MMFA - Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts

Objects of Wonder: Four Centuries of Still Life from the Norton Museum of Art

July 3 through October 10. 2010

William M. Harnett,Bachelor's Table,1880, Norton Museum of Art

Objects of Wonder includes approximately fifty-two works of art from the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida. It presents a cross section of works in many media united by the genre of still life, encompassing works from many cultures and over four centuries, dating from the Ming Dynasty of China to the early 2000s.  A still life is generally a depiction of a diverse arrangement of inanimate objects: flowers, fruits, game, plants and other materials. The earliest such compositions are found in Egyptian funerary paintings, and the genre extends through all periods of art in most every culture.  Accomplished and prominent artists such as Henri Matisse, Georgia O'Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Gustave Courbet, Edward Weston, and Claes Oldenburg, contribute works in a variety of media. to this exhibition. Still life celebrates the significance of even the most mundane of objects, embracing and perpetuating a moment in time that combines experience of real life with artistic representation.

Fabric in Landscape (2000 to 2010): Photographs by Laquita Thomson

August 14 through October 3

Lava Flow, 2005 Fabric in Landscape Series, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

Artist Laquita Thomson embarked upon a personal “art adventure” in the year 2000, setting herself the task of photographing landscape in each of the fifty United States and on every continent.  While she has yet to cover some of the continents, she completed her project to conceive and photograph landscapes in each of the fifty states, organizing compositions utilizing fabric arrayed within the subject environment.  

 Thomson’s project is rooted in her West Tennessee childhood and her awareness of the land. ”I drew and painted pure landscapes by the time I was 12 or 13 years old…. (This project) is a response to ‘place’: its landforms, sky, seasons, weather, crops, man’s interaction with all these elements brought about this series of photographs.”

 Fabric in Landscape will feature approximately twenty-five of the compositions that were produced by Thomson during her travels around the United States in the last decade.  Her goal was to find distinctive sites that she responded to visually, and then to build a “fabric complement” within that environment.  The results are her meditations on the elements and structures in landscape that normally escape our attention.  

Helen Keller Memorial Sculpture

October 1 through November 28, 2010

Photograph courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol

On October 7, 2010, the United States Capitol dedicated a new sculpture recognizing the accomplishments of Alabama native Helen Keller. Since 1864, each state has been allowed to place two statues in the Capitol recognizing the contributions of their citizens to the history of our country. In 2002, Congress changed the law to allow states to replace their statues and Bob Riley, then a U.S. representative, suggested the state place a statue of Keller in the Capitol. The Alabama State Legislature passed a resolution asking Congress to accept a statue of Helen Keller as a gift.

The composition shows Keller standing at a water pump as a 7-year-old girl, a look of recognition on her face as water streams into her hand. It depicts the moment in 1887 when her teacher Anne Sullivan spelled "W-A-T-E-R" into one of the child's hands as she held the other under the pump. It was that moment when Keller realized meanings were hidden in the manual alphabet shapes Sullivan had taught her to make with her hands. Private donations allowed the State to commission Utah figurative sculptor Edward Hlavka to create the bronze now on view in Washington, and a second cast that is now traveling in the State to honor Keller and her achievements. Keller, who lost her sight and hearing due to illness at the age of nineteen months, went on to learn to speak, and she earned a degree from Radcliffe College, travelling the world and championing causes including women's suffrage and workers' rights.

The presentation of this sculpture at the MMFA is made possible by the following sponsors:  The Daniel Foundation of Alabama, AT&T Alabama, Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital, Alabama Power Foundation, Healthsouth Corporation and BBVA Compass Bank.

Annie Leibovitz WOMEN

October 28, 2010 through January 9, 2011

Cover of Women by Annie Liebovitz and Susan Sontag

 Annie Leibovitz: WOMEN features more than 80 photographs by the renowned American photographer Annie Leibovitz.  Included in this exhibition of Leibovitz’s stunning black and white and color photos are highlights from her 1999 book Women, featuring portraits of notable figures such as Barbara Bush and Oprah Winfrey, Southern heroines Eudora Welty and Osceola McCarthy, as well as formerly anonymous women who take on rolls as farmers, miners, astronauts, and soldiers.

