Member Preview Day: A Sweet Success!

On Valentine’s Day, NMWA members were treated to a delightful day, along with some tasty snacks! Those who attended snuck a peak at NMWA’s two newest exhibitions, A World Apart: Anna Ancher and the Skagen Art Colony and Freya Grand: Minding the Landscape. 

Anna Ancher and Michael Ancher, Judgment of a day’s work (detail), 1883; Oil on canvas; Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

A World Apart provides a glimpse into the life of one of Denmark’s premier female painters, Anna Ancher (1859–1935). Ancher was commended for her artistic talent during her lifetime, but remains little-known in the U.S.  She was respected by colleagues—including her husband, painter Michael Ancher—in the predominantly male art colony in Skagen, a remote coastal town on the northern tip of Denmark. The couple collaborated on a piece, Judgment of a day’s work, that is on view in A World Apart. Ancher’s works, many of which depict interiors, are complemented nicely by the striking landscapes of Freya Grand in NMWA’s other spring exhibition, Minding the Landscape.

Grand, a D.C.-based artist, has traveled the globe in search of remote and breathtaking landscapes for her subject matter. Her works capture specific moments in time, such as a wave breaking on the rocks, drawing viewers into her experiences of the awesome power of nature.

NMWA curators lead tours of Freya Grand: Minding the Landscape

On Member Preview Day, members received tours of the Grand and Ancher exhibitions throughout the day, led by NMWA’s curatorial and education staff. A wonderful time was had by new and veteran members alike! One member, who had never been to an NMWA member event before, noted that her tour guide was knowledgeable, friendly, and had excellent pronunciation. Another member wanted us to know that she enjoyed her day: “Both exhibits were inspiring, excellent, wonderful—featuring artists only the Women’s Museum would promote!” She added that she was “very proud to be a benefactor.”

Members tour A World Apart

Between tours, members gathered in the museum’s stunning Great Hall to enjoy tea, coffee, and an array of scrumptious mini cupcakes in honor of Valentine’s Day. Many had lunch at the museum’s Mezzanine Café and visited the Museum Shop, receiving a special Member Day discount of 20% at both locations. Members also explored NMWA’s collection galleries and received a free gift from the membership department before they left for the day!

One member stated, “My neighbor is so impressed that she plans to join as a member!”  If you would like to take part in the next batch of Member Day fun, join today at http://www.nmwa.org/support/membership. For a list of our upcoming events, visit: http://www.nmwa.org/visit/calendar .

—Abigail Luhn is the member relations intern at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

The Innovative Anna Ancher

Now open at NMWA, A World Apart: Anna Ancher and the Skagen Art Colony showcases over 60 paintings by the avant-garde Danish painter and her contemporaries at Skagen, a seaside artists’ community in northern Denmark.

On Member Preview Day, visitors view Michael Ancher’s “Anna Ancher returning from the field,” 1902

Ancher, the only female Skagen artist to receive high acclaim and sustain a lifelong career, consistently tested the bounds of painting. NMWA Associate Curator Virginia Treanor highlights Ancher’s interiors, sometimes devoid of human presence, as “evidence of Ancher’s interest, not in replicating the reality of the room or wall, or even the light, but rather what is left when these things are stripped away and all that remains are color and form.”

Rejecting idealized subject matter, the Skagen painters captured the reality around them. The exhibition’s thematic sections include images of Skagen’s rural landscape, the Anchers, hard-working townspeople, domestic interiors, and breakthrough works that showcase Anna Ancher’s stylistic innovations.

Anna Ancher, Sunlight in the blue room, 1891; Courtesy of Skagens Museum

A catalogue published with the exhibition contains full-color images of the Skagen artists’ works, historical photos of the artists’ community, and essays by Helga Ancher Foundation board member Elisabeth Fabritius and Skagens Museum curator Mette Bøgh Jensen. As Fabritius says, “Anna Ancher’s art is unlike that of anyone else. In its essence it is tied to the special world of motifs in Skagen: the fishermen’s families, the harvesters, the heathers, the special colors, and the brilliant summer light.” The respect she received for her artistic contributions was “unusual—a happy exception to the social conventions of that age.”

