To See as Artists See:
American Art from The Phillips Collection
February 3 - May 6, 2012
Information on programs related to the
exhibition
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- February 3
- Curator's Perspective: "Duncan Phillips: Champion
of American Art"
- Presented by Susan Behrends Frank, Ph.D., The Phillips
Collection
- Free
-
- In this talk, Susan Behrends Frank, Ph.D., associate
curator for research at The Phillips Collection and curator of To See
as Artists See: American Art from The Phillips Collection, spoke about
the extraordinary vision of Duncan Phillips. The collector made an institutional
commitment at the end of World War I to champion American art and encourage
American artists of independent vision who looked beyond the strictures
of the academy at a time when other institutions were unwilling to do so.
-
- Founded in Washington, D.C. a decade before the Museum
of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art opened in New York
City, The Phillips Collection has championed the very best American art
and artists since opening its doors in 1921. For more than 50 years, until
his death in 1966, Phillips promoted the work of living American artists,
giving them his patronage and encouragement when they needed it the most.
In so doing, Phillips, and the museum that carries his name, became a significant
force in American modernism, advocating for an American art that could
find unity in a diversity of voices.
-
-
- February 9
- Adult Studio Workshop: Monoprinting
- Guest artist: Mark Hosford
- Fee.
-
- Monoprinting is a process in which painting and printmaking
processes are used in combination to create one-of-a-kind, unique works
on paper. In this introductory workshop, participants learned the basic
process of creating monoprints and monotypes. Participants were given a
tour of To See as Artists See: American Art from The Phillips Collection
to explore ideas for their own prints and will then head back to the studios
to explore a variety of techniques and methods using oil-based inks on
Plexiglas.
-
- Mark Hosford is also one of the artists whose work is
included in the exhibition Fairy Tales, Monsters, and the Genetic Imagination,
on view in the Frist Center's Upper-Level Galleries from February 24 through
May 28, 2012 and Metamorphoses: Drawings by Erin Anfinson, Kristi
Hargrove, Mark Hosford, and Chris Scarborough, on view in the Conte
Community Arts Gallery from June 8 through October 28, 2012.
-
-
- February 11
- Kids Club: Through the Eyes of O'Keeffe
- Free.
-
- Inspired by the exhibition To See as Artists See:
American Art from The Phillips Collection, participants looked
closely at objects from nature to create colorful artworks that reflect
a larger-than-life scale and the style of American artist Georgia O'Keeffe.
Participants created viewfinders to get "up close and personal."
-
-
- February 16
- Curator's Tour
- To See as Artists See: American Art from The Phillips
Collection
- Free
-
- Katie Delmez, curator at the Frist Center, gave a tour
that surveys American painting from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth
century.
-
- February 21 and February 25
- Educator Workshop
- To See as Artists See:
- Fee
- To See as Artists See: American Art from The Phillips
Collection provided an overview of the Phillips's
renowned American collection by highlighting more than one hundred paintings
by more than 75 American artists. During this full-day workshop, educators
examined original works of art on a curator-led tour, participated in studio
activities and developed teaching ideas for the classroom. Educators received
related resources and teaching materials including sample lesson plans
and color art reproductions. Frist Center educator workshops are open to
educators of all subjects, pre-K-12.
-
-
- February 24
- REPaloud: Red by John Logan in collaboration with
Tennessee
- Free
-
- Tennessee Repertory Theatre's REPaloud ("Reading
Excellent Plays" aloud) series features contemporary, award-winning
dramas in a staged reading format. Winner of the 2010 Tony Award for Best
Play, Red paints the vivid picture of master Abstract Expressionist
Mark Rothko who has just landed the biggest commission in the history of
modern art -- a series of murals for New York's famed Four Seasons Restaurant.
In the two fascinating years that follow, Rothko works feverishly with
his young assistant, Ken, in his studio on the Bowery. But when Ken gains
the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility
that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing. Raw and provocative,
Red is a searing portrait of an artist's ambition and vulnerability
as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting.
