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The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is committed to engage and inspire through the arts, gardens and education. A permanent collection of nearly 5,000 works of art on a riverfront campus offers more than 95,000 annual visitors a truly unique experience on the First Coast. Nationally recognized education programs serve adults and children of all abilities.

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Future Retro: The Great Age of the American Automobile

by , Registrar in Art, Exhibitions

May

14

Richard Arbib (1917–1995)

Richard Arbib (1917–1995)
Cyclar Mark IV “Mopod” Vehicle Proposal
1979
Ink, gouache and graphite pencil with collage elements on illustration board
Height x width: 55.9 x 74.9 cm (22 x 29 1/2 in.)
Framed: 60.6 x 78.1 x 2.9 cm (23 7/8 x 30 3/4 x 1 1/8 in.)
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection
L-SE 1046.1.10

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens would like to present Future Retro: The Great Age of the American Automobile,an exhibition comprised of drawings from the collection of Jean S. and Frederick A. Sharf and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston that showcase the beauty and ingenuity of American automotive design during the decades following World War II, a landmark period in car styling.These illustrations provide a rare glimpse into the creative process of some of America’s premiere car designers.

 

L-SE 1046.1.32

L-SE 1046.1.32
Peter Wozena
Oldsmobile Proposal
June 12, 1958
Colored pencil and graphite on tracing paper and white gouache
Height x width: 35.6 x 42.5 cm (14 x 16 3/4 in.)
Framed: 60 x 81 x 2.5 cm (23 5/8 x 31 7/8 x 1 in.)
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection

The MFA’s collection includes an extensive selection of illustrations, ranging from preliminary sketches to fully rendered works intended for presentation to car company executives. 

 

L-SE 1046.1.30

L-SE 1046.1.30
Elia Russinoff (born in 1930)
Design Proposal: Two Door Sports Car
1953
Colored pencil on black paper
Height x width: 59.7 x 73.7 cm (23 1/2 x 29 in.)
Framed: 63.5 x 78.1 x 2.5 cm (25 x 30 3/4 x 1 in.)
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection

Some of the drawings featured in the exhibition articulate concepts that would later be incorporated into specific models, while others represent futuristic ideas that were curtailed before even making it past the drawing board.

Six eye-catching cars, 1957 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz, 1956 Continental Mark II, 1956 GM Firebird II, 1963 Chrysler Turbine, 1963 Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster, and the 1961 Chevrolet Impala SS are reflective of the modern period, and will certainly steal the show. 

 

Chrysler Corporation and Carrozzeria Ghia, Chrysler Turbine, 1963, front-engine, rear-drive hard top coupe, 201.6 x 72.9 x 53.5 in., Courtesy of the Chrysler Group, LLC.

Chrysler Corporation and Carrozzeria Ghia, Chrysler Turbine, 1963, front-engine, rear-drive hard top coupe, 201.6 x 72.9 x 53.5 in., Courtesy of the Chrysler Group, LLC.

Adding depth and perspective, which will enhance the experience of viewing the MFA collection, as they represent the culmination of the era’s engineering and design.

Chevrolet, Impala Super Sport, 1961, convertible, 209.3 x 78.4 x 55.5 in., Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. Wellington C. Morton.

Chevrolet, Impala Super Sport, 1961, convertible, 209.3 x 78.4 x 55.5 in., Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. Wellington C. Morton.

This exhibition will be on view from May 14 through September 8, 2013.

For more information, please visit our website.

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Nazi Art Looting Presentation Returns

by , Curator in Art, Special Events

May

09

Back by popular demand, please join Chief Curator Holly Keris for an encore presentation of a closer look into Nazi Art looting.

So, what do the Nazis have to do with Jacksonville, you ask? With two pieces of Nazi loot uncovered in The Cummer’s permanent collection, the answer is more than you might think.

From 1933 through the end of World War II in 1945, the Nazi regime systematically pillaged cultural property and artworks throughout continental Europe.  Some of their loot was sold to fund Nazi-related activities; some became the property of senior party officials.  Other pieces were destroyed.  After the war, tens of thousands of confiscated objects were recovered by the Allies, but that was only a portion of the works stolen. Although exhaustive efforts were made to return these objects to their rightful owners, many works of art never found their way home.

