The Fine Arts Gallery is offering students the opportunity to view the second of a three-part exhibition entitled "Views from the Collection II." Students will be able to compare, experience and appreciate the nature of artwork from places around the world - including the United States, Europe, Central America, Asia and Africa.
"In general the way we put it together is a combination, looking for the strengths within our collections and also how they connect to collections internationally and in other institutions," said Joseph Mella, the director of the gallery.
Mella says this exhibit is part of the gallery's permanent collection, which consists of over 6,000 objects. The exhibit will present what the gallery feels to be the best objects, including those they have received as gifts from artists and pieces that Vanderbilt students have studied.
"Historically the gallery has been used as a teaching tool for teaching the history of art," Mella says. "Often there will be study objects that students are given assignments for. Having a first-hand experience is a lot more beneficial than looking it in a book or on your computer screen."
The exhibit will feature Italian panel paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Study Collection, which span from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Among them include Fonifacio di Patati's "Madonna and and Three Saints and Saint John," which portrays the iconic image of Mary and the infant Christ alongside Saint James and John the Baptist.
Another featured Italian artist is Francesco Guardi, whose "Harbor Scene" depicts the typical landscape of Venice with vibrant colors. Finally, Giueseppe Raffeto's "The Grand Canal, Venice" presents its audience with another unique image of the city, as it has been etched on paper with ink in great detail.
However, Italian artists have to share the stage with their French contemporaries in "Views from the Collection II." Notable contributors include Jean-Baptise Greuze and his "Portrait of a Young Girl," and the school of Charles Andre van Loo's "Soldiers Before a Queen." In his work, Greuze portrays his perception of the ideal woman of his age - soft, fresh and innocent, while "Soldiers Before a Queen" is an 18th century historical piece which depicts the court life of Romans.
Yet, if you are looking to see the work of prominent modern Mexican artists, look no further: David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo's works will both be on display at the Fine Arts Gallery. Siquerios' "La Huida" symbolizes the tumultuous period of the Mexican Revolution, both in its content and style. Meanwhile, Tamayo also conveys a political message through the image of a soldier on a horse in his piece "The Apocalypse of Saint John." Both of these artists lived and created their work in the 20th century.
However, the highlights of the exhibition come from Western Panama and Costa Rica, in the form of the small yet meticulously crafted pendants. Distinguished among these golden figurines are the frog, the eagle and "zopilotes," or "king vultures," created between 600 B.C. and 1600 A.D.
Other featured works will include a section of the Japanese six-panel screen called "Rakuchu-Rakugai," which Mella calls his favorite.
"This piece gives you a window into life in Japan during the 18th century," he says. "There are all these sub-narratives of people having tea, people listening to music, interacting with each other in different ways. It's kind of like a ‘Where's Waldo,'" he says.
These pieces, however, are a few of the many that will be on display at the Fine Arts Gallery. There will be an opening reception at the gallery, which is located on the corner of West End and 23rd Street, on March 29 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public until its closing on the first of June. For more information, contact Joseph Mella at 343-1704.