 Leibovitz, who got her start as a photographer for Rolling Stone magazine in the 1970s, had access to many of the most iconic musicians and celebrities of that generation. She transitioned from Rolling Stone to Vanity Fair in the 1980s, where she continued to photograph prominent stars, anonymous models, and up-and-coming talents.  Leibovitz remains a contributing photographer for Vanity Fair, however, she also maintains an active schedule of commissioned portraits.

 This exhibition derives from the collection of The Women’s Museum: Institute for the Future, Dallas, Texas, and is sponsored in Montgomery by Bobbi and Ferrell Patrick.

Giovanni Balderi: Italian Marble Sculpture from Pietrasanta

October 28, 2010 through January 2, 2011

Photograph Courtesy of Giovanni Balderi

 Giovanni Balderi is an accomplished contemporary Italian sculptor, and as part of an ongoing cultural exchange program between Pietrasanta, Italy and the State of Alabama, the Museum will present examples of his work in marble this fall.

Balderi (born 1970) has lived and worked around the famous Carrara marble quarries throughout his life.  He has exhibited in Pietrasanta, Florence, Rome, Pisa, and Lucca, Italy, and in Germany, Holland, and Egypt.  His sculpture is in public and private collections in Europe, Japan, and North America.

As part of the cultural exchange program in the spring of 2009, Balderi and other artists from Pietrasanta visited Sylacauga, Birmingham, and Montgomery.  He carved small sculptures in Alabama marble from Sylacauga quarries.  This exhibition will feature figurative abstractions and floral subjects carved in Pietrasanta from Carrara marble.

Fantasies & Fairy Tales: Maxfield Parrish and the Art of the Print

October 30 through January 9, 2011

Maxfield Parrish was one of the early 20th century's most popular and well-known artists who undertook hundreds of commissions for book illustrations, magazine covers, advertisements and lithographs that reveal both his sense of humor and his unparallelled eye for graphic design. Though modern scholarship pays increasing attention to Maxfield Parrish's career as a fine artist, the immense popularity of his work during the early 20th century rested upon his commercial design work. In many cases, Parrish's original paintings were a direct result of these commercial enterprises. Before abandoning figurative work in the 1950s, Parrish undertook hundreds of these commissions. This exhibition presents a comprehensive sampling of Parrishs printed works, offering insight into the multifaceted relationship between the worlds of commercial and fine art.

Sculpture by Jaehyo Lee

January 8, 2011 through May 8, 2011

0121-1110-1091213, (chaise), 2009 Courtesy Cynthia Reeves Gallery, New York

Jaehyo Lee is a prominent contemporary Korean sculptor who has been exhibiting internationally since 1996. The artist works in natural materials and steel to build sculpture that emphasizes those materials’ essential natures and complex textures. He frequently works in raw wood, creating clean geometric forms, but he also crafts works from charred wood and nails, emphasizing the beauty of the burnt wood and the polished metal.  He graduated from Hong-IK University in 1992, and is the winner of the Hankook Ilbo Young Artists Award in 1997, the Osaka Triennial Award in 1998, and many other exhibition prizes. His work is included in the collections of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea, the Osaka Contemporary Art Center in Osaka, Japan, as well as other collections in the Far East.

The exhibition is made possible by Cynthia Reeves Gallery, New York.

Print Portfolios: From the Paul R. Jones Collection at the University of Alabama

January 15, 2011 through October 9, 2011

Phoebe Beasley, Aunt Sue's Stories (Detail) Courtesy PRJC, U. of A.

