|
| |
|
|
John Singleton Copley at the Fogg, David Ireland at the Addison, Barbara Krakow and Ronald Feldman at the Rose
BY RANDI HOPKINS
|
|
|
|
|
During the two decades preceding the American Revolution, Boston-born artist John Singleton Copley (1738–1815) painted memorable portraits of his colonial contemporaries — including, famously, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams — with a fine eye for the settings and details that bring sitters to life. But though Copley is best known in Boston for these early portraits, a new exhibition opening this Saturday at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum, "Process and Paradox: The Historical Pictures of John Singleton Copley," focuses on the ambitious history paintings he undertook later in his career, after he’d left Boston for London in 1774. It is still being debated whether Copley left the colonies just before the Revolution because of his Tory political sympathies or his artistic aspirations, but "Process and Paradox" provides an opportunity to take a close look at the evolution of his historical paintings. At the heart of the show is the Boston Public Library’s rarely seen Charles I Demanding the Five Impeached Members of the House of Commons (1782-’95), which was recently sent to Harvard’s Straus Center for Conservation for treatment and cleaning. Its arrival inspired Harvard curators and conservators to examine the Fogg’s own Copley paintings from the same period, and that led to the organization of this show, which also includes preparatory sketches, drawings, and a major unfinished canvas. Fast-forward 200 years and 3000 miles to America’s Left Coast: it’s 1975, and up-and-coming San Francisco artist David Ireland has just purchased a run-down Victorian home whose restoration went on from 1975 to 1978. Ireland took the idea of using "non-art" materials to new extremes, as brooms, bent wire, and wet paper found their way into his work. "The Art of David Ireland: The Way Things Are," on view at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy through July 31, surveys three decades of thought-provoking work. What’s more, the attic of Abbot Hall, an old science building at Phillips Academy that in the early 1990s was transformed by Ireland into a loft for visiting artists, will be open to the public on May 8 and 22 and June 5 for a few hours, so try to plan your Addison visit accordingly. The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis has one of the top contemporary-art collections in the area, and if you pop out there on May 19 at 7 p.m., you’ll find veteran art dealers Barbara Krakow and Ronald Feldman teaming up to share their thoughts on how you can assemble your own art collection in the free program "Private Passions: A Discussion Series on Collecting Contemporary Art." A reception will follow. "Process and Paradox: The Historical Pictures of John Singleton Copley" is at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum, 32 Quincy Street in Harvard Square, May 8 through August 29; call (617) 495-9400. "The Art of David Ireland: The Way Things Are" is at the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy in Andover, through July 31. Tours of Ireland’s Abbot Hall Artist Apartment will be given on May 8 and 22 and June 5 from 2 to 4 p.m.; call (978) 749-4015. "Private Passions: A Discussion Series on Collecting Contemporary Art" is at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, 415 South Street in Waltham, on May 19 at 7 p.m.; call (781) 736-3434.
|
