"More Than Yodeling and Chocolate" At The Clark12:00AM / Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Williamstown - Famous for yodeling, chocolate, watches, and cheese, Switzerland has, over the centuries, also produced and been the home to many great artists.
In connection with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute's exhibition Alpine Views: Alexandre Calame and the Swiss Landscape opening October 8, Michael Cassin, curator of education at the Clark will present "More Than Yodeling and Chocolate: A Brief History of Swiss Painting" on Sunday, October 22 at 2 pm. The lecture is free and part of the "Mighty Mountains and Verdant Valleys" series.
The 19th-century landscape painter Alexandre Calame and his contemporaries are represented in the Clark's current special exhibition, Alpine Views, but they were preceded by artists as different as Henry Fuseli and Angelica Kauffmann in the 18th-century and succeeded by painters like Ferdinand Hodler and Paul Klee in the 20th-century. In this lecture, Cassin will take visitors on a whistle-stop tour through the incredibly varied history of Swiss painting, taking in many of the artistic high points along the way (no hiking boots or crampons required!).
Held at 2 pm on selected Sundays, the remaining "Mighty Mountains and Verdant Valleys" topics are "An Agreeable Kind of Horror: Mountains, Caves, and the Painterly Sublime" with associate director of the Research and Academic Program Mark Ledbury on November 12; and "Purple Mountain Majesties and Manifest Destinies: Bierstadt and the American West" with assistant curator of education Danielle Steinmann on December 10.
Rugged and stunning landscapes of the Swiss Alps, never before the subject of an exhibition in the United States, will be on view during Alpine Views. The exhibition brings together 26 sensuous paintings and sketches by Calame, and places them in the context of the 19th-century landscape tradition. His works are shown alongside 27 of those of his contemporaries offering a rare opportunity to explore the development of the often-overlooked yet significant Swiss school of landscape painting. Alpine Views is on view through December 31.
All works included in Alpine Views are from the collection of Asbjorn R. Lunde. The exhibition is sponsored by Toblerone.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm (daily in July and August). Admission June 1 through October 31 is $10 for adults, free for children 18 and younger, members, and students with valid ID. Admission is free November through May. For more information, call 413-458-2303 or visit www.clarkart.edu.
|
