14679.jpg?width=500I am pleased to extend an invitation to you to visit the Bard Graduate Center Gallery to see our upcoming exhibition, Salvaging the Past: Georges Hoentschel and French Decorative Arts from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, on view April 4 through August 4, 2013.

This rare exhibition unveils a rare collection of  French objects purchased by J. Pierpoint Morgan in 1906 from Georges Hoentschel, an architect, ceramicist and collector who was director of the Galerie Maison Leys in Paris during the Belle Époque. The collection was then given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art where it formed the core of the museum's holdings of French decorative arts. It comprises more than 200 objects of medieval art and French eighteenth century paneling, furniture, metalwork, textiles, paintings and sculpture.

Please contact us if you would like to visit the Gallery for guided tour of the exhibition, or for information about any of our exciting exhibition-related programs. 

GALLERY PROGRAMS
Spring 2013
Main Gallery
Salvaging the Past: Georges Hoentschel and French Decorative Arts from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
April 4 through August 11, 2013

All programs take place at 38 West 86th Street, unless otherwise indicated. Unless otherwise noted, evening programs now begin at 7 pm with a reception preceding each program.

To register online, visit bgc.bard.edu, call 212-50-3011,
or e-mail programs@bgc.bard.edu

Study Day
Revelations in Conservation: The Georges Hoentschel Collection
Friday, April 26
9:30 am to 4:30 pm exhibition lectures, lunch, and museum visit


This study day focuses on the conservation of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century French decorative arts, including metalwork, upholstery, and woodwork from the Hoentschel collection. Conservators from the Metropolitan Museum who have treated specific objects will discuss their technical studies and approaches to conservation. The exhibition curators will also consider how conservation treatments revealed fascinating aspects of each object’s history. This program begins at the BGC and concludes with a visit to a conservation studio at the Metropolitan Museum. Enrollment is limited to 12, and participating conservators will be announced at the program.

$150 general/$125 seniors and students

Deborah L. Krohn is an associate professor and the coordinator for history and theory of museums at the BGC.


Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide is curator of European sculpture and decorative arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art


Ulrich Leben is a visiting professor and special exhibitions curator and visiting professor at BGC.

Gallery Talk and Wine Tasting
Illuminating Hoentschel: A French Tastemaker and His World
Thursday, May 2
6 pm gallery talk
7 pm wine tasting


In his various roles as an influential French designer, collector, and art dealer, Georges Hoentschel introduced a learned approach to interior decoration that uniquely integrated eighteenth-century furnishings within the emerging idiom of Art Nouveau. In this gallery talk Ulrich Leben will discuss the recent research that illuminates the scope of Hoentschel’s contributions and singular place that the Hoentschel collection (at the Metropolitan Museum) presents as a research tool for the international dissemination of “French taste.” A tasting that features new French wines will conclude the program.

$35 general/$25 seniors 

Ulrich Leben is a visiting professor and special exhibitions curator at BGC. He is a co-curator of the Hoentschel exhibition with Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, and Deborah L. Krohn.

Lecture
Dressing for the Faubourg St. Germain: Fin de Siècle Fashion in Proust
Thursday, May 16
6 pm reception
7 pm lecture


For Marcel Proust, the evocative, multivalent aspects of clothing made it a fascinating and serious object of study. Characters such as the aristocratic dandy the Baron de Charlus, and the supremely elegant Duchesse de Guermantes are each associated with a highly distinctive style. In this lecture, Michele Majer will examine turn-of-the-century fashion and the ways in which Proust used dress to reveal the personalities of his characters and to deconstruct the meanings of their sartorial choices.

$20 general/$15 seniors and students

Michele Majer is an assistant professor at BGC and a research associate at Cora Ginsburg, LLC, New York City.

Concert

Paris, circa 1900: A Musical Still Life
Sunday, May 19
2 pm gallery talk
3 to 5 pm concert and reception


This concert will feature The Nouveau Classical Project performing both traditional and contemporary works by such composers as Debussy and Kaija Saariaho, as well as music by emerging composer Benjamin Attahir. Guest artist Christopher Dylan Herbert will join the ensemble to perform songs by Reynaldo Hahn. A gallery talk precedes the concert at 2 pm.

$30 general /$20 seniors and students


The Nouveau Classical Project (Amelia Lukas, flute; Isabel Kim, clarinet; Marina Kifferstein; violin; Rose Bellini, cello; Caleigh Drane, cello; Sugar Vendil, piano) received a 2011 JFund commission from the American Composers Forum.


Christopher Dylan Herbert, baritone, performs concerts and opera throughout the United States and Europe, principally with his ensemble, New York Polyphony.

Conversation

Hoentschel’s Ceramics: Mysteries of Origin and Style

Thursday, June 13

6 pm reception
7 pm conversation


Georges Hoentschel’s ceramics are as problematic as they are beautiful. Although many works contain his monogram, did he actually design and execute them all? How should they be classified? Are they japoniste—looking back to the art of the East—or are they modern, anticipating studio pottery made after World War II? In this conversation, Martin Eidelberg will explore questions of origin, style, and collaboration in Hoentschel’s ceramics and discuss how they relate to his work as a decorator and cabinetmaker. Jason Jacques will recount his experiences as one of the formost dealers of French art pottery.

$20 general/$15 seniors and students


Martin Eidelberg is a professor emeritus of art history at Rutgers University and expert on art pottery
and Tiffany glass.


Jason Jacques is the director of the Jason Jacques Gallery and a specialist in European Art Nouveau
and Japonist pottery.

Lecture

Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851–1939
Thursday, July 25
6 pm reception
7 pm lecture


During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, world’s fairs were the most important vehicles for debuting advancements in the modern world. Universal in scope, the fairs displayed decorative arts alongside paintings, sculpture, and agricultural products, and they democratized design unlike any previous or concurrent forum. In this lecture, Jason T. Busch will consider how objects at world’s fairs represented new and revived fabrication techniques, cross-cultural influences, nationalistic inspiration, and folkloric traditions, many of them introduced in Georges Hoentschel’s France.

$20 general/$15 seniors and students


Jason T. Busch is chief curator and the Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Curator of Decorative Arts and
Design at the Carnegie Museum of Art.



Family Day
Carving Marvelous Mementos
Saturday, July 13


11:30 am to 4 pm exhibition tours, demonstration and artmaking


Join us for a day filled with carving tools and sawdust as we explore the art of fine woodworking. Work with an experienced carpenter to create your own carved object inspired by the marvelous chairs, ornaments, and sculpture of Georges Hoentschel’s collection. This program is ideal for children ages 6 through 12 and their adult companions. 

$25 per family (includes gallery admission, art materials, healthy snacks)

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