HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We want to take this opportunity to say "Thank You" and  wish you a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Labor & Leisure: Impressionist and Realist Masterpieces from a Private Collection  

This selection of masterpieces from a Private Collection features scenes of work and leisure by important 19th and early 20th century artists including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, William Adolphe Bouguereau, John William Waterhouse, Jules Breton, Pierre Eugene Montezin, Léon August Lhermitte, Stanhope Alexander Forbes, Eugène Boudin, Edouard Bisson, John William Godward, and Sir Alfred James Munnings. The exhibition brings together Impressionist and Realist masterpieces that document radical changes to 19th century society and culture. Technology advanced, rural populations declined, urban centers flourished, occupational opportunities expanded and wages increased. Numerous 19th century artists were drawn to subjects that seemed on the verge of disappearing, such as nostalgic scenes of rural life and pastoral settings.  In contrast, many Impressionist artists depicted images of leisure: boating scenes, promenades, picnics and grand-fêtes.

Impressionism: Masterpieces on Paper  

This exhibition combines selections from the MMAC Permanent Collection with private loans to highlight seldom-seen etchings and lithographs from important Impressionists.  Although Impressionism originated in France, this exhibition includes artists from England and Sweden as examples of how Impressionism revolutionized art history.  Artists include: Pierre-August Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Jean Louis Forain, Honoré Daumier, Gustave Leheutre, Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin, Charles François Daubigny, Félix Braquemand, Jean-François Millet, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Augustus Edwin John and Anders Zorn.

Image banner: detail, Abrouwarf, New Year's Eve, no date, wood engraving, MMAC Permanent Collection

Image top: Edouard Bisson (1856-1939), Sitting by the Sea, ca 1882, 

oil on canvas, Courtesy of a Private Collection, photograph by Kaz Tsuruta
 

Image bottom:  Edouard Manet (1832-1883), Profile of Charles Baudelaire, 1862 (published 1869), etching, Collection of the Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University, The Bolker Collection, Gift of Norman and Esther Bolker

Nancy Erickson: Kindred Spirits

January 24 - April 20, 2013

Nancy Erickson's Kindred Spirits features her pioneering large scale, free-form textile compositions which combine paint and stitched fabric.  Her artwork speaks to the dignity of wild creatures and this exhibition highlights works that have seldom or never been seen before, inspired by the cave art at Chauvet Pont d'Arc and Lascaux.  It is presented to celebrate Erickson as the 2013 Odyssey of the Stars honoree.  The Opening Reception will take place Thursday, January 31, 5-7pm. 

Follow That Thread: Fashion and Textiles
from the MMAC Permanent Collection 

January 24 - April 20, 2013 

A selection from the MMAC Textile Collection,which numbers more than 1,800 objects, the exhibition includes fashions from the vintage clothing collection, historic costumes from the UM School of Theatre and Dance, 15th-and 16th-century European tapestries and pieces from the Helen Cappadocia Collection of Southeast Asian Textiles as well as unique accessories. The Opening Reception will take place Thursday, January 31, 5-7pm.

Image top: Nancy Erickson, detail, Fire Season, Western Montana, 2012, satin and cottons, fabric paints, oil sticks, machine stitched, appliqued and quilted, 61 x 71 inches

Image bottom:  detail, Flat lined and boned bodice, skirt with pleated back, ca.1904, Wool, trimmed in satin, donated by Mrs. George Jackson, MMAC Permanent Collection