Couples, Mostly Happy

Posted by Mary Murray on August 11th 2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: Museum of Art

Regular visitors to the Museum of Art can tell you that that this is Wedding Summer here. The fabulous Wedded Perfection exhibition has spawned several exhibition children, including a tribute to Maria Williams Proctor’s wedding reception in Fountain Elms and Certified: Artists and Their Documents in the Cardamone Gallery. More on these in future installments of Voices.

Regular visitors to the Film Series and Museum know that there is a revolving exhibition on the south wall of the AO Gallery (most people think of this area as a corridor, but it is a gallery. No, really!). This is a little project I began in 2003 and have enjoyed ever since. There are typically six to eight works of art, usually works on paper that cannot be exposed for over-long periods, that share a similar theme or art medium or more obscure link that may only make sense in the land of princess curators like me. We change these installations four times a year.

Right now, can you guess what the subject is?! Couples, yes, of an amorous sort, quelle surprise!

Picasso, The Frugal Repast, etching, 1904

There is quite a range of interpretations and dates for this timeless subject. On view are paintings by Utica artist Henry Coupe and one by Jack Levine, Gangster’s Wedding; intaglio prints by Picasso (1881-1973) and Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617), and a drawing by Dorothy Dehner (1901-94) that may not at first be recognizable as a female and male couple, but look again and it will be obvious which is the male.

Daniel Ridgway Knight, Rustic Couple, ca.
after 1874

My favorite of the group might be Daniel Ridgway Knight’s drawing titled A Rustic Couple from the late 19th century. This drawing captivates me because the artist has captured so astutely the quality of difficult communication between two persons. She avoids his searching gaze and he draws her nearer by pulling at the rope she holds. Tension and frustration are palpable. So simply rendered, so potent in expression.