Traditions, innovations and a ‘hard-working land’: SAMA-Loretto opens two new exhibitions
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As the country's oldest art school and museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has produced such great names in American art as Charles Willson Peale, Thomas Eakins and Mary Cassatt.
Founded in 1805, it continues to graduate alumni who are leading realists today, and some of their art goes on exhibit today at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Loretto. "Tradition and Innovation: Recent Work by Alumni and Faculty of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts" remains on view through June 9.
"The Pennsylvania Academy has diligently maintained a strong commitment to preserving and transmitting the highest principles in art instruction," said Scott Dimond, SAMA curator. "Yet it does so with an eye toward keeping these principles always fresh and relevant for each new generation of artists."
The exhibit's nearly 80 pieces are a "representative sampling" of works by the academy's alumni and faculty, Dimond said. When he reached out to the artists, he leaned toward painting and other two-dimensional work, "but only because our truck couldn't carry too many pieces of sculpture.
"That being said, there are two sculptures in the show," he said. "I also tended toward artists who work in a realistic mode, but who in one way or another had a contemporary outlook. That idea is a bit subjective and difficult to explain, so visitors will have to be the judge as to whether I succeeded or not.
"The academy has always been an excellent school, so I knew that whoever responded would be a top-notch artist."
The exhibition is intended to reveal how America's most "distinguished art school calls on its vital legacy of tradition even as it pushes the boundaries of representation," Dimond said.
Focusing on the work of approximately 50 contemporary artists, it contains "some of the finest in American Realist painting and drawing," he said. It includes several never-before-seen works that have been created exclusively for the exhibition.
Robert Waddington contributed a large painting entitled "Allegheny Trailer Home."
"It's a commonplace subject, but the way he painted it is really outstanding," Dimond said. "It's almost photographic in its realism, but the artist has taken out extraneous details so that the work has a kind of extreme clarity about it. Again, it's hard to explain, but it's a great piece."
Elise Phillips offered "Today's Catch" and "Reunited."
The museum will celebrate the exhibition with a reception on May 19 from 6 to 8 p.m. It is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested by May 17 by calling (814) 472-3920.
While there, visitors also can see another exhibition that opens today, "A Hard-Working Land: Photographs by Barnosky, Gutshall and Swank." It features 30 photographs from the museum's permanent collection by Pennsylvania photographers Jack Barnosky, Gerald Erro Gutshall and Luke Swank that examine the state's coal country landscape. It, too, will be on display through June 9.
"With its deep-rooted mining and steel industries, Pennsylvania coal country has been home to hard-working people for generations," Dimond explained. "At the same time, the landscape itself is one of labor, bearing its scars and weariness with a kind of quiet pride. Although it might appear hard and unlovely to outsiders, this landscape makes no apologies. Its sprawling mills, strip mines, scrap yards and humble towns are a strong and visible testament to a region that has contributed more than its fair share to America's industrial might."
Gutshall, who has owned Dance of Light Photography in Altoona for 30 years, was surprised when told his work will be on display.
"Thanks for the update," he said with a laugh. He said his two photos, "Winterscape, Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania," and "Winterscape with Holly Thistle, Yellow Creek, Pennsylvania" were purchased and donated anonymously to SAMA years ago.
But it's not like this is the first time his work has been exhibited.
"They've been exhibited in U.S. embassies in over 100 countries worldwide," he said. "I've exhibited coast to coast across the United States. I've had my work in the Capitol Rotunda, the Congressional Gallery …"
Barnosky remains a working photographer and gifted his photographs to SAMA, according to Travis Mearns, museum spokesman. Swank died in the 1940s and his photographs later were gifted to the museum.
Most of the photos in the show range from 8-by-10 to 16-by-20 inches.
"I chose them on the basis of their subjects: I wanted to give a sense of how these photographers approached the idea of industry and landscape," Dimond said. "You will see that Swank, who is the earliest photographer of the three, had a more positive and romantic take on industry, while Barnosky and Gutshall are more sober and neutral. By the time those two made their photographs, much of the prosperity that had been generated by coal and steel had evaporated and what was left was an unmistakably altered landscape."
Mirror Staff Writer Cherie Hicks is at 949-7030.
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If you go
What: "A Hard-Working Land" and "Tradition and Innovation"
Where: Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Saint Francis University campus, Loretto
When: Through June 9, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays
Admission: Free, but donations are encouraged
More Info: www.SAMA-Art.org or (814) 472-3920