A World Apart is on view through May 12, 2013, and the 144-page exhibition catalogue is now on sale in the Museum Shop.

Visit NMWA on February 20 for a gallery talk with Mette Bøgh Jensen, check out other exciting programs, and don’t miss this special exhibition!

Summer Recap: NMWA’s YPF

It has been a busy summer for NMWA’s Young Professionals’ Forum (YPF). Founded more than six years ago by co-chairs Meredith Harman and Jessica Sterchi, the YPF’s mission is to bring together, mentor, and provide leadership for young female professionals from the D.C. metro area through networking and social events. This summer, the YPF has partnered with other women-focused associations in the area for some exciting events.

Members of Women in Government Relations and NMWA’s YPF at the Experience the Arts event

On June 12, 2012, NMWA welcomed members of Women in Government Relations for their annual event, Experience the Arts. Co-hosted by the YPF, this event recognized the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the Maryland Writing Project for their commitment to arts education in the D.C. community. In addition to hearing from the leaders of both organizations, guests enjoyed a performance of Catalyst, a one-woman docudrama created and performed by Brooke Haycock depicting the important role of educators in the lives of students.

In July, the YPF teamed up with the American Women’s Society of Certified Public Accountants to bring life and career coach Hilaire Henthorne to NMWA. Hilaire spoke on the topic “From Distressed to De-stressed: Wellness Wisdom for Women” and gave members of both organizations helpful tips for keeping work, family, and relationships in balance while maintaining our own mental and physical health. As most female professionals admit that they are consistently stressed and take very little time for themselves, the topic of this presentation was very apropos for the YPF.

On August 14, members of the YPF convened at i Ricchi in Dupont Circle for a happy hour featuring complimentary appetizers and half-price beverages. This was a great opportunity for members to network with one another and celebrate the final month of summer.

If you live in the D.C. metro area and would like more information about YPF membership or events, email ypf@nmwa.org. Join us for more fun social events and networking!

Committee News: Friends of NMWA, U.K., Celebrates the 25th Anniversary

To celebrate the global mission of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the museum’s London committee, formally known as Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, U.K., staged a series of events. In London and then in New York, the museum’s extended community united behind the goal of acquiring a significant sculpture, New Bird II by Dame Elisabeth Frink, RA, to donate to NMWA.

Elisabeth Frink, New Bird II, 1965

In February, Friends of NMWA, U.K., held a spectacular event to kick off these celebrations—a gala and sale of work by seventeen women artists working in silver. More than 100 people gathered for the gala evening event, and a steady stream of visitors came to the London West Bank Gallery for the following day’s sale. Two of the silver artists gave talks and demonstrations: Ndidi Ekubia on “Traditional Silversmithing Techniques” and Kathryn Hinton on “The Craft of Digital Tooling.” Under Beth Colocci’s leadership, the artists had been carefully selected to represent diverse design styles, price points, and object types. There was something for everyone, from whimsical silver straws by Rebecca Joselyn to fluidly shaped candlesticks by Ekubia, to architectural jewelry by Ute Decker.

The Silver by Women artists generously gave 25 percent of their proceeds to the London committee’s Silver Anniversary Campaign, intended to purchase the sculpture by Frink, an important British woman artist who is not currently represented in NMWA’s collection.

But the gap would not be completely filled without additional funding support. Silver by Women donations raised about two-thirds of the amount needed to acquire New Bird II. Much of the balance has come from two sources: the many individuals who understand the importance of British women artists receiving greater recognition outside the U.K., and the cross-border cooperation with Kentshire Galleries in New York City. (If you would like to support this gift, as well as future acquisitions of art by British women for the Women’s Museum, please donate here: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/silverbywomen/54934.)

