September 17, 2009
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sarah Boehme, Director
409.886.ARTS (2787)
Stark Museum Exhibit Features Medieval Manuscripts and Tapestries
ORANGE, TEXAS, September 9, 2009 - To celebrate the holiday season, the Stark Museum of Art presents the exhibition,
Entwined Across the Ages: Illuminated Manuscripts and Tapestries. The Museum will host a preview, open to the public, on Friday, November 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition will be on view at the Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Texas, from November 21, 2009 through January 30, 2010.
This holiday season exhibition features the Stark Museum's collection of medieval illuminated manuscripts exhibited within a setting of twentieth-century wall tapestries that were inspired by arts from the medieval period. Entwined Across the Ages highlights the variety and richness of manuscript illustrations in Books of Hours and includes images of the Christmas story.
The exhibition will include the museum's seven beautifully hand-painted Books of Hours. These prayer books were illustrated by French, Flemish and Dutch artists and date from the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The books will be open to pages showing a range of illustrational scenes, such as calendars, devotional images and border decoration.
Surrounding the manuscripts will be nine twentieth-century tapestries, also from the Stark Museum's collections. These tapestries were produced by Edgewater Tapestry Looms, directed by artist Lorentz Kleiser, whose weavings drew inspiration from medieval arts.
"In the medieval period when the Book of Hours was the most prevalent type of book, the woven tapestry became a primary artistic medium for decoration of churches, castles, and public buildings. The prayer books would have been read in settings with wall textiles. In the twentieth century, the art of tapestry weaving was revived in America by artists such as Kleiser who looked to the past for inspiration and to create a warm, enriched environment," explained Sarah Boehme, Director of the Stark Museum of Art.
The exhibition includes a hands-on educational area with art activities especially relevant for children and families. At the preview on Friday, November 20 from 5 to 7 p.m., the Stark Museum of Art will have a reception with light refreshments and give gallery spotlights. In association with the exhibition and special events, the Museum Store will feature new items with the exhibition's signature image, including Christmas ornaments and holiday cards.
Located at 712 Green Avenue in Orange, Texas, the Stark Museum of Art is open to the public at no charge Tuesday through Saturday. Hours are from 10 AM - 5 PM. Group tours are available by appointment. For more information call 409.886.ARTS (2787) or visit www.starkmuseum.org.
Anonymous Artist, Flemish
Book of Hours
c. 1420-1430, paint, gold and
ink on vellum
6-3/4 x 5-1/4 inches
Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas
11.900.6
Lorentz Kleiser (1879-1963)
Edgewater Tapestry Looms
Madrigal c.1930
woven with silk and wool; vegetable dyes
85-1/2 x 107-3/4 inches
Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas
81.1.1
About the Stark Museum of Art
The Stark Museum of Art focuses on the stunning land, the dramatic people and the diverse wildlife of the American West. Paintings, sculpture and prints interpret the West from nineteenth century frontier artists to the twentieth century artistic colonies in New Mexico. Artists include John James Audubon, Frederic Remington, and Charles Marion Russell.
The Museum also features a significant collection of American Indian objects, including baskets, pottery, clothing and weavings. Other permanent collections in the Museum include the complete porcelain American Bird Series by Dorothy Doughty and the only complete series of The United States in Crystal, a collection of crystal urns produced by Steuben Glass to depict the 50 states and the Union.
The Stark Museum of Art is a program of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, a non-profit organization whose other programs include the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, and The W.H. Stark House.
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