April 28, 2000
Contact: Andrea Norris, Spencer Museum of Art, (785) 864-0139
LAWRENCE--The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has announced a schedule of a dozen exhibitions for summer 2000 through May 2001.
The major show for the year is "The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Museum of Art." The show highlights John Singer Sargent, Abbot Thayer and others who brought a new sophistication and elegance to American art in the decades before World War I.
Exhibits include
* "40,000 Years of American Art: The Work of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith,"
June 10 to Aug. 27
An exhibition of works on paper by contemporary Native American artist
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, who will lecture about her work at 7 p.m. June 15
in the Spencer Museum of Art auditorium.
* "December 1, 1999," June 17 to Aug. 6
A display of the diverse array of works acquired by the museum, by gift and
purchase, at a Dec. 1 curatorial meeting.
* "Brushed Voices: Calligraphy in Contemporary China," July 8 to Sept. 3
Calligraphy from the last decades of the 20th century that reveals the
diversity and vigor of this ancient art form in contemporary China.
* "Artists in Exile," Sept. 2 to Oct. 1
An exhibit of prints and drawings by artists who fled Europe during the
Second World War, organized in conjunction with the International
Conference on Exile Studies at the Max Kade Center for German-American
Studies, Sept. 21 to 24.
* "The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum,"
Sept. 23 to Nov. 19
One of eight exhibits in "Treasures to Go," from the Smithsonian with the
support of the Principal Financial Group, touring the nation through 2002.
Major American paintings and sculpture of the late 19th century.
* "American Indian Traditions Transformed," Sept. 9 to Oct. 22
Three-dimensional works in traditional media by contemporary Native
American artists, in conjunction with the 12th annual Lawrence Indian Arts
Show.
* "A Writer's Vision: Prints and Drawings by Gônter Grass," Nov. 4 to Dec. 30
An exhibit of 53 prints and drawings by German artist and author Gônter
Grass, recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1999.
* "Ming Painting Through the Eyes of Connoisseurs," Jan. 20 to March 4, 2001
Twelve Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) painted scrolls from the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., the Spencer Museum of Art and the Allen
Memorial Museum at Oberlin College.
* "Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Women Artists," Feb. 3 to April 1
Works from the collection, shown in conjunction with the British Women
Writers Association conference sponsored by the University of Kansas in
March 2001, as well as in honor of National Women's History Month.
* "Contemporary Art from Cuba: Irony and Survival on the Utopian Island,"
Jan. 13 to March 18
An exhibit presenting work by 16 young Cuban artists, all of whom use irony
for psychological survival and oblique commentary. Their works speculate on
Cuba's complex past, its love/hate relationship with the United States and
its cultural uniqueness as a nexus of African, European and Asian cultures.
* "Remembering the Family Farm: 150 Years of American Prints," March 24 to
June 3
An exhibit that examines the material culture of the American farm as
documented by prints of farm implements, barns, silos and other
outbuildings.
* "Metaphor and Irony: Czech Scenic and Costume Designs from 1920-1999,"
April 12 to June 3
This exhibit, borrowed from the collection of the Prague Theater Institute
and from individual artists, celebrates the Czech innovations and
avant-garde stage designs of the earlier part of the century and their
exciting manifestations in contemporary set designs.
Spencer Museum of Art gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Galleries are closed Monday. There is no admission fee; suggested donation is $3.
Editors note: Color slides or B&W photos available on request from Sally Hayden, Spencer Museum of Art, (785) 864-0135