-
- This project has been made possible with the collaboration
of the Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Since 1985, Tennessee Repertory Theatre
has been a critically acclaimed regional theatre, creating the highest
quality professional productions and serving as a prime cultural, educational
and economic resource within Nashville and Middle Tennessee. The organization
produces work that is designed, built and rehearsed in Nashville by highly
skilled actors, designers, directors and technicians.
-
-
- February 25
- Educator Workshop: To See as Artists See: American
Art from the Phillips Collection
- Fee
-
- To See as Artists See: American Art from The Phillips
Collection provides an overview of the Phillips's
renowned American collection by highlighting more than 100 paintings by
75 American artists. During this full-day workshop, educators examined
original works of art on a curator-led tour, participated in studio activities
and develop teaching ideas for the classroom. Educators received related
resources and teaching materials including sample lesson plans and color
art reproductions. Frist Center educator workshops are open to educators
of all subjects, pre-K-12.
-
-
- March 9
- The Art of Songwriting: "American Songwriting in
the Twentieth Century"
- Presented by Michael Lasser
- Free Book signing followed ecture.
-
- Michael Lasser explored the art of songwriting and the
way in which songwriters in the first half of the twentieth century created
the American popular song through the use of African-American rhythms,
European melody and American speech. Representing this diversity through
song, Tin Pan Alley (the collection of New York City music publishers and
songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth century) was quick and shrewd in response
to what was going on in the world around them. Their goal was to write
hit songs that would appeal to as broad a public as possible. They weren't
poets seeking to express a personal vision of the world but songwriters
who were trying to express what they saw and heard within the firm conventions
and limits of a popular song. A good song encapsulated a public attitude,
belief, value, opinion or dream in 32 bars that, for a month or two anyway,
people couldn't get out of their heads.
-
- Following the lecture, Lasser was in the Frist Center
Gift Shop to sign copies of his book American Songs: Stories Behind
the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley, which is co-written
with Phil Furia. The book explores how creative skills and artistry work
together to create lasting songs and invites readers to look behind the
popular songs of the last century in order to understand how songwriters
and musicians blend words and music with sentiment and melody.
-
- About Michael Lasse: Raised in New Jersey in the shadow
of Broadway, Michael Lasser is a nationally known lecturer, writer, broadcaster,
critic and teacher.
-
- The songs featured in American Songs: Stories Behind
the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley, are the basis
for his nationally syndicated public radio program, Fascinatin' Rhythm,
winner of a 1994 Peabody Award. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he is
the former theater critic for The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle,
and for 30 years has spoken at museums and universities around the country.
In 2010, he was named a Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Scholar
at Rollins College. He is currently preparing a 2-CD set of the early songs
of Irving Berlin and is working on a new book, The Song Is Us: Love,
Lyrics & American Life, 19001950.
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-
- April 15
- Free Family Day Festival at the Frist
- 1:00-5:30 p.m.
- Free
-
- Enjoy a day of discovery and creativity, filled with
art activities, live music and exciting demonstrations. Bring your family
and friends to share in a day filled with art and imagination! Exhibitions
highlighted during the free day include To See as Artists See: American
Art from The Phillips Collection; Fairy Tales, Monsters, and the Genetic
Imagination; and Answers to Questions: John Wood and Paul Harrison.
-
- (Information based on this article's March 12, 2012 publication date)
-
(above: Hassam, Childe, Washington Arch, Spring,
1890, Oil on canvas, 26 1/8 x 21 5/8 inches; 66.3575 x 54.9275 cm. Acquired
1921. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC)
(above: Avery, Milton, Girl Writing, 1941, Oil on
canvas, 48 x 31 3/4 inches; 121.92 x 80.645 cm. Acquired 1943. The Phillips
Collection, Washington, DC)
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