"The God Khnum," New
Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty. Sandstone, traces of paint.
Masterworks from The British Museum on View in
March
TOLEDO, OHIO. - "Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from
The British Museum," an exhibition comprising more than 145
objects selected exclusively from one of the foremost collections
of Egyptian antiquities in the world, premieres at The Toledo
Museum of Art on March 1, 2001, the first venue of an extensive
national tour. Over half of the works on view - from renowned
masterpieces to intimate treasures - have never before been
presented outside The British Museum. The exhibition is organized
by the American Federation of Arts and The British Museum.
"Eternal Egypt" is the first comprehensive survey to take an art
historical approach to this great culture, examining the quality
and significance of the full range of pharaonic art, as both a
cultural expression and as a high art revealing fundamental human
values.
Selected by Edna R. Russmann, curator, Department of Egyptian,
Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art, Brooklyn Museum of
Art, in conjunction with W. V. Davies, keeper of Egyptian
antiquities, The British Museum, the works in the exhibition are
arranged chronologically to reveal artistic development over 35
dynamic centuries, from shortly before the First Dynasty, about
3100 BC, through to the Roman occupation in the Fourth Century
AD.
According to Russmann, "The chronological installation allows the
viewers to see how dramatically this art changed over time and
provides an overview of the richness and scope of this
exceptional collection."
The exhibition comprises masterworks in a variety of media,
including stone, wood, terra cotta, ivory, gold, glass, and
papyrus. A key contribution of the Egyptians to art history, the
development of portraiture, is examined in monumental sculpture,
statuary, relief, stelae, coffin lids, and papyri sections from
the Book of the Dead.
The four periods into which ancient Egyptian history is
divided-the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, and the
Late Period-from the underlying structure of the exhibition.
Within each section, the unique and innovative aspects of the
period's art, as well as it characteristic styles, forms, and
genres, are demonstrated.
Among the themes explored in the section devoted to the art of
the Early Dynastic Period (circa 3100 to 2686 BC) and Old Kingdom
(circa 2686 to 2181 BC) are establishment of artistic conventions
and standards; the rise of kingship and its decisive role in the
formation of Egyptian art; the simultaneous developments in art
and hieroglyphic writing and the interplay of these modes of
expression; and the way in which religious and magical beliefs
led to the centrality of the human figure in Egyptian art.
The distinctively Egyptian way of rendering the human figure in
relief and painting (particularly on those that proliferated on
the walls of temples, tombs, and pyramids) became standardized. A
selection from period between the collapse of the Old Kingdom and
the beginning of the Middle Kingdom is included.
The Middle Kingdom, circa 2060-1633 BC section focuses on the
important developments in relief and freestanding sculpture,
including the introduction of greater naturalism and new artistic
forms such as the block statue. Egyptian portraiture, an
invention of the early Old Kingdom that became a recurring genre
in Egyptian Art, is also featured. While examples are evident
throughout the exhibition, the full significance and function of
portraiture is best appreciated during the Middle Kingdom.
The New Kingdom, circa 1550-1070 BC, which witnessed the imperial
expansion of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty, the religious
revolution of the Amarna Period, and the Ramesside Nineteenth and
Twentieth Dynasties, is represented by statues and personal
possessions of renowned pharaohs including Amenhotep III,
Akehenaten, and Ramesses the Great.
The growing sophistication that occurred during this 500-year
period was reflected in newly elaborate self-imagery; the
creation of colossal royal figures; the startlingly exaggerated
stylistic innovation of the Amarna revolutions; and the
revisionist art of the counterreformation that followed. Examples
of jewelry, mirrors, cosmetic containers, and other items of
luxury widely produced during the New Kingdom are included.
The Last Period, circa 1070 BC to 395 AD despite its increasing
political weakness during the Late Period, Egyptian culture
retained much of its strength, and art production continued to
flourish. Egyptian art remained relatively unchanged by foreign
ideas until the arrival of the Ptolemies (circa 305-30 BC) when
it became increasingly influenced by Hellenistic style. This
section examines the complex interaction between these strong but
very different artistic traditions.
An important theme of the final section is the manners in which
Egyptian art renewed itself, primarily through the imagination of
its own past. Archaism, always an important factor in Egyptian
art, is fully explored, from the question of which models were
chosen and why, to the use of archaism as a vehicle for
creativity and change.
"Eternal Egypt" is accompanied by a major catalogue published by
the University of California Press in association with the AFA.
It features a major essay by the guest curator, Ms Russmann, on
archaism, portraiture, and stylistic innovations in Egyptian art
and an essay on the formation of the collection by T.H.J. James,
former keeper of Egyptian art at The British Museum, in addition
to individual entries on the objects on view.
The exhibit will travel to Wonders: Memphis International
Cultural Series, Memphis, Tenn., June 28 to October 21, 2001;
Brooklyn Museum of Art, November 23, to February 24, 2002;
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo, April 12 to July 7,
2002; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, December 22, 2002 to
March 16, 2003; The Field Museum, Chicago, Ill, April 26 to
August 10, 2003; and Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD September
21, 2003 to January 4, 2004.
The Toledo Museum is at 2445 Monroe Street. For tickets,
888/763-7486.
