"Lady with Flower Basket,"
Alfred Heber Hutty (1878-1954). Watercolor on paper.
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. - The rich tapestry of the South is the focus of
an exhibition at the Huntsville Museum of Art. The Farmer/James
Collection of Southern Art (1850-1950) will highlight the people
and places of the region during the Nineteenth and early
Twentieth Centuries. This exhibition includes 50 works including
portraits, still lifes and landscapes from the private collection
of Drs Nancy Farmer and Everette James of Chapel Hill, N.C. The
show will run through October 12.
"The paintings, pastels and drawings in this collection are
skillfully executed in a range of naturalistic and
impressionistic styles that capture the rich diversity of the
people and land of the Southern United States," assistant curator
Colin Thompson said.
Thompson and museum staff have been coordinating this exhibition
over the past two years. "Viewers to the exhibition will discover
some well-known artists like Childe Hassam and George Inness, Sr,
as well as a local favorite, Maria Howard Weeden."
James is an honors graduate of the University of North Carolina
and Duke Medical School. He trained in radiology at Harvard and
was a postdoctoral student and a fellow at Johns Hopkins School
of Public Health.
In addition, James has collected American art for more than three
decades, has been a guest curator for nine exhibitions, served on
several art boards and was the founder and cover editor of the
International Journal of Art in Medicine. He and his wife, Nancy
J. Farmer, have given a number of artworks to museums,
universities and colleges, as well as charitable institutions.
Southern artists and women artists, in particular, remain a
special interest to the couple.
Farmer received three degrees from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been an educator at all levels,
including working as a counselor, a teacher, a principal and an
associate superintendent of school districts. She also taught in
Europe for several years. While there, she would visit galleries
on weekends and began collecting English watercolors.
The exhibition is organized by the Huntsville Museum of Art with
help from Betsy and Peter Lowe.
The museum is also featuring "Picasso: 25 Years of Edition
Ceramics," which runs through June 22.
General admission for nonmembers will be $8. Museum members
and children under 12 will be admitted free. The Huntsville
Museum of Art, 300 Church Street South in Big Spring
International Park, is open 1 to 5 pm, Sunday; 10 am to 5 pm,
Monday through Saturday with extended hours on Thursday from 5 to
8 pm. For information, call 256-535-4350 or 1-800-786-9095, or
visit www.hsvmuseum.org.
