Exhibitions Archived in: 2007

Cosmophilia: Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen

Cosmophilia: Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen

February 1 – May 20, 2007

Cosmophilia—literally "love of ornament"—examined one of the most characteristic and attractive features of Islamic art. Covering a millennium of Islamic history in regions extending from Spain to India, this comprehensive exhibition surveyed the extraordinary range and visual virtuosity of one of the world's great artistic traditions. Organized visually by... more »

Exported Visions: Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Woodblock Print

Exported Visions: Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Woodblock Print

March 17 – June 10, 2007

When the traditional art of the Japanese color woodblock print was pushed near extinction at the turn of the twentieth century, a few enterprising young artists and publishers revived the old-fashioned art form. These shin hanga or "new prints" maintained traditional methods and depicted traditional birds, flowers, and landscapes,... more »

Majestic Nature/Golden History: German Romantic Art from the Crawford Collection and the Smart Museum of Art

Majestic Nature/Golden History: German Romantic Art from the Crawford Collection and the Smart Museum of Art

April 24 – October 21, 2007

While the German-speaking lands in nineteenth-century Europe remained divided into a host of sovereign political entities, their artists and writers championed cultural unity by reviving and celebrating the art of their past. The nascent Romantic and Nazarene movements stood in contrast to the Neoclassicism of an earlier generation. Rejecting the... more »

Living Modern: German and Austrian Art and Design, 1890-1933

Living Modern: German and Austrian Art and Design, 1890-1933

June 7 – September 16, 2007

Modernism was not only an innovative aesthetic recognized by its crisp forms and progressive use of materials, but it was also a way of thinking about contemporary life. Amid a backdrop of industrialization, urbanization, world war, and reconstruction, many progressive German and Austrian artists and designers dreamed of a... more »

The World Writ Small: Early Northern European Prints

The World Writ Small: Early Northern European Prints

June 16 – September 8, 2007

The diminutive engravings and woodcuts made by northern European artists in the first half of the sixteenth century may not be monumental in scale, but they contributed to nothing less than a revolution in printmaking. This flowering of activity, close on the heels of Johann Gutenberg's invention of printing... more »

Objects of Inquiry: The Buckley Collection of Japanese Art

Objects of Inquiry: The Buckley Collection of Japanese Art

September 15 – December 16, 2007

Between 1886 and 1892, Edmund Buckley assembled an extensive collection of Japanese religious objects and artworks while teaching in Kyoto. The collection formed the basis for Buckley’s doctoral work at the University of Chicago and was exhibited on campus in one of the first systematic displays of Japanese religious objects... more »

Master Drawings from the Yale University Art Gallery

Master Drawings from the Yale University Art Gallery

October 4, 2007 – January 6, 2008

Whether made as preparatory studies or stand-alone works, drawings offer an intimate glimpse at an artist's personality and talents. They reward close examination for their insight into the various stages of the creative process. This exhibition, organized by the Yale University Art Gallery and traveling to the Smart Museum... more »

Looking and Listening in Nineteenth-Century France

Looking and Listening in Nineteenth-Century France

November 6, 2007 – March 23, 2008

Audiences in different eras look at art and listen to music in dramatically different ways. The experience of looking or listening is not historically constant, but rather varies with social settings, technologies, and trends. During the nineteenth century, the habits and fashions associated with looking and listening changed rapidly.... more »

Drawn from the Home of Henry Darger

Drawn from the Home of Henry Darger

December 22, 2007 – March 16, 2008

For forty years, the self-taught artist Henry Darger lived and worked in a cluttered one-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s North Side. Teeming with objects of all sorts—from balls of string and Pepto Bismol bottles to coloring books and art supplies—the room revealed Darger’s treasured collections and aesthetic sensibility. In the... more »

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