April & May 2018 Programming at the Princeton University Art Museum

The Artist Sees Differently: Modern Still Lifes from The Phillips Collection

January 27– April 29

In their quest to create a new art suited to new times, many late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artists rejected the official hierarchies of the French Academy, which privileged epic narratives of history, mythology, and religion, and chose instead to paint still lifes –depictions of the humble objects of daily life, and traditionally considered the lowliest of genres. This exhibition of thirty-eight paintings offers an analysis of the modernist still life, including rarely seen works by European and American masters such as Paul Cézanne, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Marsden Hartley, Milton Avery, and George O’Keeffe.

Jean Négulesco, Still Life, 1926. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. Acquired by 1930.

Landscapes Behind Cézanne

February 24– May 13

Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) is widely acknowledged to have transformed landscape painting, most radically in his late watercolors, which do not so much attempt to copy the actual appearance of a scene as to translate it into self-sufficient sequences of patches and lines of a restricted range of vivid colors. This installation of some twenty works, drawn entirely from the Museum’s collections, juxtaposes such watercolors by Cézanne with landscapes drawn, printed, or painted on paper by earlier artists. It reveals the extent to which Cézanne made use of standard types of landscape depictions—close-up views, woodland panoramas, rocky landscapes, wide vistas, landscapes with built structures in them—that had been in use for many centuries, but also suggests that Cézanne goes a step further, explicitly acknowledging that what is real in art is different and independent from the actuality of nature.

Photography and Belonging

Through September 30

Representing a range of photographic practices, these works from the Princeton University Art Museum collection explore how the human experiences of belonging and alienation have long been both subject and effect of photography. Since the announcement of the technology’s invention in 1839, photographers have sought to depict human relationships and social dynamics. At the same time, the practices of taking and viewing photographs have themselves structured new relationships between photographer, subject, and viewer. Considering the different motives of these participants can raise important questions about the ethics of the photographic encounter. As the link between subject and viewer, what responsibilities fall on the photographer? How do subjects assert their own right to speak?

Special Events

Lecture: Jhumpa Lahiri

Thursday, April 5, 5:30 p.m.

10 McCosh Hall

Jhumpa Lahiri, professor of Creative Writing, Lewis Center for the Arts, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her story collection Interpreter of Maladies, reflects on themes of migration and translation in her own writing as well as in the prints and drawings of the artist Leonora Carrington. A reception in the Museum will follow.

Panel Discussion: Landscapes Behind Cézanne

Friday, April 6, 2 p.m.

101 McCormick Hall

Join us for a discussion inspired by the exhibition Landscapes Behind Cézanne, with Tim Barringer, Chair and Paul Mellon Professor, Yale University; John Elderfield, Allen R. Adler, Class of 1967, Distinguished Curator and Lecturer; and Christopher Riopelle, Curator of Post-1800 Paintings, National Gallery, London. A reception in the Museum will follow. Students from Professor Elderfield’s seminar on Cézanne will be present to answer questions.

Artist Performance & Conversation: Cecilia Vicuña

Tuesday, April 10, 5:30 p.m.

Princeton University Art Museum

Join us for a performance by the acclaimed Chilean artist and poet Cecilia Vicuña, the 2018 Sarah Lee Elson, Class of 1984, International Artist-in-Residence, and the Colombian composer Ricardo Gallo. Vicuña’s interdisciplinary practice combines poetry, drawing, sculpture, filmmaking, performance, and activism. This event showcases her extended collaboration with Gallo—together they have created original songs and poems that weave together indigenous influences and contemporary voices of the Andean region. A conversation with the artists and a reception will follow. Seating is limited and reservations are required. See Museum website for details.

A Conversation with Fazal Sheikh and Eduardo Cadava

Thursday, April 12

Book Signing: 4:30 p.m, Museum Lobby

Conversation: 5:30 p.m., 10 McCosh Hall

In conjunction with a generous donation to the Museum, currently on view, the photographer Fazal Sheikh joins Eduardo Cadava, professor of English, in a conversation that addresses the politics of migration and exclusion, particularly as related to Executive Order 13769 of January 27, 2017, which blocked entry into the United States for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. A reception in the Museum will follow.

Lecture: Object or Image? Arthur Dove’s “Things”

Friday, April 13, 1:30 p.m.

101 McCormick Hall

While for most of his career, the American artist Arthur Dove made abstract paintings that evoked the natural world, for a brief period in the 1920s he turned to still life, creating sculptural assemblages he called “things.” Rachael DeLue, professor of Art and Archaeology, explores Dove’s turn toward the world of objects and his experimentation with the still life genre. A reception in the Museum will follow.

