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Water Views from the Figge Collection
Henry David Thoreau, 31 August – 1 September 1851, Journal
The devoutly reverent tenor of Henry David Thoreau’s (1817-1862) musings illustrate the indelible hold that water has exercised over the imagination of artists and poets. An agent of both physical and spiritual reflection, water not only highlights the natural beauty of the external environment but also stimulates introspective contemplation which in turn directs the mind to higher truths. Illuminative and illuminating, water is infused with symbolic meaning and serves as a tool for spiritual insight in receptive individuals.
The exhibition Water Views from the Figge Collection explores and celebrates in a variety of media the beauty and diversity of water. Paintings of tumbling rivers and tranquil lakes, views of picturesque coves and harbors, or scenes of surf crashing on craggy shorelines invite us to take pause and reflect upon ourselves and our surroundings. Drawn from the Figge’s collection of European, American and Japanese paintings and works on paper, this exhibition offers a broad survey of water imagery and explores the cultural perceptions imbedded in them. Not to be regarded as mere transcriptions of the natural world, seascapes and landscapes are views of the land and sea that have been carefully selected and manipulated in accordance to prevailing ideological attitudes about mankind and nature. Thus, Waugh’s and Edward Moran’s naturalistic studies of coasts bombarded with majestic waves revel in the interplay between water, light, the wind and earth and emphasize the power and potentially destructive nature of the sea but also allude to the importance of the sea coast for trade and the dangers associated with travel, as can be seen by the wreckage of a ship in Moran’s painting. The more intimate and muted marshes and lakes of Homer D. Martin, and Bruce Crane on the other hand offer refuge to the beholder and do not betray the distress and turmoil introduced by the increasingly industrialized world they inhabited. Similarly, the light-drenched elegiac scenes of calm Italian waters of George Loring Brown and Thomas Moran on the provide Old World refuge from the ills of modern society while the seaside, resort scenes of Signac and Stevens present nature as an amenity and offer respite from the chaos of urban life.
This exhibition continues through August 21, 2011
Sponsored by Chris and Mary Rayburn
images
Edward Moran, Marine, n.d., oil on canvas, 1925.0187
Maxime Emile Louis Maufra, Antifer, 1895, watercolor, 1938.0809
Paul Signac, Les Andelys, 1923, watercolor, 1938.0811
Sunday April 14th