DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF

Transcription

1 DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROSPECTUS SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERIES MARCH 2011

2 ABOVE: Self-Portrait (Red and Black), 2004 ON THE COVER. top: detail, Kill-Joy: to the Passions of Kathe Kollwitz, bottom: detail, Study for Kill Joy [Kathe Kollwitz], 1975

3 DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF JEROME WITKIN Traveling Exhibition Prospectus from the Syracuse University Art Galleries PremierE venue: SUArt Galleries September 8 October 23, 2011 AVAILABLE FOR LOAN January 15, 2012 December 31, 2013 Institutional collaborators: (partial listing) THE PALMER MUSEUM OF ART, University Park, PA EVERSON MUSEUM OF ART, SYRACUSE, NY JACK RUTBERG FINE ARTS, LOS ANGELES, CA MUNSON-WILLIAMS-PROCTOR ARTS INSTITUTE, UTICA, NY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, ROCHESTER, NY WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS AND THE COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST Contents: Exhibition Abstract Exhibition Details Proposed Exhibition Checklist Planned Activities and Proposed Programs Exhibition Fees Contact Illustrations

4 2 DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF JEROME WITKIN EXHIBITION ABSTRACT DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF For decades, Jerome Witkin has been one of America s leading figurative painters. His work springs from a profound love of drawing, a critical intelligence, and an empathetic sensibility. It is said that he carries forward the grand Western European tradition of history painting into our era through visionary dramatic narratives. Many of his finest paintings are done in multiple large panels, each section presenting a different chapter of an unfolding story. The scale of these works pushes the viewer back to comprehend the whole, while the surfaces he creates pull the viewer close to the canvas to admire the beauty of the brushwork. While Witkin s painterly technique has the appearance of spontaneity, the foundation of his practice is drawing. He is a superb draftsman who enjoys drawing both for its own sake and as a means of working through the challenges of building large compositions. Drawing allows Witkin to study various possibilities before he commits brush to canvas Witkin, whose career as a teacher at Syracuse University School of Art and Design spans four decades, helps his students begin to appreciate the high demands of building a career as an artist. He has known an enviable number of artists central to the development of 20th century American painting and he has studied the history of art with great care. In the classroom studios he brings all of this knowledge of drawing, painting and history to bear as he encourages and critiques his students. Alumni remember the lessons they learned in Witkin s classes. The Art of Jerome Witkin is reflective of the artist s masterful handling of the figure, emotions, and the evocative power of narrative painting. This exhibition is a celebration of Witkin s career as an artist-teacher and a major force in contemporary painting. In this dual role he has excelled, achieving standards of excellence worth emulating.

5 TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROSPECTUS 3 right: Francine Street Posing in Anger [study for Division Street], 1984 bottom: Division Street,

6 4 DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF JEROME WITKIN The Two of Us, Bergen-Belson, 1945 and Israel, 1951, 2009

7 TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROSPECTUS 5 EXHIBITION DETAILS ORGANIZED BY SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERIES CURATED BY Dr. Edward Aiken Senior Curator, SUArt Galleries Program Coordinator, Graduate Program in Museum Studies EXHIBITION TOUR January 15, December 31, 2013 EXHIBITION MATERIALS NUMBER OF OBJECTS 40 Paintings and Drawings by Internationally recognized artist Jerome Witkin DIDACTIC MATERIAL High Quality wall mounted graphics include: Introductory Panel Biographical Panel Supplementary Text Panels INCLUDED PUBLICATIONS (see Proposed Exhibition Costs, pg. 7) Exhibition Catalog: Drawn to Paint: The Art of Jerome Witkin Syracuse University Art Galleries, 2011 BOOK BY JUNE 1, 2011 TO BE INCLUDED IN THE LIST OF PARTICIPATING VENUES PRINTED IN THE EXHIBITION CATALOG Brochure (Handout): Includes checklist, introductory text, and support info * can be customized with borrowing institution s logo and statement for an additional cost Educational Packet: Designed for middle school and high school teachers and College level instructors EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS SPACE REQUIREMENTS 300 linear feet Wall height: minimum 10 SHIPPING REQUIREMENTS Shipping arrangements will be orchestrated by the Syracuse University Art Galleries. Borrowing institutions are responsible for outgoing shipping fees. BOOKING PERIODS 8-12 weeks plus installation and de-installation

