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Current FeaturesNew Acquisition: Emilio Sanchez Emilio Sanchez was born into one of Cuba’s most prominent families but lived in Cuba for only a short time. Although he said “I’ve always been a terrible Cuban,” his interest in the light and color of the Caribbean comes from his early connection with that region. Before he settled permanently in New York in 1952, he studied architecture at the University of Virginia, demonstrating an interest in buildings, the subject of many of his paintings. At the time he painted La Fortaleza, Sanchez, who traveled extensively, was often in the Mediterranean, and it is there he found the inspiration for this image of a fortress, likely in Morocco.>> The potential impact might not be so farfetched: In a matter of several years, Google Art Project could have the type of effect on the international art museum world and cultural literacy comparable to what “googling” has meant for Internet searchers – a greater access to information and broader understanding of the connection among cultures.>> New Acquisition: Caspar Netscher In 2011, the Museum of Art received the gift of an important panel painting by the Dutch painter Caspar Netscher (born Germany, 1639? 1684). This very fine work is an important addition to UMMA's holdings in Dutch painting and represents a genre not already present in the collections-the subject of music making in a domestic interior. Beginning around 1650, scenes of low-life pastimes, such as drinking and dancing in taverns, were replaced by more affluent and refined interior scenes; Netscher's The Music Lesson reflects that transition. >>
In October, UMMA sent out a call for participation to all filmmakers, artists, writers, photographers, storytellers and arts enthusiasts interested in making a movie with the Museum. UMMA invited 12-16 individuals to create 2-3 minute videos in response to works of art in our collection to be made available to the public next spring in our galleries and on the DialogTable, UMMA's award-winning interactive storytelling and social learning tool.
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Paths to Renewal: Teaching, Leading and Healing through the Arts This year the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center at the University of
Michigan celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary. Director Holly Rider-Milkovich
approached UMMA to collaborate in bringing to life the messages of teaching,
leading, and healing at the core of SAPAC's mission. The result will be a small online
exhibition of works in UMMA's collection-selected by UMMA's student docents-
that invites reflection on and conversation about these themes.>> In Focus: New Albers Acquisition
To open eyes: this was the stated goal of Josef Albers in his teaching and his art. His particular interest
was opening our eyes to the interactions of color. In art he produced from the 1930s through the 1970s,
Albers used specific constellations of forms-nested squares or, as here, an array of rectangles-
executed in an infinite combination of colors to demonstrate how colors advance, recede, and bend when
juxtaposed in different ways.
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A conversation between UMMA Director Joe Rosa and philanthropist, collector, and UMMA lead benefactor Maxine Frankel on the occasion of the Museum's special exhibition Mark di Suvero: Tabletops, on view through February 26, 2012, which features works from the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art.
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One afternoon early this winter, visitors at UMMA could hear a tour group softly singing, their voices trailing from the balcony near the Joan and Bob Tisch Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. Led by UMMA docents in front of Sol Le Witt's series of aquatints, Stars, the activity was one of the unique approaches that docents have developed to engage Museum visitors who are living with dementia.
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Come to UMMA on a Friday afternoon and you may find a UM student leading a tour in the galleries. This is not a student working on a class project, but a member of UMMA's volunteer Student Docent Program. In addition to leading "Lunchtime Tours" and "Storytime at the Museum" events for children on the weekends, student docents have the opportunity to deeply engage with the art and the Museum in a variety of ways.
>> In Focus: UMMA’s Tiffany collection With UMMA’s expanded ability to showcase its until now largely hidden array of Tiffany objects, Ann Arbor has become one of three must-see sights-in addition to the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Morse Museum in Florida-on any Tiffany pilgrimage. As a worldwide brand, Tiffany conjures images of luxury, status, and quality. Tiffany & Co. was founded in New York in 1837 by Charles Tiffany, as a purveyor of stationary, jewelry, and other “fancy goods.” His son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, embarked on a career as an artist at age 18, and though he began as a painter, Tiffany turned to the decorative arts at the suggestion of a silver designer at Tiffany & Co. It’s been said that Tiffany’s glasswork reflects his early expressive watercolors. >> |