Goblins, Ghosts and Goya

Witches' Sabbath, 1821–1823. 140cm x 438cm, (55 x 170 inches), Museo del Prado, Madrid

Spanish artist Francisco Goya completed “Witches’ Sabbath” in 1823. The painting shows Satan in the form of a hybrid goat-human figure surrounded by witches, who quiver before him in fear.

The work is thought to be a satire mocking the superstitious nature of Spanish culture during this era and the witch trials of the Spanish Inquisition. Spanish royalists and conservatives would use accusations of witchcraft as a way to demean the lower class.

The painting was one of Goya’s 14 Black Paintings, all of which were done in oil directly on the plaster walls of his house. Goya did not intend for the paintings to be exhibited. He never wrote or spoke of them, and it was not until nearly 50 years after his death in 1874 that they were removed from the house and transferred to canvas.

“Witches’ Sabbath” was damaged in its transfer and lost approximately 140 cm on the right, which explains its unusually tight cropping. Today this work and the 13 other Black Paintings are on permanent display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

More Kress Project Entries

We're up to 58 Kress Project entries, with four coming in over the weekend. Our latest batch comes from Adel Gorgy (above), who reworks existing images with digital technology, then prints them at a large scale. Click here to see all the entries (now sorted with the most recent ones listed first).

Steiglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is now showing “Steiglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O’Keeffe,” through Jan. 2, 2012. This exhibition of Alfred Steiglitz’s collection, acquired by the Met in 1949, includes paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Constantin Brancusi, Georgia O’Keefe and Charles Demuth to name a few.

The exhibition features more than 200 works by American and European modern artists as well as publications by Steiglitz and several photo-secessionist photographs.

Alfred Steiglitz (1864-1946) was an advocate of modernist art and owned numerous galleries in the first half of the 20th century promoting influential artists of the time.

Steiglitz’s personal collection is the foundation of the Met’s modern American and European art holdings as well as a testament to his role in the promotion of modern art in the United States and abroad.

Jim Clark visits "All Creatures"

Our exhibition "All Creatures Great and Small" is still on view at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport through April 2012 (across from T gates 12 through 14), and if you haven't made time to go see it yet while passing through the airport, please do. Our photographs don't convey what fun it is. Jim Clark, who created the pike he's posing with above, and his wife, Jean Walbridge, recently sent us these pictures of their visit to the exhibition. She also informed us that the Folk Art Society of America is having its conference in Atlanta next year (Oct. 11-15) and is planning a trip to GMOA. We'll be excited to see the attendees! Thank you, Jim and Jean, for letting us know you enjoyed seeing the exhibition.

WUGA--The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

WUGA-TV used to be WNEG and now is affiliated with PBS and based on the University of Georgia campus. They recently approached us about partnering on creating some content, and above is our first effort. We're working on doing something longer at some point, but for the moment, we're putting together one-minute features on an exhibition each month that will run regularly on the station. This month's focuses on "American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print" and features chief preparator and in-house curator of the exhibition Todd Rivers.

Here's a list of channels, depending on your location and cable package. Unfortunately, WUGA isn't available on all satellite providers yet, but the station is working on it.

So look out for us on your TV and let us know if you see the promo.

GMOA Student Night: All Shook Up

Our quarterly student night was last night and, as ever, it was tremendous fun. Students made their own stickers with stamps (to mimic Hatch Show Print's offerings), toured exhibitions, listened to music by The Darnell Boys and Grinnin' Bear, chowed down on chicken from Zaxby's, posed with Elvis in our photo both and more. Slideshow above.

The Charleston Museum presents "Threads of War"

The Charleston Museum in Charleston, S.C. is showing “Threads of War: Clothing and Textiles of the Civil War” through Oct. 30, 2011. Men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, uniforms and other textiles are accompanied by period magazines, newspapers, daguerreotypes and diaries to describe the abrupt change in lifestyle for those on the southern frontlines of the Civil War.

Exhibition highlights are day dresses, such as a brown silk dress belonging to a member of the Jervy family and a wedding dress of Charleston native Frances Ann Harcastle. Frances and her husband, William Henley Smith, married quickly after the bombing of Fort Sumter due to the precarious war time conditions.

