#CulturedPeachy #WashingtonDCPeachy Now Open: "Sargent, Whistler and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano"
Exhibition Examines Cultural Exchange Between American Artists and Venetian Glassmakers During the Late 19th Century
“Sargent, Whistler and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano” invites visitors to voyage to Venice in the first comprehensive examination of American tourism, art making and art collecting in this Italian metropolis.
On view in Washington, D.C. through May 8, 2022, the exhibition features more than 140 artworks, including rare etchings by James McNeill Whistler, major oil paintings by John Singer Sargent, and work by Robert Frederick Blum, William Meritt Chase, Charles Caryl Coleman, Louise Cox, Frank Duveneck, Ellen Day Hale, Thomas Moran, Maxfield Parrish, Maurice Prendergast, and Julius LeBlanc Stewart.
These paintings and prints intermingle among rarely seen Venetian glass mosaic portraits and glass cups, vases and urns by the leading glassmakers of Murano, including members of the legendary Seguso and Barovier families. More than a quarter of the objects in the groundbreaking exhibition are from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection, joining loans from more than 45 prestigious museums—such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago—and from private collections.
The exhibition gives fresh attention to women artists who were often sidelined in the history of the period, such as Mabel Pugh. As both makers and collectors, Italian women were at the forefront of reviving and sustaining Venice's glass, bead and lace industries. During the same time, American patrons and collectors like Isabella Stewart Gardner and Jane Lathrop Stanford also supported Venice's other decorative arts industries, most notably mosaics, lace and jewelry, incorporating their passions into what would eventually provide the foundation for their own respective museums in the United States.
The exhibition is organized by Crawford Alexander Mann III, curator of prints and drawings at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Commentary about the project by Mann is available in an introductory video produced by the museum and in an interview published on the museum's blog "Eye Level."
Additional installation photography is available via Dropbox.
Book
The gorgeously illustrated catalog features five new essays from experts in the history of American art and Venetian glassware. Members of the media interested in obtaining a copy of the catalog are urged to contact Katie Hondorf.
Credit
“Sargent, Whistler and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano” is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Generous support has been provided by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C., Chris G. Harris, the Raymond J. and Margaret Horowitz Endowment, Janet and William Ellery James, William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment Fund, Maureen and Gene Kim, the Lunder Foundation—Peter and Paula Lunder Family, Lucy S. Rhame, Holly and Nick Ruffin, the Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Awards, Rick and Lucille Spagnuolo, and Myra and Harold Weiss.
The accompanying catalog is supported in part by Jane Joel Knox.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
In-kind support has been provided by Christie's.
Related Exhibition
The exhibition "New Glass Now" is on view at the Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum's branch for contemporary craft, from Oct. 22 to Mar. 6, 2022. It offers a global survey that highlights the innovation shown by a new generation of glassmakers. The exhibition, organized by the Corning Museum of Glass, features a range of objects, installations, videos and performances by 50 artists working in more than 23 countries. Their work challenges the very notion of what the material of glass is and what it can do.
Planning a Visit to the Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is open with a reduced weekly schedule and health and safety measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Visitors are advised to consult the museum's website, Americanart.si.edu/visit, for up-to-date guidance about current policies, operating hours and requirements for face coverings.
About the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. Its artworks reveal America’s rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. The museum’s main building is located at Eighth and G streets N.W., above the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail station and is open 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Its Renwick Gallery, a branch museum dedicated to craft and decorative arts, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W. and is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is free. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Website: americanart.si.edu.
Image Credit:
Installation photography of Sargent, Whistler and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano, 2021, Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum; photo by Albert Ting.