When they learned that participating silver artist Ute Decker had an upcoming exhibition in New York at Kentshire Galleries, Patti White, a member of the London committee, reached out to Sarah Bucknell Treco, a New York-based member of NMWA’s National Advisory Board, and they collaborated to plan an opening reception on April 18. The U.S. opening reception for the artist’s work was collaboratively planned as a celebration of NMWA’s 25th anniversary year. Kentshire generously donated 10 percent of the evening’s proceeds to the campaign, assisting in the acquisition of the Frink sculpture.

Kentshire Galleries co-owners Marcie Imberman and Ellen Israel, artist Ute Decker, and NMWA Deputy Director Ilene Gutman at the April 18 event

The exhibition opening at the Kentshire Gallery was both an intimate experience and an inspirational success. Kentshire principals Ellen Israel and Marcie Imberman greeted the evening’s crowd with lovely refreshments and a warm welcome. Then, NMWA Deputy Director Ilene Gutman spoke about the museum’s founding and the celebrations planned for this anniversary year, including the stunning exhibition of Revolution-era French paintings, Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists from the Louvre, Versailles, and Other French National Collections. Gutman also brought greetings from NMWA Founder Wilhelmina Holladay, who was being honored that same evening at the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center, receiving a First Award for being an extraordinary woman and first in her field.

Artist Ute Decker described the conceptual origins and material selection process behind her distinctive architectural jewelry—each unique piece is made from Fair Trade gold or recycled silver. Her compelling vision fascinated the audience.

The successful events surrounding the Silver Anniversary Campaign organized by Friends of NMWA, U.K., underscore the common goals, strong ties, and tremendous cooperation of NMWA’s committees and friends in supporting the museum’s mission.

For their generosity in this campaign, Friends of NMWA, U.K., particularly wishes to recognize Farah and Hassan Alaghband, Monique Bahadur, Penny Baylis, Nancy Broadbent Casserley, Michele and Beth Colocci, Sarah Cooke, Belinda de Gaudemar, Clara Freeman, Lisa Garrison, Mercedes Hoffman, Hans and Jayne Hufschmid, Karen and Tom Kalaris, Evi Kaplanis, Janet Martin, Cassie Murray, Janice Sacher, Dasha Shenkman, Julie Skattum, Cornelia von Rittberg, George and Patti White, and Susan Zimny.

Friends of NMWA, U.K., would also like to thank the artists that particpated in Silver by Women: Susan Beale, Abigail Brown, Angela Cork, Ute Decker, Ndidi Ekubia, Shelby Fitzpatrick, Karina Gill, Jo Hayes Ward, Kathryn Hinton, Polly Horwich, Rebecca Joselyn, Marion Kane, Nan Nan Liu, Jane MacIntosh, Susan May, Emily Nixon, and Maya Selway.

Royalists to Romantics, now open at NMWA!

Chief Curator Jordana Pomeroy leads a tour on Member Preview Day

On Member Preview Day for Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists from the Louvre, Versailles, and Other French National Collections, NMWA had wonderful attendance by area members, who enjoyed seeing the works on view and the activities planned through the day. The exhibition, which is getting rave reviews from critics, showcased French Revolution-era artists whose work has rarely been seen outside of France—these portraits, landscapes, history paintings, sculptures, and botanical drawings illuminate the time period and women’s signal contributions to its artwork. Through galleries centered on themes of travel and knowledge, natural history, families, reinventing the past, scandal and power, theater, and working relations, visitors loved the variety of the works on view and appreciated the artists’ skill.

Laura Auricchio discussing "Royalists and Revolutionaries" on Member Preview Day

During a highly attended lecture, “Royalists and Revolutionaries: Women Artists in the French Revolution,” Chair of Humanities and Associate Professor of Art History at The New School Laura Auricchio enlivened the day for visiting members by discussing the social and political dynamics that women artists faced during this tumultuous period.

