The Sensuous Line: Etchings by Gerald Brockhurst
(August 28–October 11, 2003)

The Sensuous Line is presented to mark an important gift of etchings by this early 20th-century English artist made by Thomas B. Brumbaugh, professor of fine art, emeritus, Vanderbilt University. The exhibition will feature nearly thirty etchings, as well as one drawing, by this chronicler of the fashionably rich and stylish of twenties and thirties America and Great Britain. While the subject matter of many of these works is noteworthy, the virtuosity of Brockhurst’s etchings is remarkable in and of itself, and a delight for the eye to behold.

Gerald Brockhurst (1890-1978) English Xénia, 1923 Etching on laid paper 7-7/8” x 5-15/16” Gift of Thomas B. Brumbaugh, professor of fine arts, emeritus, in memory of Scott Wolf, class of 1974 1998.012

[Organized by Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery]

The Jolly Corner
(October 23-December 14, 2003)

First published in 1908, The Jolly Corner, a psychological mystery by Henry James (1843–1916), received a new treatment in 1971 through the work of master etcher and engraver Peter Milton (born 1930). In this edition, Milton has created a suite of twenty-one etchings with aquatint in his characteristic manner, where the illusion of space is created and, at the same time, altered. Milton's images are descriptive, yet contain elements of this dream world and parallel reality that are hidden within the house and the characters of The Jolly Corner.

Peter Milton (b. 1930) American Chapter II, Plate 7 from the portfolio, The Jolly Corner, 1971 Etching with aquatint on wove paper 9-5/8” x 14-5/8” Ewers Gift for Fine Arts Fund Purchase 2000.120

[Organized by Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery]

Cultural Relativity: Recent Works by Kara Spoonhour, the 2002 Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award Winner Exhibition
(January 15 - January 24, 2004)

This exhibition features recent works by Kara Spoonhour, the 2002 Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet award winner.  The Hamblet award winner is selected by a panel of outside jurors from an open invitational for graduating seniors held each spring.  The award, an $18,000 grant to be used for travel and study during the year following graduation, culminates in this exhibition. In this body of work, Spoonhour uses a variety of resources including historical photography, news articles, satellite imagery and propaganda posters to create bold and powerful images reflecting current world issues.

Kara Spoonhour Imperialism, 2003 Digital print with oil on canvas 28” x 41” Courtesy the artist

[Organized by Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery]

Robert Rauschenberg: An American Iconoclast
(January 31–March 18, 2004)

Presented to mark a major gift made by Donald and Ruth Saff, this exhibition will feature mixed-media, large-scale prints from the artist’s ROCI USA (Wax Fire Works) series. ROCI (Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange) was a groundbreaking series of exhibitions comprising paintings, sculpture, prints, and objects inspired by Rauschenberg’s experiences in each host country.  The project had its final complete showing at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., in 1991.  Also featured will be additional graphic works along with a series of photographs from Study for a Chinese Summer Hall, 1983.

Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925) American Swim/ROCI USA Wax Fire Works), 1990 Acrylic, fire wax, and variegated brass leaf on stainless steel 72-3/4” x 96-3/4” Gift of Donald and Ruth Saff 2002.025

[Organized by Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery]

Far From the Sea: October Foundation 1998–2003
(March 25–May 20, 2004)

Founded by Dutch artist and printmaker Peter Foolen, in collaboration with Tjeu Teeuwen, art historian and typographer, and Sjra Marx, artist, printmaker and director of the print department of the Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten, Maastricht, in 1998, the October Foundation produces publications, editions, and exhibitions that are in some way related to nature, science, poetry, or language. Often featuring artists associated with conceptual art, or in other cases, “concrete poetry”—using text, content, and typography as visual material—this exhibition will range from artists’ books to portfolios and other kinds of limited editions. Artists featured include, among others, Thomas A. Clark, Chris Drury, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Joel Fisher, Lesley Foxcroft, Hamish Fulton, Richard Long, Kees Verbeek, and Hans Waanders. In addition to the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery's showing of Far From the Sea: October Foundation 1998-2003, the exhibition was shown at Museum Kurhaus, Kleve, Germany, in the fall of 2003, and is scheduled to open later this year at the Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz, Austria. Two new limited-edition prints have been published on the occasion of Far From the Sea, each in an edition of 25, and each available for sale through the Fine Arts Gallery. They are: Landschap/Landscape II by Givanni Dalessi (b. Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 1964) and Half Mile Walk by Thomas A. Clark (b. Greenock, Scotland, 1944). For more information, please contact the Fine Arts Gallery office at 615-343-1704.

Far From the Sea is organized by the The October Foundation, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in cooperation with the Museum Kurhaus, Kleve, Germany; the Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz, Austria; and the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery. The Nashville presentation of Far From the Sea is made possible, in part, by a gift from the Louise Bullard Wallace Foundation, Nashville; the Department of Art and Art History, Vanderbilt University; the University Lectures Committee; a grant from the city of Eindhoven; and a grant from the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam.

[Organized by Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery]

Max Klinger: The Intermezzi Print Cycle
(June 3–August 14, 2004)

Widely recognized as one of the more central figures in Germany at the turn of the 20th century, Max Klinger (1857–1920) was especially celebrated for his print cycles. Jointly organized by the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, The State University of New York, Potsdam, and Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, this exhibition will present one of Klinger's central print cycles, <i>Intermezzi</i>, as well as an important self-portrait of the artist. Intermezzi (1881) is not an integrated cycle of plates, but rather an assemblage of diverse themes, including several plates of centaurs in landscapes, and four plates devoted to the baroque novel Simplicius Simplicissimus (1669), by H. J. C. von Grimmelshausen.

[Organized by the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, State University of New York, Potsdam, and Bucknell University]