October 13, 2014

Caravaggio Connoisseurship: Saint Francis in Meditation and the Capitoline Fortune Teller

February 8 to April 6, 2014, visitors coming to the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary will have a rare opportunity to view three famous paintings by, or attributed to, Caravaggio and take sides in an intense debate among the world’s leading authorities on Italian paintings. Two nearly identical versions of Caravaggio’s Saint Francis in Meditation have left experts divided. Despite years of debate, experts are in disagreement as to which one of these two beautiful paintings was created first and by whom. Which one is the original? Could they both be by the great […]
October 13, 2014

Glenn Close: A Life In Costume

The Muscarelle Museum of Art will host Glenn Close: A Life in Costume, featuring selections from Close’s personal costume collection.  It consists of ensembles worn by some of the most iconic characters from Close’s career in film, theatre and television, including Norma Desmond (Sunset Boulevard), Albert Nobbs, Alex Forrest (Fatal Attraction), Cruella De Vil (101 and 102 Dalmatians) and Patty Hewes (Damages).  The exhibition will open on September 29, 2013 and run through January 12, 2014.  In conjunction with the exhibition and the 2013 William & Mary Arts & Entertainment Festival, Close and her biotech entrepreneur husband, David Shaw, will […]
October 13, 2014

In Tandem: Established and Emerging Contemporary Artists from the Permanent Collection

More than twenty contemporary artists will be represented in the upcoming exhibition In Tandem: Established and Emerging Contemporary Artists from the Permanent Collection, September 29, 2013 — January 12, 2014. This multi- generational show includes works from the 1950s until the present by leading and emergent artists working in a variety of media and styles. Iconic works by established artists such as Chuck Close, David Hockney and Betye Saar will be showcased in tandem with up-and-coming artists Ángel Rámiro Sanchez, Steve Prince and Johnston Foster. Diverse approaches to contemporary culture, created by a cadre of multi-cultural artists, demonstrate the plurality […]
October 13, 2014

Curators At Work III: Recent Acquisitions

Curators at Work III: New Acquisitions, on view April 26 to May 26, 2013, will display a number of masterpieces that have been newly acquired for the permanent collection. The show will span seven consecutive centuries of art and a variety of media. These works are not featured merely for their significance to the art community at-large, rather these works were carefully selected to highlight the most significant philosophy underlying the operation and acquisitions of the Museum — the Museum’s role as a learning laboratory for the entire College of William & Mary. The director and chief curator target works […]
October 13, 2014

Michelangelo: Sacred and Profane

Organized by the Muscarelle Museum of Art, Michelangelo: Sacred and Profane Masterpiece Drawings from the Casa Buonarroti will open February 9 and be on view through April 14, 2013.  This landmark exhibition is being organized in honor of the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Muscarelle Museum of Art in 1983. Sacred and Profane follows on the success of Michelangelo: Anatomy as Architecture, Drawings by the Master held at the Muscarelle in 2010. The purpose of the new exhibition, with its unprecedented “sacred and profane” theme, is to investigate the artist’s innermost philosophy as revealed in his original, often […]
October 13, 2014

A Brush with Passion: Mattia Preti (1613-1699)

Paintings from North American collections in honor of the 400th anniversary of his birth.  |  February 9, 2013 – April 14, 2013
October 13, 2014

African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era and Beyond

September 28, 2012 – January 6, 2013
October 13, 2014

Faculty Show 12

Works of the teaching studio art faculty including visiting instructors and emeriti professors at William & Mary were featured in an exhibition at the Muscarelle Museum of Art from October 27, 2012 through January 6, 2013. William & Mary was the first American university to create a department of fine arts and the Muscarelle was the first accredited university museum in the Commonwealth. This exhibition, a long-standing collaboration between the two departments, showcased representations of each artist’s current studio works. Faculty Show 12 presented the diverse talents of the William & Mary faculty in multiple media including drawing, painting, printmaking, […]
October 13, 2014

Athenian Potters and Painters: Greek Vases from Virginia Collections

August 18, 2012 – October 7, 2012 The vases in this exhibition, from Virginia collections, were selected to display not only a variety of subjects and shapes, but also the principal techniques used to decorate them. Arranged in an approximate chronology, starting with prehistoric pottery and ending with high classical-era red-figure pottery, Athenian Potters and Painters was organized in connection with the international conference Athenian Potters and Painters III.  The labels and wall texts were written by the students of Professor John Oakley in the Department of Classical Studies at the College of William & Mary.