Press Release
For Press Inquiries Only:Chief Press Officer
Deborah Ziska
ds-ziska@nga.gov
(202) 842-6353
Release Date: March 2, 2004
Washington, DC-- A corner light piece by Dan Flavin; a signature conceptual work by Mel Bochner; one of the first romantic French landscapes by Horace Vernet; a superb example of baroque high-relief marble carving by Pierre-Etienne Monnot; a seminal Roman landscape by Danish painter Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg; a vibrant still life by Holland's finest game painter, Jan Weenix; a striking pastel portrait by English artist John Russell; and a spectacular set of twelve engravings by Jacques de Gheyn II are among more than 100 works of art approved for acquisition by the National Gallery of Art's board of trustees at their meeting in late January. The Gallery's collection now numbers more than 108,000 works of art.
"The constant growth and expanding range of works in the Gallery's collection is a reminder of the generosity of private citizens who contribute to our national collection of great works of art, to be enjoyed by everyone free of charge," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art.
Sculpture
The drawing untitled (to Barnett Newman to commemorate his simple problem, red, yellow, and blue) (1970) by Dan Flavin (1933-1996) serves as a certificate of authenticity for a fluorescent light piece in red, yellow, and blue, to be fabricated by the Flavin Studio in time for the artist's retrospective at the National Gallery of Art, October 3, 2004-January 9, 2005. A gift from The Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation (headed by artist Frank Stella) in honor of Annalee G. Newman, untitled is one of a small group of pieces inspired by Barnett Newman (1905-1970). The Gallery also owns 31 prints, two portfolios of prints, and two other fluorescent light pieces in cool white called "monument" for V. Tatlin (1969-1970 and 1968) by Flavin that are on view indefinitely in the East Building concourse. The Gallery's holdings in works by Newman are among the finest in the world and include The Stations of the Cross (1958-1965).
The Virgin Swooning over the Body of Christ at the Foot of the Cross (1710) by Pierre-Etienne Monnot (1657-1733) is the first example in the Gallery's collection of baroque high-relief marble carving, a major type of European sculpture rarely available because most of these works are altarpieces and remain in the churches for which they were made. Monnot, born in France, became one of the most successful sculptors in Rome by the 1690s. The relief, measuring approximately 28 x 22 in., was acquired with funds from the Patrons' Permanent Fund. After cleaning and minor restoration in the Gallery's conservation laboratory, it will be on view in the sculpture galleries by late 2004.
Installation
Theory of Boundaries, a wall drawing created in 1969 by Mel Bochner (b. 1940), comes to the Gallery in the form of instructions and stencils, like similar works of conceptual art. It consists of a row of four squares, each representing a separate principle relating to the relationship of pigment to the circumscribed "boundaries" of the pictorial field, and labeled as such with relevant prepositions. It is one of the artist's most important signature works dating from the period when Bochner emerged as a defining figure of the conceptual art movement. It was purchased with funds from The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass Fund.
Paintings
View of the Cloaca Maxima (1814), by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1783-1853), father of the golden age of Danish painting, is one of his landmark open-air landscapes from his period of study in Rome from 1813 to 1816. The panoramic view across the partially excavated ancient city is exquisitely detailed and richly textured. The painting was recently on view in the Gallery's exhibition of the artist's works. The painting, which is awaiting a Danish export license, is a gift of Victoria and Roger Sant.
Departure for the Hunt in the Pontine Marshes (1833) by French painter Horace Vernet (1789-1863) will be reunited with its pendant, Vernet's Hunting in the Pontine Marshes (1833), acquired by the Gallery in 1989. Both paintings were purchased with funds from the Chester Dale Fund. The location of Departure for the Hunt in the Pontine Marshes, which was in a private French collection, was not known since the 19th century. Vernet was deeply impressed by the then primeval forests of the Pontine Marshes near Rome. His sublime landscapes depicting unspoiled nature were an allusion to the French revolution of 1830. The painting will go on view in late 2004 after it is cleaned.
Still Life with Swan and Game before a Country Estate Garden (c. 1685) by celebrated Dutch game painter Jan Weenix (1642-1719) is an elegant and vibrant composition in an outstanding state of preservation. Aside from their associations with the hunt, the dead swan and fleeing dove have religious connotations: they relate to the idea of freeing the soul after death. Measuring 56 1⁄4 x 68 1/8 in., the painting has a long provenance dating to the mid-1700s, when it was owned by Amsterdam merchant and renowned collector Gerret Braamcamp. Purchased with funds from the Patrons' Permanent Fund, the painting will go on view in the renovated Dutch galleries in August 2004.
Prints and Drawings
Lucas van Leyden's engraving, David Playing the Harp before Saul (c. 1508), shows the psychological confrontation between the robust, youthful David and the deeply disturbed elderly king who senses a terrible fate. A rich and subtle impression of this early masterpiece was purchased with funds from an anonymous donor.
Miss Raymond (1783), acquired with funds from the New Century Fund, is a handsome pastel portrait of a fashionably coiffed young woman by the English artist John Russell. He was known in his own time as the "prince of pastellists" and is still regarded one of England's greatest masters of pastel. He was most admired for the luminous freshness of his colors and the sensitivity of his brush strokes, both of which are found in abundance in his likeness of the elegant Miss Raymond.
Jacques de Gheyn II's Officers and Soldiers (1587), purchased with funds from the New Century Fund, is the engraver's earliest signed masterpiece and the product of a brilliant collaboration with Hendrick Goltzius, who supplied the drawings for the figures. The set of twelve Dutch mannerist prints reveals men in elaborate costumes. Other acquisitions include a set of ten engravings by Zacharias Dolendo (?) after Jacques de Gheyn II, which shows figures in masquerade costumes, a carnivalesque counterpart to the officers of the guard.
Four watercolors and one large beautiful pastel, Swamp (1947), by American abstract artist William Baziotes (1912-1963), represent his artistic development from the 1930s through 1959. The works are a gift from the artist's wife, Ethel Baziotes, in honor of Adlai E. Stevenson and Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. Five drawings and a small painting by Robert Motherwell, all preparatory works for the Gallery's major painting, Reconciliation Elegy (1978), were given by Dedalus Foundation.
National Gallery curator of special projects Ruth Fine gave a bold, hand-colored etching, Woman on Fire in Vienna (1993) by Jim Dine (b. 1935) in honor of Gallery curator of modern prints and drawings Judith Brodie, and a masterful color print, Woods (1993-1994), by Alex Katz (b. 1927), in honor of Irvin and Miriam Brown Fine.
General Information
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times
free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd
and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through
Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information
call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD)
at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.
Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon
entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and
located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented
at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray
screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances.
For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried
into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot
be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in
the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by
the Gallery or its checkrooms.
For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:
Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov
Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov
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