Among the crinoline cages and hoop skirts of antebellum fashions, another piece draws from international inspirations, a Zouave-style jacket belonging to Isabela Woodruff Holst. Zouave jackets, inspired by the military jackets that French military men wore in North Africa, became popular around this time.

Other pieces in the exhibition are a uniform worn by Captain Warren R. Marshall of Charleston made with wool, silk and locally grown Sea Island cotton.

Founded in 1773, The Charleston Museum is America’s first museum with a focus on the history and culture of Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry.

To Make a World: George Ault and 1940s America

“To Make a World: George Ault and 1940s America,” a traveling exhibition organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum that just opened at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo., will be on view at the Georgia Museum of Art from Feb. 18 to April 16, 2012.

George Ault’s paintings exemplify personal worlds of clarity he used to offset the turbulent 1940s and a real world he felt was in crisis. Many of his works of art, which are some of the most original paintings made in America during those years, have yet to be seen. Ault and other artists, such as Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth, confronted the chaos and devastating uncertainty of the war-time turmoil of those years through their paintings, revealing an aesthetic of 1940s American art that has not been previously identified.

This is the first major exhibition of Ault’s work in more than 20 years and includes 47 paintings and drawings by Ault and his contemporaries. It centers on five paintings Ault made between 1943 and 1948 depicting the crossroads of Russell’s Corners in Woodstock, N.Y.

This exhibition will also be featured at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Learn more about this exhibition here.

Image Caption: 

George Ault (1891–1948)

Bright Light at Russell's Corners, 1946.

Oil on canvas. 19 5/8 x 25 inches.

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Lawrence

Highfalutin' Hootenanny

Well, Highfalutin' Hootenanny has finally come and gone, and we had a great time this past Friday night, as you can see from the slideshow above. There aren't any pictures in it yet of people getting down on the dance floor, but some serious rugs were cut. Here are the folks who sponsored the event:

Champagne

Ms. Karen Benson & Mr. Howard Scott
Burns Studio Art/Van Burns
Mr. & Mrs. E. Davison Burch
Dr. & Mrs. James W. Cooper Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Dolson
Mr. & Mrs. Bertis E. Downs IV
Dr. & Mrs.Mark A. Ellis
Mr. Todd Emily
Fat Mosquito Press
Mr. & Mrs. Edgar J. Forio Jr.
Col. & Mrs.Thomas N.Gibson III
Mr. Richard & Dr. Anne Hathaway
Mr. & Mrs. Stan Henderson
Ms. Clementi L-B Holder & Mr. Robert Saveland
Mrs. Lidwina G. Kelly
Dr. & Mrs. D. Hamilton Magill III
Mr. & Mrs. David W. Matheny
Mr. & Mrs. Mark McConnell
John F. & Marilyn M. McMullan
Mr. & Mrs. H. Daniels Minor
Mr. C.L. Morehead Jr. & Flowers, Inc., Retail
Mr. & Mrs. Edgar B. Myrtle
Mr. & Mrs. Dennis O’Kain
Drs. Gordhan L. & Virginia B. Patel
Mr. & Mrs. Alexander W. Patterson
Dr. & Mrs. William L. Power
Karen Prasse, M.D.
Bill & Pamela Prokasy
Mrs. Doris Ramsey
Mr. & Mrs.Walter A. Sams III
Mr. D. Jack Sawyer Jr. & William E. Torres, M.D.
Mr. & Mrs. John D. Scoggins
Mr. Lewis Scruggs Jr.
Southeastern Color
Hon. & Mrs.Homer M. Stark
Mrs. Dudley R. Stevens
Mr. & Mrs. W. Rhett Tanner
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Winthrop II
Dr. & Mrs. Norman J. Wood
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Woodruff

Moonshine
Mr. John Ahee & Dr. Paige Carmichael
George Gregory Barnard
Mr. & Mrs. Randolph W. Camp
Mr. & Mrs. A. Blair Dorminey
Mr. & Mrs. C. Michael Evert Jr.
Dr. & Mrs. Henry Garrard IV
UGA Alumni Association

Beer
Mr. & Mrs.Woody Chastain
Mr. & Mrs. Harvey Coleman
Drs. Stephen & Cynthia Deas
Mr. & Mrs. Dan H. Magill
Mr. & Mrs. Gerry Whitworth
Kathy Prescott

String Theory played bluegrass and old-time music in the sculpture garden, and Good Vibrations supplied tunes inside. Harry's Pig Shop and Epting Events did the food and catering, Terrapin donated beer and Lewis Scruggs Jr. was responsible for the wine. King of Pops was on hand, too, supplying gourmet popsicles for dessert. Van Burns designed the invitations and programs. Fat Mosquito Press donated the printing of the save-the-date cards, and Southeastern Color printed the invitations.

