Displaying items by tag: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

An exhibition honoring the creative genius of master sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through March 13, 2016. Drawn primarily from collections of the Musée Rodin, Paris, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition brings together more than 200 objects – fragile plasters, patinated bronzes, marbles, ceramics and works on paper – and examines the artist’s creative process. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about Rodin’s techniques, materials, models, and assistants, and to explore the artistic vision behind some of his best known works – including The Kiss, The Thinker, and The Burghers of Calais.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is presenting Metamorphoses: In Rodin’s Studio from May 30 to October 18, 2015. Produced and circulated in the United States by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Musée Rodin in Paris, this exhibition features close to 300 works. The largest Rodin exhibition ever presented in Canada, it includes masterpieces that are being shown for the first time in North America.

MAJOR LOANS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NORTH AMERICA
Metamorphoses: In Rodin’s Studio includes special loans from the Musée Rodin, including original studio plasters of the masterpieces The Thinker and The Walking Man, along with Eve and the large Meditation, and a number of splendid vessels and flowers.

Stéphane Aquin holds a distinguished profile in the Canadian art world and abroad, in part because he arrived to the role of curator from art criticism, but also because, in an era of revolving doors and fast-tracked career-making, Aquin has stayed with one institution—the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA)—for a long stretch of time, putting his head down and achieving increasingly strong exhibitions. Over the course of 16 years, he has accomplished major solo exhibitions with the likes of Pipilotti Rist, Tom Wesselman, and, most recently, Peter Doig, what many consider (including Aquin) his crowning achievement at the MMFA. In addition, he has curated interpretations of the Chapman brothers, Andy Warhol, and Alfred Hitchcock, and expanded the museum's collection by more than a thousand artworks, including works by David Altmejd, Kiki Smith, Antony Gormley, Dorion FitzGerald, and Michael Snow.

The Portland Art Museum in Oregon is the only U.S. venue for "Venice: The Golden Age of Art and Music." The show focuses on La Serenissima" or "the most serene," the period between the early 16th century and the fall of the Venetian Republic at the end of the 18th century that was defined by a surge in artistic innovation. During this time, music and art flourished thanks to painters such as Tintoretto, Canaletto, and Guardi, as well as composers such as Willaert, Gabrieli, Monteverdi, and Vivaldi.

Organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition is the first to explore the important interrelationships of the visual arts and music in Venice's civic ceremonies, festivals, and culture. The show will present 108 objects from 38 lenders including paintings, prints, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, original period instruments, and early music texts. Period music will be audible in the galleries to create a more comprehensive visitor experience.

 "Venice: The Golden Age of Art and Music" will be organized by theme. Sections will include -- Basilica of San Marco, which will explore Venice's center of religious devotion; Civic Pageantry, which will look at the many festivities and processions held throughout the year in Venice; The Scuole and The Ospedali, which will explore the impact that schools and hospital orphanages had on art and music in Venice; Musicians and Concerts, which will look at the impact and importance of music in the city; Popular Music; and Mythology and Opera.  

 "Venice: The Golden Age of Art and Music" will be on view at the Portland Art Museum through May 11, 2014.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) began as the Art Association of Montreal in 1860. Recognizing that the city lacked art schools, museums, and exhibition spaces, a handful of wealthy citizens formed the association to make art available to the city’s inhabitants. With minimal resources, the association was confined to hold annual exhibitions and occasional drawing classes. It wasn’t until 1877 when the successful businessman, Benaiah Gibb, bequeathed a plot of land, a sum of money, and his modest collection of European paintings and sculptures, that the association began to grow.