In 2011, the MMFA will feature a series of exhibitions of print portfolios by prominent African-American artists.  The prints are part of the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art at The University of Alabama.  This is one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of 20th-century African-American Art in the world, amassed over decades by Paul Raymond Jones (1928-2010), who was described by Art & Antiques magazine as “one of the top collectors in the country.”  The collection includes more than 1700 works of art in a variety of media from more than 600 artists.

Jones donated the collection, valued at more than $4.8 million, to the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama in 2008.  It is part of the Department of Art and Art History in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences and is incorporated into university course work.  Portions of the collection are displayed on campus and made available to historically-black colleges and universities, other institutions of higher education, arts education programs, and museums throughout Alabama.

Photographs by Carl Burton

January 22 through March 13, 2011

Lily Pond, Giverny, Courtesy of the Artist

 During a thirty-year career as a professional photographer, Carl Burton has documented the distinctive landscapes of Europe and the United States with particular focus on New York City.  His images record both splendid vistas as well as beguiling details. Because he works with a panoramic camera and large, horizontal prints, the viewer is enveloped by the environments that Burton records. The artist writes, “As I work, I'm dazzled by the beauty I see, by the intensity and quality of light, by color, and by the world's evanescence. Indeed, as I look over my work, I realize that I'm trying to stop time and capture a small part of the world before it disappears or is completely transformed. Most of the New York images, for example, now serve as records of places that no longer exist. My images document the subtle—and not-so-subtle—ways that people make their mark on the natural world.”

Winning IDEAs: Selected Product Designs 2008

January 22, 2011 through March 13, 2011

SENZ XL Storm Umbrella,Courtesy Cameron Art Museum

Winning IDEAs features the winners of the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) for 2008. The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) presents these awards annually, with an international jury of professional designers and academics selecting the winners.

Each day, we live and work with products whose functionality, beauty, and availability are taken for granted.  Few of us realize that these products are conceived, designed, and put into production by industrial designers.  This exhibition of contemporary consumer products illuminates the design features that distinguish these items from similar but less effective designs.

In 2008, jurors noted a growing sense of social responsibility, the influence of globalization, and a respect for minimalism and elegance, especially in the communications and computer designs such as Apple’s IPhone and MacBook Air laptop. The exhibition features a selection of gold, silver, and bronze award-winning designs from the 2008 competition’s 17 categories:  Commercial and Industrial Products, Communications Tools, Computer Equipment, Design Strategy, Ecodesign, Entertainment, Environments, Home Living, Interactive Product Experiences, Leisure & Recreation, Medical and Scientific Products, Office and Productivity, Packaging and Graphics, Personal Accessories, Research, Student Designs, and Transportation.

Winning IDEAs, organized by the Cameron Art Museum, is the first museum exhibition in over a decade to feature a collection of IDEA winners.

Thirty-Ninth Montgomery Art Guild Museum Exhibition

March 26, 2011 through May 15, 2011

The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is proud to sponsor this biennial series of exhibitions in cooperation with the Montgomery Art Guild in order to give the community an opportunity to survey the achievements of area artists.  Traditionally the Art Guild Museum exhibitions are filled with contemporary works in a variety of media, demonstrating significant dedication and creativity by a myriad of artists in the Montgomery area, as well as the State of Alabama.

Since the late 1950s, the Museum has been partnering with the Montgomery Art Guild to produce exhibitions focusing on the works of artists in Central Alabama.  While the names have changed, the intent of the show has always been to encourage the production and appreciation of art within the community.  Today the two organizations partner not just to produce the exhibitions, but also to provide instructional and enrichment experiences for artists of all ages.

On Paper: The Lincoln Center• List Art Collection

May 28, 2011 through September 11, 2011

RobertKushner,Linwood1997,Courtesy Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

In celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 2009, 82 limited edition prints and posters commissioned by the Albert and Vera List Collection were exhibited at UBS Art Gallery in New York City.  The MMFA is pleased to present that exhibition in Montgomery. Beginning with the first limited edition serigraph poster by Ben Shahn announcing the opening of Philharmonic Hall in 1962, the Lincoln Center/List Collection commissioned works by a variety of prominent contemporary artists.  Early posters by Marc Chagall, Larry Rivers, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol lent the fledgling program considerable impact and good will.

