Blog
Viewing entries posted in November 2011
Road Trip
Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Massachusetts
On Friday, I drove with some of my buddies here at the Institute—IT Superhero Bill Doherty, Director of Education April Oswald, and Registrar/Installation Manager Michael Somple—to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, to visit the Fitchburg Art Museum. Director Peter Timms and the staff there were very gracious hosts, I must say. It was an altogether excellent adventure.
Why did we go there, you might ask?
We thought we were going to preview the exhibition, LitGraphic: The Story of the Graphic Novel, which is arriving at the MWPAI Museum of Art in March.
LitGraphic, some examples of contemporary graphic novels
And we did actually see the show and are very excited about bringing it to Utica. Here are some pictures:
LitGraphic at the Fitchburg Art Museum
More LitGraphic:
LitGraphic at the Fitchburg Art Museum
But we also really had waaaay too much fun in the Fitchburg Art Museum’s Ancient Egypt exhibition.
Stay tuned for more LitGraphic news!
Stay tuned for more LitGraphic news!
Walnut in the Round
Raoul Hague, Little Beaverkill Walnut, 1959
Raoul Hague (1904-93) lived and worked in Woodstock. He carved large tree trunks found in rural New York state and named his completed sculptures after these locations, such as Little Beaverkill Walnut (FYI: Little Beaver Kill, in Sullivan County, is one of several bodies of water that are renowned as the first fly-fishing venues in the United States). This marvelous sculpture is a recent gift from the Raoul Hague Foundation in honor of the Institute’s 75th Anniversary; it is on view now in the Enhancing a Legacy exhibition, in gallery 2 South.
Hague’s method of working was direct carving. That is, he didn’t make preliminary sketches or maquettes in advance. He was inspired by the tree trunks and followed their lines, explaining:
“One can orchestrate in the wood – I don’t have a clear idea when I start. I am not a conceptual artist.
“So you begin. You stare at it, and finally you have to do something. You are not making a story out of it. You make a cut. From then on it follows. Like the jazz musician, music comes out of you. You make one cut, then you become intimate. That thing becomes humanized, a being. It becomes part of my life for the next three or four months.”
In many cases, Hague’s sculptures do have a resemblance to human form, although they might just as often be non-representational. And it is important to circle around his sculpture to see the many different facets he carves into one side, then the next. They are truly carved in the round.
The Museum of Art has remarkable holdings in mid-20th-century paintings, but many fewer sculptures from the period, so we are very pleased to add the Hague to the collection and send sincere thanks to the Hague Foundation for its generosity.
Photo caption: Raoul Hague (American, 1904-93), Little Beaverkill Walnut, 1959, 55 1/4 x 34 1/4 x 24 1/4 in. 75th Anniversary Acquisition. Gift of the Raoul Hague Foundation, 2010.31.