Inspiration Night: Migrations

Thursday, April 19, 7–9 p.m.

Princeton University Art Museum

The Art Museum’s Student Advisory Board invites you to an evening of art, conversation, and performances inspired by the theme of migrations.

Panel Discussion: Zen Ink: Paintings by Hakuin Ekaku

Friday, April 20, 2 p.m.

101 McCormick Hall

On the occasion of the loan to the Museum of five Japanese ink paintings by the Zen master Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1768), an interdisciplinary panel featuring poet Jane Hirshfield, Class of 1973; artist Mansheng Wang; and Thomas Hare, William Sauter LaPorte ’28 Professor in Regional Studies and professor of Comparative Literature, discusses the artist’s work. Moderated by Andrew Watsky, professor of Art and Archaeology and director of the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art. A reception in the Museum will follow. Cosponsored by the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art.

Panel Discussion: Crowd Wisdom: Three Scholars Take on the Multitudes

Thursday, April 26, 4:30 p.m.

Princeton University Art Museum

Join us for a panel discussion with Bonnie Bassler, Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and chair, Department of Molecular Biology; Bridget Alsdorf, associate professor of Art and Archaeology; and Göran Blix, associate professor of French and Italian, as they respond to artists’ representations of crowds and share their perspectives on crowd behavior. A reception will follow. Cosponsored by the Humanities Council.

Performance & Readings: Hanne Darboven’s Address—Place and Time

Friday, April 27

Princeton University Art Museum

The opening day of the multi-venue installation Hanne Darboven’s Address features a presentation by visual artists Nick Mauss and Ken Okiishi, a performance by musical artist Seth Cluett, and public readings. Locations include the Art Museum, Marquand Library, the Department of German, and the Department of Art and Archaeology. See the Museum’s website for a full schedule of events.

Film Series: Modernism on Screen

La règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game, 1939)

April 25

110 minutes, not rated, directed by Jean Renoir

Princeton Garden Theatre

Inspired by the exhibition The Artist Sees Differently: Modern Still Lifes from The Phillips Collection, the Art Museum offers a rare opportunity to see four masterworks of twentieth-century cinema on the big screen. Museum members receive Garden Theatre member admission prices.

Considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made, this scathing critique of corrupt French society is cloaked in a comedy of manners in which a weekend at a marquis’s country château lays bare ugly truths about the haut bourgeoisie. Introduced by Museum Director James Steward.

Film Series: Modernism on Screen

Some Like It Hot (1959)

May 23

121 minutes, not rated, directed by Billy Wilder

Princeton Garden Theatre

Inspired by the exhibition The Artist Sees Differently: Modern Still Lifes from The Phillips Collection, the Art Museum offers a rare opportunity to see four masterworks of twentieth-century cinema on the big screen. Museum members receive Garden Theatre member admission prices.

To escape Chicago after witnessing the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, two musicians dress as women and join an all-girl band in Miami. Only Billy Wilder could turn this wacky premise into a madcap masterpiece with brilliant performances from Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis. Introduced by Caroline Harris, Associate Director for Education.

Friends Annual Mary Pitcairn Keating Lecture: Maya Lin

Thursday, May 3, 5 p.m.

10 McCosh Hall

Internationally acclaimed artist Maya Lin presents the sitespecific artwork commissioned by the Art Museum for the space adjacent to the Lewis Arts Complex. Drawing inspiration from the natural world and forming her work in conversation with the environment, Lin here shapes the landscape to create a work that invites and engages the campus community. A reception in the Museum will follow.

Opening Celebration: Frank Stella Unbound

Saturday, May 19

Lecture: 5 p.m., 50 McCosh Hall

Reception: 6 p.m., Art Museum

Join us for the opening of Frank Stella Unbound: Literature and Printmaking with a lecture by Dr. Robert K. Wallace, Regents Professor of English at Northern Kentucky University and author of Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick: Words and Shapes. A reception in the Museum will follow.

ART FOR FAMILIES

Join us on Saturday mornings for family fun in the Art Museum. Drop in anytime between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and enjoy an engaging gallery activity followed by a related art project. All ages are welcome; no tickets or reservations are needed.

Creative Combines | March 10

Ship Shape | March 17

Art Tales | March 24

Building a Landscape | April 7

Learning to Look | April 14

Lean on Me | April 21

Art Tales | April 28

Family Day: Line, Shape, Color

May 12, 10:30-4:00

Princeton University Art Museum

Enjoy a fun-filled day for the whole family, including art projects, stories, games, scavenger hunts, live performances, and refreshments.