 In 1970, the List Collection broadened its scope by publishing its first signed and numbered print edition (by James Rosenquist), as a complement to the poster component. Since 1970, the List Collection has published four to six signed editions annually, making the List Collection print publishing program one of the oldest in the country in continual operation.

The List Collection provides a window on the last half-century of contemporary art.  Minimalism, Pop Art, Color Field, and Abstract Expressionism are only a few of the art movements represented in this impressive collection.  In addition to the artists mentioned above, Josef Albers, Elizabeth Murray, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Kushner, Robert Motherwell, Julian Schnabel, Jamie Wyeth, Jennifer Bartlett, Helen Frankenthaler, and many more artists are included.

The Art of the Theatre

November 1 through January 25, 2009

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival's production of the War of the Roses Trilogy will be the source for this intriguing exhibition of art and artifacts interpreting contemporary stagecraft. The installation will illustrate and manifest the creative design and construction processes that transform the Bard's written word into a 21st century theatrical production in the Elizabethan style.

Sonia Handelman Meyer: Images from the Photo League

January 24 through May 10, 2009

In the years around World War II, Sonia Handelman lived in New York City and worked as a photographer, focusing on the lives of common people who surrounded her. The child of Eastern European immigrant parents, she gravitated towards the poor and dispossessed. Like Lewis Hine and Farm Security Administration photographers of the Great Depression, she believed that social documentary photography could improve the lives of people by communicating the humanity of the oppressed and disadvantaged. Handelman’s sentiments were shared by members of the Photo League, a group of photographers active in New York City from 1936 to 1951. The Photo League was loosely organized around exhibitions, lectures, classes, and a newsletter. Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White, Lisette Model, Bernice Abbott, W. Eugene Smith, Aaron Siskind, and Paul Strand were members. Handelman was an active member of the group and she served briefly as its secretary, the only paid staff position. Her Photo League photography has sparked renewed interest. Exhibitions in Charlotte and New Orleans have acquainted a new generation of viewers with modern prints from the vintage negatives made in her twin-lens Rolleicord. Now Montgomerians can appreciate the art of this compassionate photographer whose honest and un-manipulated images provide insight to the lives of Americans who faced the challenges of their own day with dignity. Ghfas hshshjfg

Ancestry and Innovation: African American Art from the American Folk Art Museum

February 7 through April 12, 2009

The collection of the American Folk Art Museum in New York is the source for 39 works created by self-taught African-American artists in the rural South and urban North. This exhibition surveys the Museum's rich holdings of this material, demonstrating the ongoing contribution of these artists to the kaleidoscope of American culture and visual experience. A number of the artists represented in the exhibition are Alabama natives, including quilters Leola Pettway, Lureca Outland, Mozell Benson and Mary Maxtion.
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Bessie Potter Vonnoh: Sculptor of Women

February 7 through May 10, 2009

"Bessie Potter Vonnoh: Sculptor of Women" is the first scholarly examination (and the first exhibition since 1930) dedicated to the work of one of the most widely respected American artists of the turn of the twentieth century. The exhibition features 35 sculptures that span Vonnoh's most productive period, from about 1895 to 1930. It also includes portraits of the artist by her husband, the painter Robert Vonnoh, and several photographs which provide an intimate view into the life and work of this accomplished artist. A short video on the lost-wax method of casting bronze illuminates the complex process employed by the sculptor to capture the fluid modeling and delicate details that characterize her popular, naturalistic portrayals of women and children.
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Patrick Dougherty: Sculpture Installation

March 1, 2009 through May 11, 2010

During March of 2009, North Carolina artist Patrick Dougherty has built a site-specific sculpture on the lawn by the main entrance to the Museum. He used saplings gathered around East Montgomery to create a structure ten to twenty feet tall and thirty to fifty feet square. The sculpture echoes the shape of the brick "port cochere" that flanks the Museum's entrance. The artist used volunteers to gather and weave the truckloads of sticks that are needed to create his signature sculptures. The art is expected to last a year or two before nature takes its course, at which time the sculpture will be destroyed per agreement with the artist. For more information, see the Dougherty Installation page.