To this day, museums and individual collectors still struggle to verify the proper ownership of works of art that changed hands during these years.

This presentation returns as part of The Cummer’s Talks & Tea Series, which invite you to sit comfortably in the Galleries and Gardens of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens while art historians, artists, and other experts facilitate informational and educational discussions on various topics related to the Museum’s permanent collection, as well as special exhibitions. At the conclusion of each talk, tea and light refreshments will be served. This presentation on Nazi Art looting will take place on Wednesday  May 15 and Thursday, May 16 at 1:30.

Call 904.899.6038 to make your required reservations, and we will check your name in at the door on the day of the event.  Tickets are $6 per person.

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A Moment of Thanks: The Olmsted Garden and Parking Lot Teams

by , Curator in Behind the Scenes, Gardens

May

08

Parking & OlmstedBefore we begin construction along Riverside Avenue – including the completion of a new Sculpture Garden in front of Art Connections, the expansion of the TreeCup Café onto the front lawn, an improved sidewalk access to our front doors, and a new landscaping plan, The Cummer would like to pause to thank all the subcontractors who played a role in the Olmsted Garden and Parking Lots. Many thanks to all for your hard work, dedication, and expertise!

American Plumbing; B&L Landscape; Brown Enterprises; Childress Roofing and Sheet Metal; Coleman Construction Group; Cummings Masonry; Duval Fence; Frattle Stairs and Rails; Green Built Construction; H&H Landscaping; Marietta Sand Corporation; Miller Electric; Nitelites Outdoor Lighting; Southeastern Ornamental; Supreme Stucco; Taylor Cotton Ridley; Wes Peters Painting; and Wonderland Products.

Special thanks as well to our partners on this initiative:

Elkins Constructors Inc.; CMS Group LLC; Connelly & Wicker Inc.; Atlantic Engineering Services; Sunscapes Landscape Design Inc.; Francois Goffinet Limited; and Richard Skinner & Associates, Architects.

Please continue to check our website and “like” us on Facebook to receive updates about the final phase of construction.

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In the Gallery: Hunting Alligators by Theodor de Bry, 1591 in La Florida Exhibit

by , Registrar in Art, Artists, Exhibitions

May

07

Written by Jocelyn Boigenzahn, Curatorial Intern

In 2013, Florida is commemorating the 500-year anniversary of the arrival of Europeans and Africans in the Americas. Juan Ponce de León’s expedition to Florida in 1513 marked a major turning point in world history.  When Europeans and Africans met Native Americans on the shores of the land we now call Florida, life on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean was forever changed.  In 1564, Jacques Le Moyne became the first European artist to visit Florida.  He made drawings and watercolors of the Timucua, a people indigenous to the northern part of the state.  Despite their inaccuracies, these prints were for decades the only images of Florida flora, fauna, and peoples known to the Old World.

Theodor de Bry (Flemish 1528 – 1598), after Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues (c. 1533 – c. 1588), Hunting Alligators, 1591, Engraving, Museum purchase in honor of Congressman Charles E. Bennett, AP.2002.1.3.

Theodor de Bry (Flemish 1528 – 1598), after Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues (c. 1533 – c. 1588), Hunting Alligators, 1591, Engraving, Museum purchase in honor of Congressman Charles E. Bennett, AP.2002.1.3.

In 1591, Dutch engraver and goldsmith Theodor de Bry published Grand Voyages, which contained engravings of Le Moyne`s watercolors (now lost).  Although Theodor de Bry never traveled to the Americas, the images he created helped to shape the European perception of Native American cultures and the land they inhabited.

De Bry’s renditions of Le Moyne’s sketches are both historically significant and highly controversial. Scholars point out that certain aspects of the engravings do not match later depictions of the Timucua Indians encountered by the French in northeastern Florida, and contend that de Bry certainly altered the images prior to publication.

Artistic license is evident in several of the images such as the one shown here with its fantasticly oversized Alligator, on display in the La Florida exhibition at the Cummer, through October 6th.

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