The Members Magazine | Fall 2014

Chrysler
The Members Magazine | Fall 2014
transforming lives
Back in May, at the time of the Museum’s
Reopening, I was standing near our
front door and overheard a mother and her
daughter in conversation.
daughter:
“Mom, why do we have to leave? There is so much more to see!”
mother:
“It’s okay. Because we are Members, we can come back whenever we want.”
At first I was confused. Anyone can come back whenever they want. We are
open and we are free to all. As I thought about it, however, I realized that
this conversation was about something else far more serious. This family
had made a commitment. By investing in membership, they decided that
the Museum should be a regular part of their lives. In return they gained a
wonderful sense of ownership. The Chrysler became their museum.
In a similar way, for those of us who work at the Chrysler, this will always
be our museum. Over the past 17 years I am lucky to have been part of an
extraordinary transformation at the Chrysler. In just the past few months
we have reopened a beautifully renovated and expanded building. We’ve
been blessed by a visit from a giant rubber duck. And now we are poised
to launch a dynamic and varied new series of changing exhibitions. Along
the way we have transformed our relationship to the community we
exist to serve through an innovative hospitality program and a renewed
commitment to accessibility on every level. It’s been a time of remarkable
change—and now in what is for me a very major change, indeed, I will be
retiring from my job as Director of the Chrysler.
Around here we talk a lot about transformation, about making a real and
positive change in people’s lives. It’s our mission. I am deeply proud to be
able to write that for at least one person, that mission has become a reality.
My time here at the Chrysler has transformed me. I am deeply grateful to
have had the chance to spend every day surrounded by great works of art.
I’ve been lucky to have had the chance to work with a truly remarkable
group of dedicated and talented colleagues—smart, funny, and committed
people who work extraordinarily hard to ensure that the Chrysler makes a
real difference. And best of all, I’ve had the chance to meet and talk with our
visitors, to watch as they discovered for themselves the joys and rewards to
be found in great works of art. It’s been a heady, unforgettable experience
for which I will always be deeply grateful.
William J. Hennessey
Director
board of trustees
2014–2015
Lewis W. Webb III, Esq., Chair
Thomas L. Stokes, Jr., Vice Chair
Lelia Graham Webb, Secretary
Yvonne T. Allmond
Dudley B. Anderson, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Tony Atwater, Ph.D.
Shirley C. Baldwin
Carolyn K. Barry
Kathleen Broderick
Deborah H. Butler
Robert W. Carter
Susan R. Colpitts
Elizabeth P. Fraim
Edith G. Grandy
James A. Hixon
Marc Jacobson
Linda H. Kaufman
Pamela C. Kloeppel
Harry T. Lester
Oriana M. McKinnon
Peter M. Meredith, Jr.
Richard D. Roberts
C. Arthur Rutter III
Bob Sasser
Lisa B. Smith
Richard Waitzer
Joseph T. Waldo
Wayne F. Wilbanks
chrysler magazine
Brian Wells, Director of Development and
Communications
Cheryl Little, Editor/Publications Manager
Ed Pollard, Museum Photographer
Jane Cleary, Graphics Manager
Megan Frost, Development Officer
Chrysler Magazine is a quarterly publication
produced for and mailed to Chrysler
Museum Members as a benefit of their
generous support.
Update or verify your membership
information at http://reservations.chrysler.org
or contact Database Manager
Fleater Allen at:
Chrysler Museum of Art
One Memorial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
(757) 333-6287
[email protected].
© 2014 by The Chrysler Museum of Art,
all rights reserved
on the cover
Hand-embellished Outcasts club jacket, ca. 1960s
On loan from the Jeff Decker collection
Photo by Brad Chaney,
© Harley-Davidson® Motor Company
Chrysler
The Members Magazine | Fall 2014
in the galleries
2Exhibitions
6 Collection Connections
8 10 12 16 21
22 27
24 28
New Museum,
New Communications
Welcome to the new Chrysler! A new
Museum calls for a new look at things, so
we’re rethinking how we communicate
with our Members.
We hope you enjoyed your
Commemorative edition of The Chrysler
Magazine in May. This stunning, oversized issue was designed to be a special
keepsake of our Grand Reopening and a
signal of new things to come.