Event chairs were Ann Scoggins and Michael Montesani. David Matheny was in charge of fundraising. And Tami Ramsay took charge of flowers, with the help of Lucy Allen, Gay Crowe, Tracey Crymes, Chad Erwin, Carolyn Garrard, Suzanne King, Amburn Power, Bev Sams, Alice Spratlin and Fran Thomas.

Thank you to everyone who donated time or funds!

"Daumier: Art for the Masses"

Jean-Honore Daumier, (French 1808-1879), Les Etrangers a Paris, n.d. Lithograph, 8 1/2 x 7 inches.

Art Daily recently featured the Birmingham Museum of Art and its exhibition "Daumier: Art for the Masses," a collection of 169 lithographs produced by artist, painter and sculptor Jean-Honore Daumier.

Daumier was one of France's most popular and influential artists. As a printmaker, he produced over 4,000 lithographs. His illustrations, most of which were published in popular daily newspapers, expressed his satirical take on French politics, society and culture.

Of the lithographs on display in the Birmingham Museum of Art's Jemison Galleries, 14 remain intact in the original newspapers they were printed, while the other prints were cut out long ago to be appreciated as stand-alone works.

"Art for the Masses" will run through Dec. 31.

Click here for more information on this exhibition.

UGA Study Abroad Costa Rica Exhibition

The UGA Study Abroad Program in Costa Rica Exhibition opens today in the third floor suite gallery in the Lamar Dodd School of Art building. The exhibition features student and faculty drawings, paintings and photography from the 2010 Maymester Art and Culture program.

Three full weeks in May and June offer students an opportunity to focus on Costa Rican art and culture through studies, observation and interaction with the natural and built Costa Rican environment and its people.

There will be a reception this evening from 4:30-6:30 p.m. and the exhibition is on view through Oct. 27, 2011.

Creative Genius

Here at the Georgia Museum of Art we are surrounded by products that stemmed from the creative thoughts and innovations of Steve Jobs and his coworkers. On Wednesday, we lost a great man and technological hero of several generations, but his insight and drive will continue to inspire us in the years to come, not only through technology, but through creative innovation in general.

The Georgia Museum of Art is filled with Macintosh products, from desktop computers and laptops to the iPads our docents now use to facilitate museum tours and the pending iPhone application that will turn our art mobile.

Steve Jobs made it well known that he appreciated the art of design and technology. His streamlined styles and view of how technology should work and be used stemmed from a belief that the art of computers was a universal one.

In a 1996 interview with NPR’s Fresh Air’s Terry Gross, Jobs said, “I think our major contribution [to computing] was in bringing in a liberal arts point of view to the use of computers. If you really look at the ease of use of the Macintosh, the driving motivation behind that was to bring not only ease of use to people—so that many, many more people could use computers for nontraditional things at that time—but it was to bring beautiful fonts and typography to people, it was to bring graphics to people . . . so that they could see beautiful photographs, or pictures, or artwork, et cetera . . . to help them communicate. . . . Our goal was to bring a liberal arts perspective and a liberal arts audience to what had traditionally been a very geeky technology and a very geeky audience.”

That same geeky technology is helping the museum bring art to new audiences. The museum will always be a cultural institution, a home of art and creative cultivation, but with the inspiration that Steve Jobs has given the prospects for us to expand our audiences are endless.

Thank you to Steve Jobs, a man of possibility who gave us all the tools to create our own artistic future.