Pietrasanta Festival Exhibitions

May 2 through July 12, 2009

The Museum's Flimp Fesival had an international twist this year with exhibitions in the galleries featuring the work of Italian sculptors from Pietrasanta, Italy. The exhibitions, on view until July 12,  focus on the creative process of sculpting, particularly those works carved from marble, which is the prime material utilized by Pietrasanta artists and artisans In addition, an exhibition of photograhpy by Romano Cagnoni, a photographer from Tuscany who has been a photo-journalist for over fifty years, will include photographs that interpret the practices and traditional techniques of the artisans of Pietrasanta.

38th Montgomery Art Guild Museum Exhibition

May 23 through July 19, 2009

The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is proud to sponsor this biennial series of exhibitions in cooperation with the Montgomery Art Guild in order to give the community to survey the achievements of area artists. Traditionally, the Art Guild Museum exhibitions are filled with contemporary works in a variety of media, demonstrating significant dedication and creativity by a myriad of artists in the Montgomery area, as well as the State of Alabama. Since the late 1950s, the Museum has been partnering with the Montgomery Art Guild to produce exhibitions focusing on the works of artists in Central Alabama. While names have changed, the intent of the show has always been to encourage the production and appreciation of art within the community. Today the two organizations partner not just to produce the exhibitions, but also to provide instructional and enrichment experiences for artists of all ages.

Photographs by Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002)

August 1, 2009 through August 8, 2010

By the time of his retirement in 1992, more than 15,000 people had been the subjects of Yousuf Karsh's portraits.  Not all of his sitters were famous, but Karsh made his reputation by crafting the iconic images of household names.  His technical mastery of lighting and printing enabled him to produce remarkable portraits with rich, velvety blacks, clear, strong whites, and a complete tonal range in between. Over the next few months, many of the master’s best-known works will be displayed in a series of small exhibitions in the Williamson Gallery and adjacent Orientation Lobby. Artists, Architects, Designers, and Dancers will be featured in back-to-back exhibitions February 6 through April 4 and April 10 through June 6.  Picasso, Giacometti, Chagall, Disney, Steichen, O’Keeffe, Warhol, and Nureyev will be joined by Man Ray, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and others.The Karsh series will conclude with Presidents, Princes, a Pope and More June 12 through August 8.  Large black and white images of Truman,Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan impeccably printed under Karsh’s direction will hang adjacent to portraits of European royalty—Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, Princess Grace and Prince Ranier.  The exhibition will also include group portraits the Apollo XI crew, and one of Hellen Keller and her companion Polly Thompson.

Beverly Erdreich: Metaphor Boxes and Drawings

July 25 through September 27, 2009

In 2007, Birmingham artist Beverly Erdreich prepared an exhibition that was a striking departure from her previous work. Associated primarily with abstract painting, Erdreich began to research topical issues as subjects for mixed media presentations of drawings, paintings and box-based constructions. The result is Metaphor Boxes and Drawings, which challenges the viewer to consider the larger implications of the most important social and political concerns of our modern world. Erdreich writes, “For the last several decades I have been a painter. My work has been primarily abstract and approached in a rather lyrical manner…. However, the foreboding tragedies of AIDS and drugs, reoccurring tragedies of war and devastation, the dark and continuing prejudice among people, the unquestioned side of religion and the lost innocence of children…. prompted me to want to deal with these topics.” Her responses to these issues take the form of two-dimensional works accompanied by boxes she conceived and constructed in order to prompt the viewer’s contemplation and involvement.
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Contemporary African-American Quilts from Alabama