Friendship in Tulsa
Veronese’s Altarpieces
featured exhibition
Worn to Be Wild:
The Black Leather Jacket
chrysler news
The Life and Legacy of
Bill Hennessey
Erik Neil Named
New Director
At the Glass Studio:
Visiting Artist Series 2014
Norfolk Society of Arts
2014–2015 Lecture Series
member exclusives
Grand Reopening Week
last look
Rubber Duck
With this Fall issue, Chrysler, the
Members Magazine, becomes a seasonal
quarterly. You’ll notice a taller, more elegant cut size and a fresh layout. Chrysler
will keep you in the know about art in
the collection, exhibitions on view, and
Museum news with an eclectic mix of
fascinating tidbits, first-person reflections, behind-the-scenes views, and
in-depth features. Plus, the magazine will
now be an exclusive benefit for Museum
Members only, mailed to you in thanks
for your loyal support.
In addition, you’ll continue to receive our
attractive new Chrysler Calendar by mail
to apprise you of all the exciting events,
tours, programs, and premiums that you
won’t want to miss in the month ahead.
And our quarterly Glass Studio Classes
and Events Schedule will let you know
what’s hot and happening over at the
corner of Duke and Grace Streets.
And if you haven’t been receiving
The Chrysler Weekly via email, sign up
today. Our informative e-blast and
our award-winning website, Chrysler.
org, are among the best ways to stay
current with all things Chrysler. And if
you appreciate instantaneous communication, check out our social media.
Follow the Chrysler on Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
The Communications Team hopes
you’ll let us know what you think. We
appreciate your input and insights. If
you have kudos, comments, or constructive criticisms about how the
Chrysler keeps you informed, please
drop us a line at [email protected].
Exhibitions
Bringing Art and People
Together:
The Bill Hennessey Legacy
On view throughout September
in the Oval Gallery (g. 200)
Bravo! This special presentation
in our upstairs orientation gallery
highlights the triumphs of Bill
Hennessey’s 17 years as director of
the Chrysler Museum of Art. From
the art of Ferrari to free admission to forging friendships and
partnerships across our community, discover the impact Bill has
had on the cultural atmosphere
of Hampton Roads. Express your
appreciation for his vision and
dedication at the nearby response
station or on our website.
Stanislav Libenský and
Jaroslava Brychtová:
Selections from the Lisa and
Dudley Anderson Collection
On view through November 16
in the Glass Project Space (g. 118)
Cast glass, en masse: our expanded
new glass galleries host this impressive presentation of glass sculptures
by the famed Czech husband-wife
team, Stanislav Libenský and
Jaroslava Brychtová. Among the
more than a dozen works on display
are extraordinary examples of
their mastery of the material. Their
soaring 3-V Victory Column, which
defies Communism with a seditious
message hidden in plain view, is
another must-see masterpiece in a
nearby gallery (and a gift from the
Andersons to the recently renovated
Museum).
Larry Clark: Tulsa
New on view in the Frank
Photography Galleries (g. 228)
Raw. Real. Relevant. As a witness
with a camera (and sometimes a
willing participant), Larry Clark
and his controversial Tulsa series
revolutionized the field of documentary photography in 1971.
These 50 images, comprising the
entire series, are full of grit and
truth, and capture the dark, violent,
drug-addicted underside of Clark’s
generation and his Midwestern
hometown. Decades later, his
photographs are no less powerful
or troubling.
Celebrating Smokey Bear:
Rudy Wendelin and the
Creation of an Icon
New on view in the Focus Gallery
(g. 229)
“Only you can prevent forest fires!”
The Chrysler honors seven decades
of wildfire prevention by America’s
Stanislav Libenský (Czech, 1921–2002)
Jaroslava Brychtová (Czech, b. 1924)
Astronomical Calendar Sphere, 1994
Cast glass, © Stanislav Libenský and
Jaroslava Brychtová
On loan from Lisa Shaffer Anderson and
Dudley Buist Anderson
Photo by David Ramsey Photography,
Charlotte, N.C.
Rudy Wendelin (American, 1910–2000)
Trees are Wonderful Friends (detail), 1994
Oil and acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of Special Collections,
National Agricultural Library,
U.S. Department of Agriculture
best-known bear with a display
of 19 original paintings by Rudy
Wendelin. The artist for the U.S.
Forest Service was the visionary
behind the friendly firefighter
with the ranger hat and shovel.
This exhibition about the beloved
bear is organized by the Virginia
Department of Forestry in honor of
its 100th anniversary, and features a
free keepsake booklet about Smokey.
Worn to Be Wild:
The Black Leather Jacket
Opening the evening of
October 2 (Members’ Preview Party)
in the Norfolk Southern Special
Exhibitions Gallery and
the Waitzer Community Gallery
(gs. 101–103)
Cool comes to the Chrysler with
this blockbuster spotlighting one
of America’s loudest sartorial
statements: the black leather jacket.
