: The Harvard University Art Museums will present "American
Watercolors and Pastels, 1875-1950," at the Fogg Art Museum April
8 to June 25. The exhibition features 52 watercolors and pastels
primarily drawn from the extensive holdings of the Fogg, as well
as significant works lent by friends of the Art Museums.
This will be the first showing of these treasures of American art
since 1936, when the Fogg presented "American Watercolors from
the Museum's Collection." Because of the works' light
sensitivity, they are rarely publicly displayed. The exhibition
focuses on works created during what scholars consider the
medium's "golden age" of experimentation and development.
The period from 1875 to 1950 saw the status of the watercolor
shift dramatically. Works on paper until that time usually served
only as studies or preparatory works for finished oil paintings,
but beginning in the late Nineteenth Century, drawings and
watercolors were exhibited more regularly in their own right.
Artists such as Winslow Homer began painting complete scenes in
watercolor and exhibiting them as finished works in commercial
galleries. Homer pushed the medium formally, scratching into the
surface of the paper to create highlights and experimenting with
washes, opaque applications of paint. John Singer Sargent also
helped to establish the merits of the medium, preferring
watercolor for its portability, and using it on his travels to
make informal sketches that stood on their own and did not
necessarily serve preparatory ends.
The exhibition was organized by Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr, curator
of American Art, and Virginia Anderson, assistant curator of
American Art. "The exhibition came out of our work on a
comprehensive collections catalog of American painting,
watercolor, pastel and stained glass at the Harvard University
Art Museums," said Stebbins. "As we compiled the list of objects
for that catalog project, it became clear that the Fogg's
collection from this period and in these media was particularly
strong and deserving of an exhibition."
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), "Highland Light," 1930, watercolor
over graphite on rough white wove paper, Fogg Art Museum,
Harvard University Art Museums. Louise E. Bettens Fund. -David
Mathews photo ©President and Fellows of Harvard College
Anderson adds, "This is an opportunity to present to the
public a wonderful selection of important American works, the
majority of which are unpublished. Through this exhibition, we can
bring these works to light so that they can receive critical and
scholarly attention."
The Fogg's holdings of Nineteenth Century American watercolors
and pastels were greatly enhanced with the bequest of the
Winthrop Collection in 1943. Grenville L. Winthrop is best
remembered for his magnificent collection of Asian art and for
his superb holdings of French and British paintings and drawings,
but he also collected extensively the work of a quartet of
American masters of the late Nineteenth Century: Homer, LaFarge,
Whistler and Sargent. Winthrop's gift of 136 American drawings,
watercolors and pastels, along with 57 paintings and 35
sculptures, makes him Harvard's most important donor in this
field to date.
"Our collection of American watercolors and pastels is
extraordinary, and it's a pleasure for us to bring them to a new
generation of students, scholars, and the public," said Thomas W.
Lentz, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard
University Art Museums. "I am also particularly grateful to the
private collectors who generously lent us some of their most
treasured objects, which allow us to present this rich view of
American art."
The exhibition will be accompanied by a brochure with 12 color
reproductions, a checklist and a short essay by curator Theodore
E. Stebbins, Jr.
The museums are at 32 Quincy Street. For information,
www.artmuseums.harvard.edu or 617-495-9400.
