Please Join Us for a Tour of
The Art of Pattern: Henri Matisse and
Japanese Woodcut Artists
with Katy Rothkopf and Frances Klapthor
Baltimore Museum of Art
Thursday, December 19, 10:45 am
Please join us on Thursday, December 19 for a tour of the Baltimore Museum of Art exhibition, The Art of Pattern: Henri Matisse and Japanese Woodcut Artists. The tour will be led by Katy Rothkopf, the Anne and Ben Cone Memorial Director of the Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies, Senior Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, and Frances Klapthor, Interim Department Head, Arts of Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific Islands, and Associate Curator of Asian Art.
Throughout his career, Henri Matisse was fascinated with patterns and decoration. His work of the 1920s often featured European models posing in his studio as odalisques in costumes and surrounded by colorful, patterned textiles mostly drawn from the Islamic world. In these compositions, his focus was frequently split between creating the make-believe setting and conveying the sensuality of the objectified female figures in an interior space—both popular subjects made by European artists for a predominately male audience.
By contrast, Japanese artists Kikugawa Eizan (1787–1867), Keisai Eisen (1790–1848), and Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (1786–1865) presented many of their female subjects in public spaces, wearing layered robes embellished with recognizable, symbolic decorative patterns and motifs. Colorful woodcuts featured courtesans and geishas who embodied an idealized concept of femininity and beauty. These prints, widely circulated in Japan, advertised businesses and products; influenced fashion; decorated homes; and promoted the illusion of a world of unencumbered pleasure, amusement, and diversion.
For more information about the exhibition, please visit the BMA website.
Attendance is limited to 25 WPC members and their guests. Please use the blue “button” below to RSVP. Members may register for themselves and one guest.
REMINDER
The DMV Speaks
A Panel Discussion with
Artists Wesley Clark, Mary Early,
Edgar Endress, and Helen Frederick
Moderated by Curator Laura Roulet
In Conjunction with the
WPC 60th Anniversary Collectors’ Exhibition
The DMV collects the DMV
The Kreeger Museum
December 7, 1:00 pm
Registration Required
On December 7, four artists whose work is represented in the WPC 60th anniversary exhibition will be in conversation with curator Laura Roulet: Wesley Clark, Mary Early, Edgar Endress, and Helen Frederick. The conversation will delve into their artistic practice and their experiences of being an artist working in the greater DC area.
The panel is in conjunction with the exhibition The DMV Collects the DMV which draws from the collections of WPC members and includes works on paper by an array of artists, showcasing the talent within the greater Washington, DC area and the collectors who support them.
Registration is required to attend the program, as is paid museum admission (except for Kreeger Museum members). Please use the button below to register. It will take you to the Kreeger Museum website’s registration page. If you are a Kreeger member, please use the drop-down box to secure your free entry.
Please note that on-site parking is extremely limited. Please plan to car pool or to arrive by taxi or ride share.
Click here to view the online exhibition catalog which includes an extensive essay by the curator.
Member News
Carol Barsha and Delna Dastur had work chosen for the 2024 Mid-Atlantic New Painting Biennial hosted by the University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA.
Cheryl Edwards and Helen Frederick have work in the McLean Project for the Arts exhibition Vibrant Matter: Works from Wood. Until January 4.
Cianne Fragione’s exhibition Isole: A Voyage Among My Dreams is on view at St. Mary’s College Museum of Art, Moraga CA until June 22, 2025. The online catalog is available here and a recording of the online artist’s talk can be found here.
Helen Frederick and Chris Mona’s collaborative and solo projects are on view at the Rice Gallery, McDaniel College, Westminster MD. Until December 13.
Susan Goldman’s exhibition of her work at the Athenaeum Gallery in Alexandria runs until December 8. More information here.
Mira Hecht’s exhibition at the American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center, in the center thereof rose a fountain, runs through December 8.
Mary Welch Higgins is curating an exhibition at the Brentwood Arts Exchange, Brentwood, MD. Beyond Networks: Work by New Image Artists runs until January 4. Artist talk December 7, 2:00 pm. More information here.
Robert Hunter’s print Toxic Silence was selected for the 2024 Fletcher Exhibition of Political and Socially Engaged Art held at the Reece Museum on the Campus of East Tennessee State University. The Exhibition runs until December 6.
Susan Due Pearcy will open her Sugarloaf Studio to the public for the Countryside Artisans Holiday Tour, December 6, 7 and 8th from 10:00am to 5:00pm each day. Her studio is located at 21900 Beallsville Road, Barnesville, MD 20838. More information here.
A documentary video about the work of artist Charles Ritchie is available for viewing here.
Soledad Salame was featured in the National Gallery of Art’s 9 Latinx Artists to Know.
Joyce Wellman has three works in the Phillips Collection exhibition Breaking it Down: Conversations from the Vault. Until January 19, 2025. More information here.
Gary Zuercher’s black and white photographs of the bridges of Paris at night, which were featured in his book The Glow of Paris, will be on display through January 21, 2025 at the Parc de Choisy in Paris. This is a continuation of his debut exhibition of the photos at Paris City Hall in October and November last year.
Gallery Member News
Adah Rose Gallery An exhibition of works by Nathan Loda and Anne Smith inaugurate the gallery’s new space at 12115 Parklawn Dr, Rockville, MD. Until January 12.
Addison/Ripley Tom Bunnell: Romantic Comedy, December 7 – January 18. Opening reception December 7, 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Coffee and conversation January 11, 11:00 am.
Gallery Neptune & Brown Art Matters featuring works by Carol Barsha, Mel Bochner, Willem Boshoff, Stephen Estrada, Rimma Gerlovina and Valeriy Gerlovin, Andy Goldsworthy, Janis Goodman, Paul Inglis, Erick Johnson, William Kentridge, Oleg Kudryashov, David X Levine, linn meyers, David Nash, Stone Roberts, Sean Scully, Foon Sham, Joseph Solman, Dodi Wexler, and Lisa Yuskavage. December 7 – January 17.
Hemphill, Two X. Until December 21. The exhibition includes work by Benny Andrews, Leon Berkowitz, Otho Branson, Francis Criss, Shaunté Gates, Wayson Jones, Norman Lewis, Kevin MacDonald, Joseph Mills, Melvin Nesbitt, Jr., Robin Rose, Alma Thomas, Julie Wolfe, and Ruri Yi.
Morton Fine Art Meditations on Blue featuring the work of Michael Andrew Booker, Kesha Bruce, Natalie Cheung, Amber Robles-Gordon, Jaz Graf, Hiromitsu Kuroo, Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, Andrei Petrov, Prina Shah, and Liz Tran. Until January 18.
Pazo Fine Art, DC location. The Radical Middle: Stephen Maine and Christopher Miles, until January 11.
Pyramid Atlantic, 10 x 10 Invitational, December 13 – January 5.
Washington Printmakers Gallery, Anna Mavromatis – Dress Talk, Until December 29.
Also of Interest
Art and Graphic Design of the European Avant-Gardes is the inaugural exhibition of the new Irene and Richard Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, until February 21. More information here.
Amy Kaslow Gallery (Bethesda) Joseph Holston: Black Lives. A Retrospective. Until December 8.
Faces and Figures: Identity Through Printmaking between South Africa and DC is on view at Mason Exhibitions, Arlington, until December 6. More information here.
Folger Shakespeare Library, Little Books, Big Gifts: The Artistry of Esther Inglis, until January 19, 2025.
The Print Generation, National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian). 20th century Japanese printmaking. More information here. Until April 27, 2025.