February 2, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sarah Boehme, Managing Director
409.886.ARTS (2787)
sboehme@starkmuseum.org
Stark Museum Opens New Exhibit with Talk, Reception, Music
ORANGE, Texas - February 2, 2012 - Stark Museum of Art presents the exhibition From Russia: Fechin and Gaspard in the Southwest. The Museum will host a preview on Friday, February 17, 2012. The event will start with a presentation at Lutcher Theater, 707 W. Main Street in Orange at 6:30 p.m., given by David E. Brauer, Senior Lecturer at the Glassell School of Art in Houston. Immediately following the presentation will be an exhibition opening with reception, book signing and music at the Stark Museum of Art at 712 Green Avenue. The event is free and open to the public.
This exhibition explores the artistic contributions of Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) and Leon Gaspard (1882-1964). Both artists emigrated from Russia and settled in the American Southwest. Both brought academic training, knowledge of European art, and evocative memories of their homeland. From this basis each developed a strong individual style to create art in a new environment. The exhibition will be on view at the Stark Museum of Art from February 18 through June 2, 2012.
The exhibition features over one hundred paintings, sculpture and drawings including works that have never been exhibited to the public such as Leon Gaspard's painting Adieu, Cossack and his portrait of H.J. Lutcher Stark. From Russia includes an educational area with hands-on activities appropriate for children and families.
David E. Brauer will give an illustrated presentation titled Artists in Paris: Eastern - Western European Crossroads. Brauer will talk about the pivotal time in the history of European culture when classical art was being dismantled under the energetic attack of modernists. Aspiring artists from all over Europe traveled to Paris, which was the hotbed of new art trends. Both Fechin and Gaspard had firsthand knowledge of the contemporary Parisian art scene and incorporated diverse modernist elements in their artistic styles.
Brauer is Head of the Art History Department at the Glassell School of Art of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Born in Dundee, Scotland, he received his degree in art history at St. Martin's School of Art in London. He has been living in Houston since 1976 and has extensively lectured at many institutions including Rice University, The University of Notre Dame, and the World Business Council in Brussels, Belgium. He also has curated several exhibitions, including Pop Art: U.S./U.K. Connections, 1956-1966 at the Menil Collection in Houston. Brauer is author of "Space as Spirit" in the publication Image of the Not-Seen: Search for Understanding, which will be available for purchase and signing.
The reception will include music by The Apollo Quartet which will play selections of Russian classical compositions. The Quartet, based in Houston, is a non-profit chamber music organization that explores the intersection of classical and folk music.
"We invite everyone to join us for a special evening. David Brauer, an engaging presenter, will set the European context from which Fechin and Gaspard emerged. Then we will open From Russia in the newly renovated gallery while enjoying music that evokes the cultural environment of the artists. The Stark Museum of Art is fortunate to have major holdings of both Fechin and Gaspard and this will be a great opportunity to compare the two," says Sarah Boehme, Director of Stark Museum of Art.
Located at 712 Green Avenue in Orange, Texas, the Stark Museum of Art is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. Group tours are available by appointment. For more information call 409.886.ARTS (2787) or visit www.starkmuseum.org.
Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955), Barge Captain, after 1933, oil on canvas, 20.25 x 16.25 in., Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas, 31.28.13.
Leon Gaspard (1882-1964), Fiddlers, 1931, oil on fabric mounted on paperboard, 13.875 x 20.5 in., Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas, 31.26.2.B.
Leon Gaspard (1882-1964), Rabbi, 1911, oil on canvasboard, 9.5 x 7.5 in., Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas, 31.26.17.
For hi-resolution artwork or larger photo files, contact Amanda Adams at aadams@starkfoundation.org.
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 private operating foundation, 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.