The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia opens Exuberance of Meaning: The Art Patronage of Catherine the Great an exhibition on view September 21, 2013, to January 5, 2014.
Chalice. Iver Windfeldt Buch (1749-1811), St. Petersburg, 1791. Gold, diamonds, chalcedony, bloodstone, nephrite, carnelian, cast glass H. 33 cm, dia. 18 cm. Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, acc. no. 11.223.“Exuberance of Meaning” features many works of art and books, most of which Catherine the Great commissioned for her own use or for the courtiers who received them as gifts. Other objects in the exhibition serve as examples of historic precedents for the empress’ choices or represent major currents in the history of Russian art of the 17th and 18th centuries. The exhibition presents a comparison of dazzling and masterful objects that exemplify both medieval Byzantine culture, of which Russia was the successor and guardian, and the Western, neoclassical style that was the hallmark of the Enlightenment. The exhibition and publications contribute to the current knowledge of patronage in 18th-century Russia and to an understanding of the role of Byzantine culture in Russia’s history up to the era of neoclassicism.
Curator: Asen Kirin, associate professor of art and associate director of the Lamar Dodd School of Art.
Georgia Museum of Art
90 Carlton Street
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-6719