Trace its biker-boy and fly-boy
infancy to its adolescent run as the
unofficial uniform for film rebels
and rockers to its adult heyday as
an haute-couture and popular fashion accessory. This fall, we spotlight a quintessentially American
fashion invention in a revved-up
keynote exhibition that promises
something for everyone.
Worn to Be Wild: The Black Leather
Jacket is presented by EMP
Museum, Seattle, in partnership with the Harley-Davidson®
Museum, Milwaukee.
Fractured Lens: Picasso, Braque,
and Cubism’s Influence
Opening October 14 in the Roberts
Wing | 20th-Century | Modern Art
Gallery (g. 219)
The Chrysler is anything but square
as we partner with the National
Gallery of Art to launch a yearlong
series of exhibitions that highlight
key modernists represented in both
collections. Our first collaborative
show starts the cross-institutional
conversation with a focus on the
inventors of the Cubist movement—
Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque—
and the contemporaries they
influenced.
Black leather jacket by Wolf Outerwear of Boston, ca. 1960s,
personalized with various pins
Photo © Tom Fritz Studios, Milwaukee,
courtesy of Harley-Davidson® Used by permission
Learn more about the four-exhibition series, Collection Conversations:
The National Gallery of Art and the
Chrysler Museum of Art, on page 6.
Thomas Cole’s Voyage of Life
Opening October 21 in the
Brock Wing | Meredith Gallery |
19th-Century American Art (g.211)
It’s the story of Everyman, beautifully told by one of the founding
fathers of American art. Thomas
Cole’s four monumental canvases
trace the human journey through
Thomas Cole (American, 1801–1848)
The Voyage of Life: Childhood, 1839–40
Oil on canvas, 52 x 78 in.
Museum Purchase, 55.105
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute,
Museum of Art, Utica, N.Y.
in the galleries | 3
childhood, youth, manhood, and
old age. These masterpieces, the
original versions of the iconic
series, mark the pinnacle of Cole’s
illustrious career and a landmark
in Romantic landscape painting.
The Chrysler’s own The Angel
Appearing to the Shepherds, Cole’s
largest single painting, enriches
this extraordinary exhibition.
Thomas Cole’s Voyage of Life is on
loan from the collection of the
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts
Institute, Museum of Art, in Utica,
N.Y., and is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on
the Arts and Humanities.
Look for a more in-depth exploration of this exhibition in the Winter
issue of Chrysler.
4 | fall 2014
In The Box: Jennifer Steinkamp
Closing November 2 in The Box,
first floor walkway, right, beyond
Huber Court
We’re thinking outside the box
with our In The Box series. Our new
downstairs gallery is dedicated to
keeping the Chrysler cutting-edge
with contemporary video art exhibitions and new media installations
by established and emerging artists
in and beyond our collection. In
Steinkamp’s popular Orbit 3, handsketched artwork of nature meets
computer technology in a fresh look
at the changing seasons.
at the historic houses
Ongoing at the Moses Myers House
at left:
Saya Woolfalk (American, b. Japan, 1979)
ChimaTEK: Hybridization Machine
(still image), 2013
Video (4 minutes, 30 seconds)
Musical Score: DJ Spooky, Of Water and Ice
(feat. Jin-Xiang “Jx” Yu); Actress: Duhirwe
Rushemeza; Animation: Nicholas Tuinstra;
Videography: Rachel Lears; Video Editor: Tyler
Henry; Project Consultant: Ron Eglash
In The Box: Saya Woolfalk
Opening November 20
(Third Thursday) in The Box
Meet the Artist: Saya Woolfalk
headlines this eclectic
Third Thursday.
The Box becomes its own hybridization laboratory of visual, performing, and tactile arts with the
Brooklyn-based artist’s immersive
installation ChimaTEK (feat. DJ
Spooky). Join the Empathics as
a virtual DJ remixes their bodies
and minds into new beings that are
part-human, part-plant. Discover
how Woolfalk’s art mixes biology,
genetics, and anthropology with
needlework, sculpture, glassblowing, and video to create a vibrant
new world that defies race, cultural
labels, and easy definition.
at the glass studio
Vestibule 102 in the Front Alcove
745 Duke St. | Norfolk
Josh Solomon’s blown-glass Songlines, 2013
Our Glass Studio assistants present
a changing array of special project
exhibitions as part of their program
requirements. Come see work by
the next generation of glassmaking
professionals and artists.
