that you should buy what looks to be exceptional work, regardless of whether or not you recognize the name of the artist. Quite often I buy works that are unsigned, and quite often I’ll find a signature or some other identifying marks that will help in identifying the artist. If it’s affordable and it inspires you, buy it. Even if it’s just a good reproduction.

Looking at Art for Inspiration, Robert BohneUnsigned drawing bought for $20 at auction. Signature found on back – Harry Becker (British 1865 – 1928), Collection Robert Bohne’

To sum it up, most of the accomplished artists that I’ve studied with have reached the same conclusion. That the most important thing an artist can do to advance his or her artistic ability, is the constant analytical study of great works of art.

Paint on. Robert Bohne’

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American

AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART IN PHILLYMartin Luther King, Jr., 1981, by John Woodrow Wilson (Philadelphia Museum of Art: 125th Anniversary Acquisition. Purchased with funds contributed by the Young Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Museum and in celebration of African American art © John Wilson/Licensed by VAGA, New York Credit: Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art

Bringing together more than 75 works from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s extensive collection of art by African Americans, Represent: 200 Years of African-American Art displays works by 50 artists, including Henry Ossawa Tanner, Horace Pippin, Jacob Lawrence, Alma Thomas, Martin Puryear, Carrie Mae Weems and others. Highlighted by Tanner’s iconic painting The Annunciation, the exhibition features a wide range of items such as pre-Civil War-era decorative pottery, early 20th-century paintings and photography, sculpture and portraits. It runs through April 5, 2015.

In 2015, Philadelphia museums will mount six major exhibitions featuring some of the most celebrated African-American artists, further adding to the city’s reputation as one of the world’s great art centers. In addition to the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s special exhibition Represent: 200 Years of African American Art, featuring dozens of works from its collections, art lovers can take in the Brandywine Museum of Art’s landmark exhibition Horace Pippin: The Way I See It. Adding to the trove of artistic treasures is As We See It: Selected Works from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection, coming to the African American Museum in Philadelphia, along with shows at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Woodmere Art Museum.

After touring these special exhibitions, visitors can discover the array of African and African-American art in the permanent collections at many institutions around town. Here’s a look at the exhibits and museums worth exploring this year especially:

Special Exhibitions:

  • With work by renowned artists such as Henry Ossawa Tanner, Horace Pippin, Jacob Lawrence, Martin Puryear and Carrie Mae Weems, Represent: 200 Years of African American Art showcases a range of subjects, styles, mediums and traditions. Since acquiring Tanner’s The Annunciation painting in 1899, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection of African-American art has grown significantly, especially during the last three decades, and much of it will be on display in this exhibit. January 10-April 5, 2015. 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 763-8100, philamuseum.org
  • The African American Museum in Philadelphia presents two major art exhibitions this year. Masterpieces by such luminaries as Edward BannisterHenry Ossawa Tanner and Elizabeth Catlett sit alongside works by school children who have been influenced by them during As We See It: Selected Works from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection. February 5-March 21, 2015. In the spring, the museum explores the artistic side of Danny Simmons, who is best known as a writer, producer and Tony winner for his Broadway version of Def Poetry Jam. The United Nations and the Smithsonian count his art in their collections. Selected Works from the Danny Simmons Collection features Simmons’ art works and poetry, as well as items from his own collection (Beauford Delaney, James Van Der Zee, Mickalene Thomas, Sol Sax, Derrick Adams and Kara Walker). April 24-June 7, 2015. 701 Arch Street, (215) 574-0380, aampmuseum.org
  • In the first major exhibition of the artist’s works in the country in more than two decades, Horace Pippin: The Way I See It features more than 60 bold, colorful and candid paintings that reflect life in the African-American community and comment on race, religion, war and history. The Brandywine Museum of Art’s exhibition reveals Pippin as an artist who upheld his own aesthetic sensibility while addressing larger social issues. April 25-July 19, 2015.U.S. Route 1 by Creek Road (formerly Route 100), (610) 388-2700, brandywine.org
  • Through an array of works in a broad spectrum of media, African-American Artists of 20th-Century Philadelphia at the Woodmere Art Museum tells the stories of some of Philadelphia’s most celebrated African-American artists, such as James Brantley, Claude Clark, and Ellen Powell Tiberino, and the institutions that nurtured their talents and exhibited their works. Numerous oral histories round out the story. September 26, 2015-January 24, 2016. 9201 Germantown Avenue, (215) 247-0476, woodmereartmuseum.org
  • With more than 80 paintings, works on paper and the artist’s hand-made puppets all culled from major international private and public collections, Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis travels through four decades of the artist’s career from the 1930s through the 1970s. Through the exhibition, visitors to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts learn about Lewis’ role in the Harlem art community and his contributions to abstract expressionism.November 13, 2014-April 3, 2016. 118 N. Broad Street, (215) 972-7600, pafa.org

Permanent Collections:
African Art:

  • Dr. Albert Barnes’ interest in African art dates back to the early 1920s when he acquired traditional African masks and sculptures from the Dan and possibly Kulango societies of Côte d’Ivoire, as well as from Guinea and northeast Liberia. Visitors can see theses works, which he describes as “the purest expression of the three-dimensional form,” at the Barnes Foundation. Home to a remarkable collection of paintings from the masters of modern art, the Barnes Foundation’s significant collection of African art is displayed in remarkable ensembles that show how the likes of Picasso and Modigliani were influenced by the stylistic and symbolic forms in African art. The Barnes Foundation also holds important works by American artists, including Horace Pippin. 20th Street & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (866) 849-7056, barnesfoundation.org
  • The Penn Museum, or University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, boasts an extensive collection of African art and artifacts such as masks, sculptures, instruments, famed Benin bronzes, embroidered garments and jewelry. Visitors can also marvel at a wide range of other materials from throughout the continent, which are on permanent display in the African and Ancient Egyptian galleries. 3260 South Street, (215) 898-4000,penn.museum

African-American Art:

The With Art Philadelphia® collaborative is a first-of-its-kind partnership to position Philadelphia among the world’s great art destinations and to increase visitation to the region from around the world. The groups contributing financial and other resources to the campaign are: the City of Philadelphia, VISIT PHILADELPHIA, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The Lenfest Foundation, William Penn Foundation, Knight Foundation, Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, PNC and PECO.

For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit visitphilly.com or uwishunu.com, where you can build itineraries; search event calendars; see photos and videos; view interactive maps; sign up for newsletters; listen to HearPhilly, an online radio station about what to see and do in the region; book hotel reservations and more. Or, call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Historic Philadelphia, at (800) 537-7676.

For more information about With Art Philadelphia and high-resolution photos of the Philadelphia art scene and the region, visit visitphilly.com/withartpress.

Thank You to With Art Philadelphia for the content of this blog post. DoNArTNeWs contributed links to artist’s website and Wikipedia pages.

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