Celia Reyer beginning her residency project at NMWA

Another exciting event during Member Preview Day was the first in-gallery session of artist-in-residence and womenswear designer Celia Reyer, who is constructing a period-specific Brunswick traveling coat inspired by the fashions in the portraiture in Royalists to Romantics. Reyer will continue to work in the galleries March 4, 11, 18, and 25, and April 1 and 8. Her work-in-progress will be on view throughout the exhibition. Reyer’s Q&A sessions proved popular—she was able to discuss her process and inspiration, adding a new dimension of interest to the exhibition.

Royalists to Romantics is on view through July 29. For additional information about the exhibition and related programming, visit www.nmwa.org.

Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists from the Louvre, Versailles, and Other French National Collections

Opening next Friday, February 24, Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists from the Louvre, Versailles, and Other French National Collections features 77 paintings, prints, and sculptural works from 1750 to 1850—many of which have never been seen outside of France. In keeping with NMWA’s mission to rediscover and celebrate women artists of the past and demonstrate their continued relevance, the museum’s curators spent months scouring the collections of dozens of French museums and libraries to cull rarely-seen works by women artists. Royalists to Romantics showcases these exceptional works and reveals how the tumultuous period—which saw the flowering of the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the terrors of the French revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, and the restoration of the monarchy—affected the lives and careers of women artists. The exhibition will be on view through July 29, 2012.

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Portrait of a Woman, 1787; Oil on canvas, 39 ⅞ x 32 in.; Musée des beaux-arts, Quimper

“Royalists to Romantics is the first exhibition to focus on women artists of this time period in France and demonstrate how they navigated a highly gendered world that presented different opportunities for education and patronage than for their male counterparts,” said NMWA Chief Curator Dr. Jordana Pomeroy. “The exhibition and catalogue for Royalists to Romantics will help to banish the obscurity that has veiled the legacy of many 18^th-century French women artists.”

Featuring 35 artists, including Marguerite Gérard, Antoine Cecile Haudebourt-Lescot, Adélaïde Labille-Guillard, Sophie Rude, Anne Vallayer-Coster, and Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun, the exhibition explores the political and social dynamics that shaped their world and influenced their work. Some of these artists flourished with support of such aristocratic patrons as Marie Antoinette, who not only appointed her favorite female artists Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun and Anne Vallayer-Coster to court, but advocated their acceptance into the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture—an official seal of approval that could establish an artist’s career. The political upheavals of the French Revolution and the following decades brought a new set of challenges for women artists.

Adrienne Marie Louise Grandpierre-Deverzy, The Studio of Abel de Pujol, 1822; Oil on canvas, 37 7/8 x 50 7/8 in.; Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris

“In celebration of the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ 25th anniversary, we are delighted to present Royalists to Romantics, an exhibition dedicated to a group of extraordinary 18th-century women artists that inspired our founder, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay,” said NMWA Alice West Director, Dr. Susan Fisher Sterling. “Like other important historical surveys NMWA has organized, including An Imperial Collection: Women Artists from the State Hermitage Museum and Italian Women Artists: From Renaissance to Baroque, bringing this great art to the U.S. from the Louvre, Versailles and other French national collections demonstrates our continued commitment to new scholarship about exceptional women artists over the centuries.”

Antoine Cecile Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot, The Capture of Thionville, 1837; Oil on canvas, 34 ¼ x 46 in.; Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon; Image: Franck Raux; Courtesy of Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, NY

NMWA members are invited to a special Member Preview Day, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. on Thursday, February 23, 2012, featuring:

• A noon lecture by New School Professor Laura Auricchio: “Royalists to Revolutionaries: Women Artists in the French Revolution”
• Staff-led gallery tours throughout the day
• An opportunity to see NMWA’s artist-in-residence and womenswear designer Celia Reyer begin work on the Brunswick traveling coat, inspired by and created through historically accurate production processes, that will bring to life the fashions in the portraiture on view.

For information about the day, or about becoming a NMWA member, visit www.nmwa.org or call toll-free 866-875-4627.

