New Exhibition Brings Painted Gardens to the James A. Michener Art Museum

The Artist in the Garden exhibition brings to light the restorative power of nature through artists’ eyes

(Doylestown, PA) The Michener Art Museum announces the opening of The Artist in the Garden, an exhibition that explores the relationship between artists and nature from early in the 20th century to today. The exhibition is on view from February 7 through August 9, 2015 in the Putnam Smith Gallery.

(From L to R:) Violet Oakley (1874 – 1961), Ophelia Rose, ca. 1918, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 in., James A. Michener Art Museum, Gift of Seymour Millstein. 2012.50.5 Daniel Garber (1880 – 1958), Mother and Son, 1933, oil on canvas, 80 1/8 x 70 1/4 in., Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Gift of the Artist. 1953.20 Rae Sloan Bredin (1880 – 1933), Barbara, ca. 1920, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 in. (sight), Collection of Carol and Louis E. Della Penna

The Artist in the Garden is curated by Michener’s Senior Curator of Exhibitions, Kirsten Jensen, Ph.D. “This exhibition was created primarily from our permanent collection, and presents an opportunity for the Michener to highlight paintings not usually displayed in our collection galleries,” noted Jensen. “I thoroughly enjoyed selecting these paintings, many of which are gems by leading American artists, and I welcome visitors to come in out of the winter cold to experience our painted gardens, both the real and the imaginary,” added Jensen.

The exhibition is divided loosely into three thematic sections, “The Back Yard,” “The Mythic Garden,” and “Intimate Spaces/Private Worlds.” It includes work by regional artists Daniel Garber, Edward Redfield, John Folinsbee, Violet Oakley, Rockwell Kent, Max Weber, Arthur Bowen Davies, Jennifer Bartlett, Elizabeth Osborne, Elsie Driggs, and Peter Paone. The exhibition begins with the close of the Progressive Era (around 1920), a time when industrial and urban development began to transform the landscape and ends with recent work by living artists.

Early in the 20th century, many artists left the city for the bucolic setting of picturesque towns, such as New Hope and Lambertville. Most artists in the region chose to focus their attention on the pastoral landscape. Many were passionate gardeners, and their depictions of their own backyard retreats reinforce the era’s belief in the restorative power of nature. Suggestions of the budding environmentalism of the 1970s and ’80s, the retreat from reality to new dream – like or magical realms, and the rejuvenating influence of one’s own backyard characterize many of the contemporary approaches to painting nature.

Programs:

The Artist in the Garden: Explorations of the Magical and the Real
Tuesday, February 24, 2015 · 1 to 2 pm
Presented by Kirsten Jensen, Ph.D., Senior Curator of Exhibitions

The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the
Garden Movement (1887-1920)
Tuesday, March 31, 2015 · 1 to 2 pm
Lecture by Anna O. Marley, Ph.D., Curator of Historical American Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

The Artist’s Garden, a gallery based program co-sponsored by the
Violette de Mazia Foundation
Wednesday, June 3, 10, 2015 · 1 to 2:30 pm
Hortulus Garden Visit · Wednesday, June 17, 2015 · 10 am to Noon
This exhibition is a companion exhibition to The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement (1887–1920) at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from February 13 to May 24, 2015.

For a full calendar of exhibit-related events visit the Museum’s website MichenerArtMuseum.org

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