Video: Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005

Where in the World Is Bill Eiland? (redux)

Our director is still traveling. Above, he's posing in front of a horse sculpture by Ed Mell in Scottsdale, Ariz., and below he sent us a photo of Mary Koon, in our department of publications, eating a whoopie pie in Phoenix. Mary joined Bill there to do research on fashion at the Phoenix Art Museum.

ATHICA Mystery Selections

The Athens Institute for Contemporary Art (ATHICA) is currently showcasing its “Mystery Selections” exhibition featuring the works of six local artists. The exhibition, which opened Sept. 30, will run through Nov. 6.

Selected artists include Rebecca Brantley, Will Eskridge, Missy Kulik, Darcy Reenis, Jorie Berman and Cindy Jerrell, who were chosen from 124 artists who donated 244 works anonymously for the “ATHICA Mystery Triennial” small works fundraiser.

According to the ATHICA website, the works “convey the enormous variety and quality of Athens’ artistic fecundity.”

“Mystery Selections” gives the artists’ fans a closer look at some of their individual works that were included in the ATHICA Mystery Triennial. Bodies of work include drawings, dioramas, large-scale paintings, sculptures and graphic design.

For more information on “Mystery Selections” click here.

Where in the World Is Bill Eiland?

Sometimes we think we could make our own globetrotting quiz show about the peregrinations of our director, Bill Eiland. The first photo here comes from the reopening of the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota. You can browse the rest of the set here.

Then, a few minutes ago, we got the following photo from Bill's phone, featuring Pierre Daura Curator of European Art Lynn Boland. Knowing that this week he's on the West Coast, we guessed but got it wrong.

It turns out that they're at the Japanese American National Museum, browsing an exhibition of works by cartoonist Stan Sakai. Lynn and Bill are out in California working on our upcoming exhibition of large-scale resin sculptures by the artist De Wain Valentine, about whom we've posted here before.

"David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre"

The Morgan Library and Museum in New York City recently welcomed "David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre," which will be on display through Dec. 31.

The exhibition highlights a period in French history between the French Revolution in 1789 and King Louis-Philippe's reign in 1852. A turbulent time in French history, its artistic products are equally interesting.

Jacques-Louis David, Theodore Gericault, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Eugene Delacroix and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot are among the artists whose 80 drawings will visit the Morgan Library and Museum.

The Georgia Museum of Art's extensive works on paper in the Ceseri Collection also include drawings by Delacroix and Ingres. If a trip to New York for the exhibition is not in the cards this year, consider touring the Ceseri Collection, which is open to the public by appointment.

Family Day: The Art of Hatch Show Print

This Saturday (October 8), from 10 a.m. to noon, join us for Family Day: The Art of Hatch Show Print. This Family Day celebrates the exhibition "American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print," which is on view at GMOA through Nov. 6. The craft projects for Family Day are always one of the most fun things about it, and this week's involves using rubber stamps to create posters that look like the ones made by Hatch Show Print, in Nashville, Tenn.

We hope to see you at this fun event! Family Day programs are sponsored by Heyward Allen Motor Co., Inc., Heyward Allen Toyota, YellowBook USA and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art.

Picasso to Warhol at the High

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)

Girl before a Mirror, 1932

Oil on canvas, 64 x 51 1/4" (162.3 x 130.2 cm)

The Museum of Modern Art, Gift of Mrs. Simon Guggenheim

© 2011 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Later this month, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta will open Picasso to Warhol, an exhibition of more than 100 works by 14 of the most influential artists from the 20th century, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol.

The exhibition will run from Oct. 15, 2011–April 29, 2012 and will be one of the largest concentrations of modern art to ever be on display in the southeastern United States.

Visitors who purchase tickets to this exhibition online by Oct. 14 will be entered into a raffle to win a Warhol Weekend Getaway to New York City, which includes round-trip airfare for two, two nights of hotel accommodations, two tickets to the Museum of Modern Art, a private Warhol walking tour of the city, and $200 for meals. A winner will be chosen Monday, Oct. 17, 2011.

For full raffle rules and more information about this exhibition, click here.

GMOA in the News

Wendell Scott, UGA student and young media entrepreneur, has his own talk show, "The Wendell Show." He recently dropped by GMOA to chat with PR coordinator Jenny Williams about the new expanded Georgia Museum of Art. To learn more about "The Wendell Show," click here.