The 135-page, fully-illustrated exhibition catalogue has been published by Scala Publishers, with essays by Pomeroy and other noted scholars in the field. (To purchase the catalogue, call the Museum Shop toll-free at 877-226-5294. $45/Member $40.50; Item #3500.)

 

Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists from the Louvre, Versailles, and Other French National Collections has been organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., with logistical support from sVo Art, Versailles.

The exhibition is made possible by the Annenberg Foundation, the Florence Gould Foundation, Hermès, Teresa L. and Joe R. Long, and Jacqueline Badger Mars, with additional funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, an Anonymous Donor, the Robert Lehman Foundation, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Further support is provided by Air France and Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square.

Check out NMWA’s Summer Magazine for Interviews, Artwork, and Exhibition Information!

NMWA’s summer issue of Women in the Arts, free to members and NMWA visitors, is a great resource for information about the museum, recent events, and current exhibitions. On the cover, Jaune Quick-to-see-Smith’s Modern Times (1993) is currently on view in Pressing Ideas: Fifty Years of Women’s Lithographs from Tamarind (on view through October 2). Quick-to-see-Smith is one of the many significant women artists who have gone to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to learn the medium of lithography from the Tamarind Institute’s master printers.

Pressing Ideas also includes lithographs—reflecting a huge variety of genres and styles—from Kiki Smith, Dorothy Dehner, Margo Humphrey, Fay Ku, Polly Apfelbaum, and Diane Reyna. The Tamarind Institute has revived lithography as a medium; it was founded by the recently deceased artist June Wayne, whose “Dorothy Series,” 1975–79, was featured at NMWA in 2010. This exhibition showcases more than 70 of most impressive, creative lithographs created at the institute over the past five decades.

Guerrilla Girls, Horror on the National Mall!, 2007; (c) Guerrilla Girls

Also featured in the summer issue, the current Guerrilla Girls exhibition, The Guerrilla Girls Talk Back (on view through October 2) was organized from two portfolios of posters, postcards, newsletters, stickers, and other objects that were donated to the museum by Steven Scott. Kathryn A. Wat, NMWA’s curator of modern and contemporary art, says that this dynamic presentation of the anonymous artist-activists’ work “illustrates the Girls’s mission to ‘make trouble’ in order to promote social change.” As Wat describes, the Girls have provoked substantive changes within the art world, but they are determined to continue shedding light on bias and discrimination: “Wielding facts, fake fur, and a ferocious commitment to exposing injustice, they fight on to promote inclusiveness in our global community.”

Susan Swartz: Seasons of the Soul at NMWA

NMWA’s third special exhibition, Susan Swartz: Seasons of the Soul (on view through October 2), is highlighted through an interview: Raphael Fitzgerald, curator of exhibitions, queries Susan Swartz about her artwork, her career, and the personal stories that motivated her to feel so passionately about environmental activism. As Swartz says, “If I can make people pause and see what is real during this busy age when we all hurry through our lives, if I could make people see the unsentimental beauty of nature for one moment, then I will have met my goal. Nature is what sustains us. We seem to have forgotten this truth.”

Gail Levin, author of Lee Krasner: A Biography, discusses the book at NMWA

In another interview in this season’s Women in the Arts, Chief Curator Jordana Pomeroy speaks with Gail Levin, the author of the first full-length biography of Lee Krasner. Levin, who visited NMWA in the spring to discuss her book, describes, “I met Krasner when I was a 22-year-old graduate student in art history, and, as our relationship developed, had the chance not only to interview her about Jackson Pollock and herself, but also to ask her questions that a young woman might ask a mentor. I asked Krasner a lot of personal questions and she discussed some things with me that she rarely talked about with anyone else.”

For the full text of these illuminating articles, as well as information about education events at the museum, shop merchandise, and upcoming exhibitions, pick up a copy of Women in the Arts by visiting NMWA or becoming a member today!