8 6 DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF JEROME WITKIN DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF JEROME WITKIN WORKING CHECKLIST May 2011 PAINTINGS WITH STUDIES The Rounds Twins, Before the Camera, x 63 inches Study for The Rounds Twins, Before the Camera mixed media drawing and collage 45 ½ x 34 inches Division Street, x75 / 63x81 / 63x87 inches Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute Francine Street Posing in Anger [study for Division Street], 1984 pencil on paper 24 x 19 inches Subway: A Marriage, x48 / 72x54 / 72x60 / 72x66 inches Maurine Lorincz in Subway, 2003 mixed media drawing and collage 29 ¼ x 22 inches Kill-Joy: to the Passions of Kathe Kollwitz, c x 79 inches The Palmer Museum of Art Study for Kill-Joy: to the Passions of Kathe Kollwitz, 1975 pencil on paper 19 x 25 ¼ inches The Palmer Museum of Art Study for Kill Joy [Kathe Kollwitz], 1975 pencil on paper 16 ¼ x 11 ¼ inches The Palmer Museum of Art 84.3 The Two of Us, Bergen-Belson, 1945 and Israel, 1951, x 6 / 6 6 x 9 3 Study 2- Stacey French posing for the Torn and the Mending [The Two of Us, Bergen-Belson], ½ x 26 ½ inches PORTRAITS AND SELF PORTRAITS Inside, Outside, x 48 inches Gift of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, Hassam and Speicher Funds, 79.9 Everson Museum of Art Self-Portrait (Red and Black,) 2004 mixed media drawing 24 x 18 inches Self-Portrait in Amsterdam, 2001 charcoal on paper 22 ½ x 18 ½ inches Painter and Model, x 6 Chelsea Fierst, x 26 inches Sarah Miles, ½ x 26 ½ inches Stacey French, ½ x 26 ½ inches Jennifer Samson (Second Study,) 2007 pencil on paper 13 x 11 inches

9 TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROSPECTUS 7 Sara Nora Medwid, 2006 pencil on paper 34 x 22 inches Study # 1 of Alison Miller, 1982 pencil on paper 19 x 24 inches NARRATIVE PAINTINGS Box of Algerian Dates, 1972 mixed media 19 x 25 ¼ inches The Palmer Museum of Art The Act of Judith, x 60 inches The Palmer Museum of Art Beating Station, c /2 x 132 1/2 inches Bob Bersani in the Studio, x 38 inches The Insult and Young Martin, c long Entering Darkness, c long Roofies, x 48 inches Little Theatre: study for Death as an Usher, ¼ x 30 inches Words: Sara in Pain, ½ x 31 ½ inches Left Hand as Actor, 1998 lithograph on wove paper 16 x 18 inches Collection purchase SUAC Left Hand...Steadily Employed, 1998 lithograph on wove paper 13 x 19 inches Collection purchase SUAC Hands as Actors in Our Twentieth Century, 1998 lithograph on wove paper 15 ½ x 18 inches Collection purchase SUAC DRAWINGS Study for Kyla H., Asleep, 2005 mixed media drawing 33 ¾ x 21 ½ inches Study for Terminal, Figure of Va-Va, 1986 pencil on paper 24 x 17 ½ inches The Beauty Contest (Noose/Tag on Neck,) 1996 charcoal on paper 23 ¼ x 18 ½ inches Hanna Posing, 2003 charcoal on paper 24 x 18 inches Bride-Noir, c x 36 inches drawing

