Norman Rockwell Museum To Present Talk on Corporate Art Collecting in the United States
The Connoisseur, 1961. Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, January 13, 1962.
Private collection. © SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved.
Stockbridge, MA, August 12, 2016—Norman Rockwell Museum will present the talk “From Atchison, Topeka To Altoids: Corporate Art Collecting in the United States” on Thursday, August 18, starting at 5:30 p.m. During the mid-twentieth century, U.S. corporations began to collect more abstract art and moved away from social realism and regionalism. Explore how corporate art collecting relates to advertising and the history of both business and art in this country. The presentation will be given by Sandra Lang, Director and Associate Faculty, Visual Arts Administration MA Program, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University. Sponsored byBerkshire Magazine, the talk is presented as part of the Museum’s “Real or Imagined? Adventures in Visual Culture” lecture and performance series held Thursday evenings through the month of August.
The events are free for Museum members, or included with Museum admission.
Reservations are suggested by contacting the Museum at 413.931.2221 or register@nrm.org.
Sandra Lang has extensive experience in both non-profit and for-profit organizations. Formerly Administrative Director, Art Advisory Service, The Museum of Modern Art, and Executive Director, Independent Curators International. She has advised corporations and not-for-profit organizations on administrative, programmatic and fundraising issues including strategic plans, policy and procedures, exhibition development and tours, acquisitions and commissions of art, feasibility studies, communications programs, budgeting and contracts.
Upcoming Talk:
The Visual Narrative: Three Perspectives
with Marshall Arisman, Anita Kunz, and Thomas Woodruff
Thursday, August 25, 5:30 p.m.
Rockwell and Realism in an Abstract World
On view through October 30, 2016
In post-World War II America, the primacy of abstract art was clearly acknowledged, and by 1961, when Rockwell painted The Connoisseur, Abstract Expressionism had been covered in the popular press for nearly 15 years. Originated in the 1940s by Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, among others, Abstract Expressionism was the first American movement to achieve widespread international influence.
For the first time, Norman Rockwell Museum will explore the contrast between the abstract and realist movements, placing works by Rockwell, Wyeth, and Warhol side by side with Pollock, Calder, Johns, and over 40 other preeminent artists. Rockwell and Realism in an Abstract World examines the forces that forged the mid-century dismissal of narrative painting and illustration, as well as the resurgence of realist painting during the latter half of the twentieth century, its presence and critical consideration today, and the ways in which our contemporary viewpoints have been shaped by post World War II constructs.
The exhibition features the art of prominent illustrators, painters, and sculptors whose autographic art spans more than 60 years, representing many dynamic forms of visual communication. Featured artists include: Marshall Arisman, Bo Bartlett, Austin Briggs, Alexander Calder, Alan E. Cober, Robert Cottingham, Robert Cunningham, Joe De Mers, Walton Ford, Eric Forstmann, Helen Frankenthaler, Bernie Fuchs, Sam Francis, Edwin Georgi, George Giusti, Ralph Goings, Cleve Grey, Brad Holland, Dan Howe, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Anita Kunz, Jacqui Morgan, Robert Motherwell, Barbara Nessim, Barnett Newman, Tim O’Brien, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen, Al Parker, Bob Peak, Philip Pearlstein, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, Norman Rockwell, Peter Rockwell, James Rosenquist, David Salle, Saul Steinberg, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Robert Weaver, Thomas Woodruff, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth. The exhibition is sponsored by TD Bank.