Cleveland museum unveils $350M expansion

CLEVELAND.- The Cleveland Museum of Art has given some of its prized treasures more elbow room to show off. Galleries housing Egyptian, Greek, Roman, early Christian, Byzantine and African art open Saturday. The new space marks another milestone in an eight-year, $350 million expansion and renovation that began in 2005. The museum’s iconic 1916 neoclassical building holds items spanning 5,000 years. The galleries highlighting art from ancient Greece to the Medieval era surround those with Egyptian and African art. The [...]

Visitors will Observe Conservators Investigating Monet’s “Water Lilies”

KANSAS CITY, MO.- Visitors to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on June 24 and 25 and July 1 and 2 will be able to observe Museum conservation specialists as they perform various scientific examinations on Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. The examination is made possible with an award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of a $1 million challenge grant. The grant’s purpose is to establish an endowment to provide additional scientific expertise for research and conservation investigation on [...]

Cleveland Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees Approves Completion of Building and Renovation Project

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The next stop for the $350 million expansion and renovation at the Cleveland Museum of Art is the finish line in three years. On Monday, trustees of the museum voted unanimously to press ahead with the final phase of construction, which will include completion of a vast, skylighted atrium, and a new West Wing, which will house the museum’s world-famous collection of Asian art. “Not only am I thrilled, absolutely everybody in the room is thrilled,” said [...]

Cleveland Museum of Art’s Renowned Antiquities Collections Return to View

CLEVELAND, OH.- After a five-year hiatus, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s (CMA) collections from the ancient Near East, Greece, Rome, Egypt and Africa, as well as works from Late Antiquity, the Byzantine Empire and the European Middle Ages, will return to public view on June 26. The new presentation will trace the evolution of the visual and cultural traditions at the roots of Western civilization and foster an understanding of the ritual, social and historical contexts within which these works [...]

Exhibition of Loans by Oberlin College to Open at the Cleveland Museum of Art

OBERLIN, OH.- Beginning March 23, 2010, through early 2011, 20 works of art from the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s (AMAM) collections of 17th-19th century European art will be integrated into the galleries of the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA). The works on view include paintings by Batoni, Lawrence, Hogarth, Van de Venne, Hobbema, Chardin, Boucher, Oudry, Lagrenée, and Boilly. Two bronze statues— one by 18th-century artist Francesco Bertos and another from the 17th century after a model by Giambologna—have been [...]

More than 100 Works from the Thaw Collection Showcase Artistry of Cultures Across Millennia

CLEVELAND, OH.- Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection, a major traveling exhibition, developed by the Fenimore Art Museum, making its debut at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) in March 2010, explores Native North American art from the Eastern Woodlands to the Northwest through more than 140 masterpieces spanning 2,000 years. The exhibition provides visitors with a broad understanding and appreciation of the aesthetic accomplishments and cultural heritage of this country’s first peoples. Art of the American Indians [...]

Medieval Mourning Sculptures from Court of Burgundy Featured at Metropolitan

NEW YORK, NY.- The renowned 15th-century sculptors Jean de la Huerta and Antoine Le Moiturier labored together for more than 25 years on a grand and complex commission: the tomb of John the Fearless (Jean sans Peur, 1371–1419), the second Duke of Burgundy, and his wife, Margaret of Bavaria, which featured 41 alabaster mourning figures, among other elements. Following the precedent of the mourners carved for the tomb of Philip the Bold, the first Duke of Burgundy, de la Huerta [...]

New Work by American Artist Lloyd Martin at Stephen Haller Gallery

NEW YORK, NY.- Stephen Haller Gallery presents an exhibition of new work by American artist Lloyd Martin. The exhibition, entitled Shift, opens January 14th and runs through February 20th. In this new body of work Martin continues his exploration of the transformative nature of time and use; the decay as well as revitalization of the urban landscape around his studio, which provides the primary inspiration for his rhythmically constructed abstract paintings. Critic Jonathon Goodman writes: “Martin takes on the vigor [...]

Respected Scholar Joins Cleveland Museum of Art as Associate Curator

CLEVELAND, OH.- The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), home to one of the world’s preeminent collections of Asian art, announced today the appointment of Seunghye Sun as associate curator of Japanese and Korean art. Sun assumes her duties at the CMA in July 2010. The addition of Sun is made possible by a spendable three-year grant of $450,000 awarded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the hiring of a curator of Japanese and Korean art. Seunghye Sun is [...]

Medieval ‘Mourners’ to Leave France for United States Tour

DALLAS, TX. – The white alabaster figures draped in cloaks show their grief in different ways: from a bent head, the face shrouded by a hood, to a hand swathed in cloth reaching up to wipe a tear. The nearly 40 “mourners” commissioned in the 15th century to adorn the tomb of John the Fearless, the second Duke of Burgundy, will be seen together for the first time outside of France when they begin a tour of seven U.S. cities [...]

Van Gogh Museum Announces Paul Gauguin: The Breakthrough into Modernity

AMSTERDAM.- From February 19 to June 6, 2010 “Paul Gauguin: The Breakthrough into Modernity” will be on view in the Van Gogh Museum (exhibition wing). This exhibition is the first to devote attention to the ‘Volpini Suite’: a series of prints that Gauguin (1848-1903) exhibited in monsieur Volpini’s Café des Arts during the Paris Exposition of 1889. The 11 zincographs offer a fascinating overview of the key themes in the artist’s work: from the exotic landscapes of Martinique to scenes [...]