—Elizabeth Lynch is the editor at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Not a DC resident (but want to support NMWA)?

Did you know that 75% of the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ members resides outside of the DC metro area? Our members commonly cite our mission to bring recognition to the achievements of women artists as their main reason for supporting the Museum. And let’s face it – our membership benefits certainly sweeten the deal. All of our membership levels $100 and above include the North American Reciprocal Membership Program (NARM)   which translates to access to over 500 museums throughout the country, Bermuda, Canada, El Salvador, and Mexico for members. The North American Reciprocal Membership Program also extends discounts like those offered to NMWA members on purchases made on the premises in the gift shop as well as on concert and lecture tickets of the participating museums! 

And just to whet your artistic appetite, here is a sampling of exhibitions at participating NARM museums:

Current:
 
The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art in Evanston, IL
I Myself Have Seen It: Photography and Kiki Smith through August 14, 2011

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, NC
Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology through October 3, 2011

Bennington Museum in Bennington, VT
Grandma Moses and the “Primitive” Tradition through October 31, 2011

Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, ME
Louise Nevelson through December 31, 2011

To learn more about Kiki Smith, “Grandma” Anna Mary Robertson Moses,  Louise Nevelson, and Niki de Saint Phalle (whose playful sculptures are currently featured in NMWA’s New York Avenue Sculpture Project) visit the Clara Database.
Upcoming:

The Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, NC
The Deconstructive Impulse: Women Artists Reconfigure The Signs of Power, 1973-1990 opens September 15, 2011

Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, WA
Carolee Schneemann: Within and Beyond the Premises opens September 24, 2011

The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC
Breaking Down Barriers: 300 Years of Women in Art opens October 28, 2011

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, NM
Jaune Quick-To-See Smith: Landscapes Of An American Modernist opens January 27, 2012
 
To learn more about Carolee Schneemann and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith visit the Clara Database.
 
Don’t see your state listed?  Visit the North American Reciprocal Museums for a full list of participating museums!

Presentation of a current NMWA membership card validated with a North American Reciprocal Seal entitles you to admission to participating museums. Discounts are valid only for goods and tickets purchased on premise.  For more information please visit the North American Reciprocal Museums  site or contact NMWA Member Services by phone at 866-875-4627 or by email at member@nmwa.org.

Summer Exhibitions Member Day

Check out photos from our exclusive Member Day gallery talks!

Artist Anne-Marie Manker talks about her series "Trip for Two" featured in the exhibition Body of Work.

NMWA Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Kathryn Wat talks about how she selected the eight artists for the Women to Watch 2010 exhibition.

NMWA members enjoy the art featured in The Collaborative Print: Works from SOLO Impression.

SOLO Impression Founder Judith Solodkin and NMWA Chief Curator Jordana Pomeroy discuss the collaborative printmaking process.

Judith Solodkin talks about the work "Henriette" by Louise Bourgeois.

Artist Kate Longmaid explains the creative processes behind her two paintings selected for Women to Watch 2010.

Member Day is July 8th!

Now that all of our summer exhibits are ready to view, Member Services is hosting another Member Day.  We hope you can join us this Thursday, July 8 from 10am-8pm for tours by NMWA curators and educators as well as a special talk by artist Judith Solodkin, founder of of SOLO Impression, Inc. Each Member may bring one guest and take advantage of 20% discounts in the Museum Shop and Café.

For more information about Member Day or about becoming a member please call (866) 875-4627 or email member@nmwa.org.

Exhibits on view:

Pomp and Power: Antoinette Bouzonnet Stella’s Entrance of the Emperor Sigismond into Mantua

JuYeon Kim: The In-Between

June Wayne’s “Dorothy Series”

The Collaborative Print: Works from SOLO Impression

Women to Watch 2010–Body of Work: New Perspectives on Figure Painting

Last spring, NMWA members enjoyed an exclusive gallery talk by designer Mary McFadden. Come enjoy talks by NMWA staff and Master Printer Judith Solodkin this Thursday!