Displaying items by tag: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Standing in front of Mary Cassatt’s softly impressionistic “Lydia Seated on a Porch, Crocheting,” with the sublimely complementary palette of “Moonlight, New England” by Childe Hassam hangs off to the right, a visitor can’t help but feel a frisson of excitement.

Because of collectors James and Frances McGlothin, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' American art galleries are 73 works richer and infinitely more fascinating. Originally intended to be donated to the museum after their deaths, the couple instead decided to share in the public’s enjoyment of the works by donating them now.

An exhibition honoring the creative genius of master sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through March 13, 2016. Drawn primarily from collections of the Musée Rodin, Paris, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition brings together more than 200 objects – fragile plasters, patinated bronzes, marbles, ceramics and works on paper – and examines the artist’s creative process. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about Rodin’s techniques, materials, models, and assistants, and to explore the artistic vision behind some of his best known works – including The Kiss, The Thinker, and The Burghers of Calais.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts says it has received a collection of American art worth more than $200 million.

The Richmond museum says the gift from James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin is the most significant collection of American art given to a North American museum in more than 30 years.

An important work by American painter Benjamin West was recently installed in the McGlothlin American Galleries. The portrait was acquired during the June 18 meeting of the VMFA Board of Trustees and is among the most valuable acquisitions in VMFA history.

Benjamin West, also known as the “father of American painting,” was at one point the most prominent painter in the British Empire. He served as President of the Royal Academy, History Painter to the King, and Surveyor of the King’s Pictures until his death in 1820. While in London, he also mentored American artists Charles Wilson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, and John Trumball – each of whom is represented in VMFA’s American Galleries.

While it may not feel like the first day of spring across much of the U.S., the canvases are in full bloom at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.

“Van Gogh, Manet, and Matisse: The Art of the Flower” traces the evolution of the floral still life genre from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. It features 65 masterpieces from more than 30 artists including Henri Matisse, Edouard Manet, Paul Cézanne and Vincent Van Gogh.

With lilacs, roses, and peonies abounding, the bouquets are a feast for the eyes, from the most exquisitely crafted floral displays to the humblest of arrangements.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is putting a timely and powerful painting on display.

The museum in Richmond recently acquired "The Visitation" by 17th-century Baroque master Mattia Preti, which depicts the first episode in the life of Christ recorded by Luke.

According to the museum, the painting depicts the meeting of the Virgin Mary with her older cousin Elizabeth following the annunciation by the angel Gabriel. Elizabeth, who was soon to give birth to John the Baptist, recognizes that Mary has been chosen as the mother of the son of God and greets her with a blessing.

New leadership is on the way at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.

John B. Ravenal, currently the curator for modern and contemporary art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, will take the helm as new executive director in mid-January. Interim director Katy Kline has been in place since the departure of Dennis Kois at the end of April. The Lincoln museum, which has an annual budget of about $5 million, was set to announce Ravenal’s appointment on Monday.

Kois left after a six-year tenure that was seen as a time of growth for the deCordova, overseeing enhanced fund-raising efforts and a sharper curatorial focus on sculpture, as well as a five-year strategic plan that went into effect in 2011.

A window on the private world of China’s Ming and Qing emperors opens october 18, when some 200 works — portraits, costumes, and palace furnishings such as bronzes, lacquerware, and jade—drawn from the holdings of the Palace Museum in Beijing go on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition surveys the seminal role of imperial rituals and religion in the Forbidden City, along with hidden aspects of court life from the mid 14th through early 19th centuries.

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced today that preeminent American art scholar Morrison H. Heckscher will retire on June 30, following 13 years as Lawrence A. Fleischman Chairman of The American Wing and a distinguished curatorial career at the Museum that spanned nearly five decades. He will become Curator Emeritus of The American Wing on July 1.

Mr. Campbell announced further that Sylvia L. Yount—currently Chief Curator as well as the Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane Curator of American Art and Department Head at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA)—will become the Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in Charge of The American Wing this fall. She was elected to her new position at the June 10 meeting of the Executive Committee of the Museum’s Board of Trustees.

The final group of paintings, drawings and sculptures bequeathed to museums by Paul Mellon before his death in 1999 have at last begun to arrive. Hidden away for decades, many are rarities that had never been seen by curators.

The group includes more than 200 works — examples by such artists as van Gogh, Degas, Gauguin, Monet and Seurat — that were only recently removed from the walls of the Mellons’ many homes, where they were enjoyed by his widow, Rachel Lambert Mellon, who died in March at 103.