July 25 through September 27, 2009

Throughout history quilts have held lan important and often cherished place in our culture, society and family traditions. Created in domestic settings, quilts serve both decorative and practical purposes. The creator is typically a woman and is not professionally trained, but has learned the essential skills of quilting in the home from her mother or relatives. The quilts quickly become treasured by the owners and often are passed on through the family to become prized heirloomss. Though the materials and techniques may be common, quilts, as process, as art, as image, reflect the very fabric of our history and democracy. In 2004, the Museum acquired a collection of 48 quilts, most of which were created in West Alabama between 1945 and 2001. The collector, Kempf Hogan, assembled the collection in concert with folk art dealer Robert Cargo and their mutual dedication insured that the collection is of both historical as well as artistic significance. Featured artists include Yvonne Wells, Mozell Benson, and Nora Ezell--all of whom now enjoy national renown. The designs of these textiles range from the traditional to the most contemporary forms of expression. The Museum will exhibit selections from this outstanding collection, including all 10 works the Museum now holds by Tuscaloosa quilt maker Yvonne Wells.

Mia Pearlman MAELSTROM

July 25 through September 27, 2009

Sculptor Mia Pearlman creates the ineffable from the ephemeral--her massive works of art are fashioned from paper, and they suggest the transitory nature of life on planet Earth. Featured in this exhibition will be MAELSTROM, a giant multilevel mobile, 12 feet in diameter with a 360-degree rotation. Consisting of six circular layers of cut paper hanging from an aluminum armature, it hovers just above the heads of its viewers. Swirling cut-paper clouds evoke nature's duality both perfectly sublime and supremely destructive.

A Century of Retablos: The Janis and Dennis Lyon Collection of New Mexican Santos, 1780-1880

October 24 through January 17, 2010

A rich tradition of religious painting flourished in the Southwest in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In this era of Spanish Colonial rule, painters and their workshops created wooden panels embellished with images from the lives of the saints and other holy figures. These panels, known as retablos, were visual narratives created for churches and homes as aides to veneration of the Saints. This exhibition, organized by the Phoenix Art Museum, features ninety-three Spanish colonial wooden retablos of New Mexico drawn from one of the most complete collections of this work in the United States. The artists, or santeros, were self-taught, and these images continue to influence the contemporary production of folk art in the Southwest.

Movements in Stillness: The Still-Life Paintings of Edgar Soberon

October 24, 2009 through January 24, 2010

Edgar Soberon's classically elegant still-life paintings are grounded in the work of the old as well as the modern masters.  A contemporary painter and printmaker now based in San Miquel de Allende, Mexico, Soberon's works speak to the long tradition of painting still life in the Hispanic world as exemplified by works of Spanish masters such as Francisco de Zurbaran and Francisco de Goya. The artist is recognized for his mastery of technique, his sensitivity to light and textures as well his ability to convey a wide range of ideas and emotions within the relatively narrow thematic range of the still life.

Soberon left his native Cuba at a young age, going to Spain with his family in 1971 before emigrating to New York two years later. As a young artist he studied at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, but returned to Europe in the 1980s. While in Spain in 1987, it was the masters of the Spanish Golden Age of still-life painting that most deeply struck a responsive chord in his imagination.  Together with his appreciation for the modern art of his native Cuba, these influences came to define a style of painting that is a unique blend of past and present.

The exhibition is organized by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, and will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue.

ART AUCTION 2010

Bidding Opens February 6th

The Museum’s biennial art auction in support of the exhibitions, acquisitions, and educational programs of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts will be held on Thursday, February 25, and Saturday, February 27, at the Museum. Click here  to see the items available for bidding.

