By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500-1800
Women artists played a vibrant yet overlooked role in Italy around 1600. The first exhibition solely dedicated to Italian women artists at the Wadsworth, By Her Hand explores how important women artists succeeded in the male-dominated art world of the time. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–after 1654), one of the most fascinating seventeenth-century Italian painters, will take center stage. Beyond Gentileschi, the accomplishments of a diverse and dynamic group—from the court painter Sofonisba Anguissola (1532–1625), to the Venetian pastel artist Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757), among other talented and virtually unknown Italian women artists—will be introduced and celebrated. [Image: Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1623–25. Oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts]
On view through January 9, 2022 Location: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
Sustaining Maine's Waters: Understanding the Changing Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine and its watershed are unique. They have played a large role in the state's development and humans have played a large part in how they have changed. The first iteration of this exhibit introduces the Gulf of Maine through maps, objects, and data. Sustainable practices throughout Maine's history are discussed through objects, including a Wabanaki canoe and fisheries technology like trawl nets, lobster gauges, and sardine cans. The changing Gulf is explored through graphs showing its rising temperature, and maps provide geographical references to locate the state and Gulf within the larger ecosystem.
On view through December 31, 2022 Location: Maine Maritime Museum
On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale
This exhibit showcases and celebrates the remarkable achievements of an impressive roster of women artists who have graduated from Yale University. Presented on the occasion of two major milestones—the 50th anniversary of coeducation at Yale College and the 150th anniversary of the first women students at the University, who came to study at the Yale School of the Fine Arts when it opened in 1869—the exhibition features works drawn entirely from the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery that span a variety of media, such as paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, photography, and video. Beginning with Josephine Miles Lewis, the very first student, male or female, to be awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, in 1891, the show highlights the work of nearly 80 artist-graduates. [Image: Maya Lin, Study for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1980. Pastel on paper. Yale University Art Gallery, Promised gift of Maya Lin, B.A. 1981, M.Arch. 1986, in honor of Jock Reynolds, the Henry J. Heinz II Director, 1998–2018, and Vincent J. Scully, Jr., B.A. 1940, M.A. 1947, Ph.D. 1949. Copyright Maya Lin Studio, courtesy Pace Gallery]
On view through January 9, 2022 Location: Yale University Art Gallery
Art & Protest: Artists as Agents of Social Change
This exhibit unites examples of socially engaged art—produced primarily in the United States but in a few instances around the world—from the 19th century to the present. To showcase the artistic and ideological patterns that occur across different eras and social movements the works are grouped around seven aesthetic or conceptual strategies artists use to demonstrate the need for social change: Photography and Photojournalism; Social Commentary and Satire; Appropriation and Circulation; Text as Art; Transgressive Aesthetics; Picturing Difficult Truths; and Presence and Absence. Many works could feature in multiple categories. All works in Art & Protest are drawn from the museum's permanent collection. In particular, the exhibition marks the debut of exciting recently acquired works by Darren Ell, Martine Gutierrez, Hans Haacke, Jon Henry, Mikael Owunna, Wendy Red Star, and Kara Walker.
[Image: Keith Haring (American, 1958–1990), Silence Equals Death, 1989, silkscreen on paper, 32 3/4 x 32 3/4 inches. Collection of Middlebury College Museum of Art. Purchase with funds provided by the Frederick and Martha Lapham Art Acquisition Fund, the Calvert H. Seybolt '80 Art Acquisition Fund, and the Memorial Art Fund, 2017.002.]
On view through December 12, 2021 Location: Middlebury College Museum of Art