A DEBUT 'THE AMERICAN MUSE' SUMMER SEASON OPENINGMEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND MAY 24, 2013
Above: Her Eyes Were Made to Worship. Harrison Fisher, 1909
Friday, May 24, the NMAI is debuting a brand new exhibition, The American Muse,
which will be on display through Fall, 2013. The exhibition presents an
homage to American women of the late 19th and early 20th centures and
to the illustrators who accurately portrayed their unique and
quintessentially American beauty and character. Women
of this era in America had greater opportunities in sports, higher
education, roles in business, social movements, and politics than those
of previous generations in the United States and abroad.
American Illustrators highlighted are:
Harrison Fisher Charles Dana Gibson McClelland Barclay Philip Boileau Howard Chandler Christy James Montgomery Flagg Henry Hutt Walter Granville Smith Paul Stahr Albert Beck Wenzell
They
each created icons of the American women of their day, and in so doing
created a lasting archetype. The public usually gave these lovely images
a nickname tied to their respective illustrator, such as The Christy
Girl, The Fisher Girl, The Gibson Girl, etc. The nickname became a
perpetual part of that particular illustrator's oeuvre and artistic
realm.
Above: Central Park: The Promenade. Walter Granville Smith, 1897
The illustrators works were published in single artist books with titles such as College Girls (1896), The Social Ladder (1897), American Beauties (1904), The Gibson Book (1907), Bachelor Belles (1908), and Liberty Belles (1911), which proved to be popular and coveted publications. In magazines of the day, such as Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Life, Red Cross, Success, The Saturday Evening Post, Truth, and Harper's,
the artworks both shaped and reflected American society and its notions
of what an attractive American woman should look and act like. In the
process, the illustrators captured her style, poise, fasion sense, and
inherent beauty, and unknowingly created a collection of natural
American Muses.
(l) Woman w/Long Stemmed Rose. Philip Boileau, 1900. (r) At The Piano. Albert Beck Wenzell, 1890
NMAI SUMMER SEASON BEGINS FRIDAY, MAY 24
Friday,
May 24, marks the beginning of the NMAI's Summer 2013 General
Admissions Season. This year as usual the Museum will be open for
General Admissions from 11am to 5pm, Thursday through Sunday. Please
note that for the first time ever, we will also be open on Thursdays
from 11am to 5pm all season.
Venetian Lamplighters, 1922, and Morning, 1921, both by Maxfield Parrish
In addition to the new American Muse exhibition, the NMAI will continue to showcase works from the very popular Maxfield Parrish: The Retrospective and Howard Pyle and His Brandywine Students exhibitions, as well as highlights from the Museum's American Imagist collection.
An Unwelcome Toast. Howard Pyle, 1895
Daniel Boone - The Home Seeker:Cumberland Valley. N.C. Wyeth, c. 1940
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For Reservations:
Eric Brocklehurst National Museum of American Illustration 492 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840 T: 401-851-8949 ext. 18, F: 401-851-8974 eric@americanillustration.org www.americanillustration.org
Open
for General Admissions Fridays year round, 11am to 5pm, with a guided
tour at 3pm. Beginning Friday, May 24 (Memorial Day weekend) the NMAI
will be open Thursday though Sunday, 11am to 5pm for general admissions.
Open all other times for group tours by advance reservation.
Tickets:
Adults:
$18; Seniors (60+) & Military: $16; Students: $12; Children ages 5
to 12: $8. Children ages 5 to 12 are permitted only if they are
vouchsafed by parents or guardians as being 'well-behaved.'
The
National Museum of American Illustration is a nonprofit, independent,
educational and aesthetic organization. It is located in Newport, RI, on
Bellevue Avenue at Vernon Court (1898), a Carrére and Hastings designed
Beaux-Arts adaptation of an 18th century French chateau. It is the
first national museum devoted exclusively to American illustration art.
Illustration consists of original artwork created to be reproduced in
books, magazines, newspapers, and advertisements. 'Golden Age' paintings
by such luminaries as Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish, NC Wyeth, JC
Leyendecker, and 150 others are displayed in 'Gilded Age' architecture,
creating a unique union of architecture and art - a national treasure.
The Museum is administered by the American Civilization Foundation, a
nonprofit organization with the goal to present the best possible venue
for appreciating the greatest collection of illustration art - the most American of American art.
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Eric Brocklehurst