10 8 DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF JEROME WITKIN Planned Activities and Programming Education Lesson Plans for Scholastic Communities Middle School to High School Teacher s Packets Educational themes that stem from the exhibition can include the use of narrative in painting, the self portrait, academic drawing, the use of the sketchbook and drawing in the artist s process. VISITING LECTURE Lecture by the Artist Lecture by the Curator Borrowing institutions will be responsible for any expenses related to visiting lectures. DIGITAL MEDIA A range of supplemental digital media will also be available on the exhibition s website, including interviews and explanatory conversations with the artist and the curator, podcasts about works included and digital sketchbooks that illustrate the artist s process when developing his paintings. Scannable QR coded labels and web addresses can be provided with the exhibition loan. EXHIBITION FEE The cost for the exhibition is $15,000. Borrowing institutions are responsible for outgoing shipping fees. EXPLAINATION OF FEES Borrowing Institutions are also responsible for fine art insurance coverage during the time period that includes delivery of the exhibition materials, installation, display period, and dismantling. Borrowing institutions are responsible for outgoing shipping fees. Charges will be based on standard shipping during the period of January 15, December 31, 2013, participating museums will pay a pro-rated shipping fee but no more than $7, Each participating museum will receive 250 exhibition brochures and 10 copies of Drawn to paint: The Art of Jerome Witkin included with the exhibition fee. Additional catalogs, brochures or any customization can be negotiated with the Syracuse University Art Galleries. BOOK BY JUNE 1, 2011 TO BE INCLUDED IN THE LIST OF PARTICIPATING VENUES PRINTED IN THE EXHIBITION CATALOG

11 TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROSPECTUS The Act of Judith, CONTACT Emily Dittman Collection and Exhibition Coordinator Syracuse University Art Galleries Traveling Exhibition Program Shaffer Art Building Syracuse University Syracuse, NY T: (315) F: (315) E: Visit the exhibition online: NOTE: Please submit all requests in writing via or by mail for consideration. You will receive confirmation within 2-4 weeks, or as soon as the schedule and your facility report have been approved. 9

12 10 DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF JEROME WITKIN ILLUSTRATIONS Study for Kill Joy [Kathe Kollwitz], 1975

13 TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROSPECTUS 11 Kill-Joy: to the Passions of Kathe Kollwitz,

14 12 DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF JEROME WITKIN The Rounds Twins, Before the Camera, 2005 Studies for the The Rounds Twins, Before the Camera

15 TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROSPECTUS 13 The Beauty Contest (Noose/Tag on Neck,) 1996

16 Jerome Witkin is a painter of psychological and moral allegories who can draw like Ingres in combining stage management of complex compositions, and inch-to-inch paint handling, Witkin s only peer is Lucian Freud. Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle...superior, often astonishing, skill as a painter Peter Frank, LA Weekly Jerome Witkin is a master of narrative figuration...unequivocal masterpieces...remarkable for their painterly flair, dramatic concentration and excruciating empiricism...in the grand visionary manner of the Old Masters, however modern their theme...conveying the sheer joy of painting...stunning drawings...it is rare to see such psychological complexity...in contemporary art. Indeed, there are few painters working today who have as consummate and vivid a sense of the human drama, in all its personal and social complexity as Witkin does. Donald Kuspit Jerome Witkin charges the realism of his paintings with Action-Painting technique, tour-deforce draftsmanship and emotionally loaded narration. Art In America Few artists today are able to do what Jerome Witkin can do with paint...witkin challenges us to extend and deepen our encounters with, and our perception of, reality. Theodore Wolff, The Christian Science Monitor The greatest figurative painter in America. R.B. Kitaj Jerome Witkin is the most skilled draftsman of the human figure that I know. Mark Tansey I know of no other artist who has such understanding of color and paint Claudio Bravo DRAWN TO PAINT: THE ART OF 2011 SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERIES TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROGRAM