(PNAN-VA) Opening Saturday, January 15, 2011 at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, “Goya, Dali, Warhol: Masterpieces from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts” showcases objects as diverse as a Chinese wine vessel dating from 11-13th century BC to a 1992 signature robe painting by Jim Dine. In conjunction, this show includes “Modern American Prints: Selections from the David and Susan Goode Collection” through March 27.
“What makes Masterpieces so important for our audience is that it gives Pfac the opportunity, in our own neighborhood, to view contemporary works alongside those from antiquity. As the VMFA celebrates its 75th anniversary, Pfac appreciates the chance to bring significant works of artistic achievement together to illustrate how artists have expressed themselves in their diverse cultures over time,” says Pfac Program Director & Curator Michael Preble.
An exhibition of 33 works, includes highlights from every area of world art: classical and African art; Native American and South American art; Indian and Himalayan art; bronzes and prints from East Asia; Art Nouveau and Art Deco design; paintings by European masters, such as Francisco de Goya and John Constable and American masters such as George Catlin; as well as Modern and Contemporary art.
The VMFA opened in 1936 in the midst of the Great Depression with a mandate from the General Assembly “to promote throughout the Commonwealth education in the realm of art.” The initial gift of 100 artworks by Virginia Judge John Barton Payne provided the basis for the collection that would fulfill the museum’s mission. Over the past 75 years the museum has assembled a collection that numbers more than 20,000 works of art spanning over 5,000 years.
“Modern American Prints: Selections from David and Susan Goode Collection” is a selection of 28 prints that represents America’s most prolific period of printmaking of a variety of subjects, styles and techniques, like Abstraction by Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler; realism by Wayne Thiebaud and Robert Cottingham; and figurative subjects by Alex Katz and Tom Wesselman. Visitors will also see works by other notables, including Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett and Whitfield Lovell.
Friday, January 14 is a Pfac Member Preview Day, for both exhibitions is Friday, January 14, while the public opening the next day. Also set for Tuesday, January 18, from 5:30-7:30 pm, Curator Preble will conduct a tour of the Goya, Dali and Warhol exhibit; and then on Saturday, January 29, VMFA’s Paul Mellon Collection Educator, Jeffrey W. Allison will present an overview of the show.
More information is available by calling 757.596.8175, or see www.pfac-va.org.