The Silent Auction will be held on Thursday evening from 6:30 pm to 9 pm, and tickets are $50.00 per person for an elegant cocktail reception and the chance to bid for over 450 works of art.  The Live Auction is Saturday, beginning at 6:00 pm, with tickets at $150.00 per person, featuring cocktails and dinner, with a live auction of 35 exceptional works from galleries around the United States. The range of artworks available is extraordinary—from fine paintings, works on paper and photography, to sculpture, glass, ceramics, and jewelry.

The MMFA Art Auction has established a reputation as both an outstanding opportunity to acquire distinctive works of art in all price ranges, as well as providing an exciting, fun-filled auction experience.  The majority of items are included in the Silent Auction, with items as inexpensive as $30.00 open for bidding beginning on February 6^th.  The Silent Auction remains open to the public until the 25^th, and anyone is welcome to come in and view the works and place a bid.  There is no charge to visit the Silent Auction installation, or to place a bid on any of the items on view. The Silent Auction culminates in the Thursday evening party which allows the attendees the opportunity to place that all important, final winning bid before the closing bell. You do not have to be present on Thursday to acquire an object in the Silent Auction…if yours is the last bid at the bell, you’ve got it!

On Saturday evening, the event replicates the elegance and drama of a New York auction, featuring a professional auctioneer from Christie’s, New York, as well as a gourmet dinner prepared by the Museum’s caterer, Jennie Weller.  There is always plenty of work available on both evenings at auction in a broad range of price, with an emphasis on both beauty, as well as affordability.

The Art Auction is sponsored by Merrill Lynch.  Please call the Development Department at 334-240-4333 for more information.

Tin Man: The Art of Charlie Lucas

March 6 through June 20, 2010

Alabama-native Charlie Lucas' scrap steel sculptures and vibrant paintings simultaneously combine the aesthetics of Modernist abstraction with the whimsy of folk art. While he has exhibited his work since 1984, most recently, it has been featured in the 2009 book published by the University of Alabama Press entitled Tin Man: The Sculpture of Charlie Lucas. This installation will showcase Lucas' large-scale metal sculptures, borrowed from his Prattville, Alabama, sculpture environment, as well as smaller relief sculptures and paintings. The exhibition is organized by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

Lost in Form, Found in Line: Works by Robert Motherwell

April 3 through June 27, 2010

Robert Motherwell was one of the great painter/printmakers of the mid-twentieth century, and a prominent figure in the movement known as Abstract Expressionism.  This exhibition contains examples of his works on paper - print multiples, monotypes and unique drawings that explore his working process, and particularly the influence of his studio environment.  For this artist, the studio was a sanctuary which was self-sustaining; continually expansive, and revealing of the possibilities that a phrase or poem might provide for a work of art.  About sixty works will be included, along with photographs of Motherwell's studio inspiration walls and of the artist at work. 

The exhibition is organized by the Jerald Melberg Gallery, Inc. in cooperation with the Dedalus Foundation.

Nicola Marschall and the Walker Family at Cedar Grove

April 3 through June 20, 2010

In 1865, Prussian-born artist Nicola Marschall painted a full-length, posthumous portrait of a Civil War officer of the Confederate Army, First Lieutenant J. Mack Walker, C.S.A. The Museum acquired this work as a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Hopson Owen in 1938. Museum staff members have been researching this painting—the artist and sitter— for a number of years, utilizing both scholarly resources as well as local and family histories. This exhibition is a visual summation of this research, which has established connections among the artist, the subject's family and their ancestral home, Cedar Grove near Faunsdale, Alabama. The portraitist, Nicola Marschall, was an itinerant artist who lived at Cedar Grove prior to the Civil War, and for a period after the War when he painted portraits of members of the Walker family. The exhibition will bring together family portraits, historical artifacts, photographic documentation and the lore of this plantation-centered family and site to tell the story of art in the lives of West Alabamians in the 19th century. It will reveal relationships and the dynamics of art patronage within the context of this remarkable period in Alabama history.