: The Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) recently acquired several works of
art for various areas of TMA's collection, including ancient
Greek silver, Japanese woodblock prints, African sculpture,
American painting, Bohemian glass and contemporary sculpture.
A footless Greek silver bowl, created in about 100 BC, when
silver and gold vessels served as a form of currency and exchange
value equaled or exceeded aesthetic value, is one of the new
acquisitions. The 22-centimeter-diameter bowl formed in the shape
of callote, or flattened dome, is intricately decorated with
acanthus leaves and flower motifs. In addition to complementing
several pieces of Hellenistic silver tableware in the TMA
collection, this ancient silver bowl is also the first work of
art acquired with funds given in memory of Kurt T. Luckner, who
served as TMA's curator of ancient art for more than 25 years.
At 7:30 pm on October 22, "Silver of the Gods" co-organizer
Andrew Oliver will give a public talk about ancient Hellenistic
Greek silver. Following the talk, the newly acquired silver bowl
will be unveiled in the Classic Court, where it will remain on
view.
Though famous for his vibrant landscape paintings of autumnal New
England scenes, it was Jasper Francis Cropsey's landscape
painting of an English village that TMA's Apollo Society selected
as its 2004 gift to the museum. In the painting entitled
"Bonchurch, Isle of Wight," Cropsey depicts a mother and her
children enjoying a pond and a village lane dappled in sunlight
and shadow.
In TMA's American galleries, the newly acquired painting will
complement one of Cropsey's most important American landscapes,
"Starrucca Viaduct, Pennsylvania." This TMA pairing of domestic
and foreign scenery by one artist parallels several others in the
collection by artists such as Thomas Cole, Sanford Gifford and
George Inness.
Curator Lawrence W. Nichols will present a public talk on this
new Apollo Society gift at 1:30 pm on October 14. The talk will
begin with a presentation of the Little Theater and will conclude
in front of "Bonchurch, Isle of Wight."
Contemporary German sculptor Stephan Balkenhol puts everyday
people on pedestals. TMA recently acquired Balkenhol's 1996
sculpture "Man With Bullhead." Close examination reveals the
figure's relaxed posture with shoulders slouched and hands in
pockets. His wardrobe indicates that he is a civilized
"Everyman," with the exception of having the head of a bull. This
startling feature evokes the mythological Minotaur, but his
countenance is far from the fierce grimace one might expect. An
ancient mythological beast dressed in modern clothing, the
figure's incongruously mild facial expression suggests the high
degree of expressiveness Balkenhol achieves through relatively
crude carving.
Duane Hanson's (American, 1925-1996), sculpture "Executive,"
polyester resin and fiberglass, polychromed in oil, mixed media,
with accessories, 1970, is on view in Gallery 1.
TMA began collecting and exhibiting Japanese prints in the 1930s.
Over the past seven decades, this area of the collection and its
reputation have grown. To add to this renowned and important
collection, TMA recently acquired an Eighteenth Century Japanese
woodblock print by Suzuki Harunobu. The print entitled "Rain in
May" has been meticulously conserved and retains its vibrant
colors.
"Rain in May" depicts two young women leaving a bathhouse and
taking shelter from the rain under one umbrella. Another young
lady, passing in the opposite direction, stops to look back at
them. This newly acquired print will be on view in the Asian
galleries in fall 2005 as part of the TMA exhibition of Japanese
woodblock prints entitled "Strong Women, Beautiful Men."
Paul Oppitz created his masterfully engraved covered pokal
(representational goblet) when he was only 18 years old. Despite
the artist's youth, this new glass acquisition is an exceptional
masterwork of Nineteenth Century Bohemian glass.
The imposing goblet stands more than 20 inches tall, and the
sides of its bowl are engraved with intricate renderings of two
Gothic Rhineland castles, Schloss Rheinstein and Schloss
Stolzenfels. Oppitz wheel-cut the designs onto the tall glass
vessel, and then filled the remaining surface, including the
matching cover, with dense neorococo ornament.
This new acquisition is significant not only for its
extraordinary craftsmanship, but also for its role in launching
Oppitz's successful career as a master engraver. Curator
Jutta-Annette Page will present a public talk about the pokal and
its significance to the collection at 1:30 pm on November 11 and
3 pm on November 13.
The most recent addition to the museum's collection of African
art is an Opon Ifa, or divination tray and bowl, carved by a
Yoruba sculptor in the region of Ekiti (northeast Yorubaland,
Nigeria). This particular tray was carved from a single large
piece of wood and covers a bowl with five compartments. The rim
is carved with images of spiritual forces. The tray will be on
view in the African gallery as part of the Winter Legacies
celebration December 17-19.
The museum is at 2445 Monroe Street at Scottwood Avenue. For
information, 419-255-8000, 800-644-6862 or
www.toledomuseum.org.