323 E. Freemason St. | Norfolk
Moses Myers: Maritime Merchant
This permanent exhibition explores the business of nautical
commerce through the life of Moses Myers, who constructed
this 1792 dwelling, one of Norfolk’s oldest buildings.
Barton Myers: Norfolk Visionary
Mayor Barton Myers transformed his city from a prosperous
coastal town into a thriving metropolis. This display highlights
the extraordinary life of this “first citizen of Norfolk.”
Adeline’s Portal by Beth Lipman
This spectral installation for an upstairs bedroom nook is
the on-site creation of Beth Lipman, our Glass Studio’s first
Resident Artist. Discover how the memories and objects that
have filled the house over generations speak afresh through
evocative colorless glass.
These Historic Houses exhibitions are supported by a generous
gift from the late T. Parker Host, Jr.
New at the Willoughby-Baylor House
601 E. Freemason St. | Norfolk
American
Bombardment of the
Forts of Hatteras Inlet,
North Carolina,
ca. 1861–62
Oil on canvas
Gift of Edgar William
and Bernice Chrysler
Garbisch
Democratic Designs:
American Folk Paintings from the Chrysler Museum
The Federal-era house provides a perfect historical setting for
this exhibition of highlights from the Chrysler’s fine collection
of early American paintings. Explore the work of artists like
Ammi Phillips, Edward Hicks, and Erastus Salisbury Field who
had considerable talent, but limited access to professional
training, in this inspiring display of native genius.
The Norfolk Rooms
Celebrate our port city’s rich heritage of creativity and cultural
achievements through a selection of paintings, sculpture,
furniture, silver, and more. This permanent installation
christens the newly reopened Norfolk History Museum.
fall
2014 | 5
Collection Conversations
The Chrysler and The National Gallery of Art
starting this year , great
masterworks from the Chrysler
invite equally great artworks
from the National Gallery of Art
to an in-gallery dialogue as the
two museums partner to present Collection Conversations. The
series of four focused exhibitions
is designed to give greater insight
into particularly significant subjects using art from the two internationally important collections.
The series will spotlight breakthroughs by the most important
artists of the early 20th century, said
Amy Brandt, McKinnon Curator
6 | fall 2014
of Modern and Contemporary Art,
who helped coordinate the series.
From Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque,
and Henri Matisse to Arshile Gorky
and Georgia O’Keeffe, “these artists
served as revolutionary leaders in
a series of modernist movements,
each contributing to the major shifts
from figuration to abstraction in the
early to mid 20th century.”
The first and largest exhibition is
Fractured Lens: Picasso, Braque, and
Cubism’s Influence, which demonstrates the world-shattering impact
of the avant-garde movement.
Cubism’s emphasis on multifaceted
Fractured Lens:
Picasso, Braque and
Cubism’s Influence
October 14, 2014 through
February 15, 2015
at left:
Georges Braque (French, 1882–1963)
Harbor, 1909
Oil on canvas, 16 x 19 in.
Gift of Victoria Nebeker Coberly, in memory
of her son, John W. Mudd, 1992.3.1
Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C.
viewpoints had far-reaching consequences on the future of 20th-century painting, sculpture, and architecture across Europe and America,
Brandt said, and even major painters
working simultaneously in their
own right, such as Henri Matisse,
later felt its impact. Our second
exhibition will explore how Matisse
liberated color and line from the
objects they represented. The two
later shows on Arshile Gorky and
Georgia O’Keeffe will delve into the
specific developments of two somewhat isolated artists who nonetheless changed the course of modern
aesthetics.
Each of these exhibitions is an
unprecedented opportunity to
enjoy major works from the
National Gallery of Art here in
Hampton Roads. “These masterworks are almost always on view
in Washington,” Brandt explained,
“but since the East Building started
a three-year renovation in January
and we had recently completed
our own expansion, the National
Gallery generously made them
available to us.”
The Chrysler will make the most of
the collaboration with new documentary and interpretive material
that allows visitors to study the
artists’ work and better understand
the scope of each career. “We could
not be more delighted to have the
unique chance to showcase such
significant paintings alongside our
own masterworks here in Norfolk,”
Brandt said. n
Stuart Davis, Matches, 1927
Henri Matisse:
Harmonious Color
February 24 through
June 21, 2015
Henri Matisse, Bowl of Apples on a Table, 1916
Arshile Gorky:
Between Worlds
July 7 through
October 11, 2015
Arshile Gorky, The Artist and His Mother,
ca. 1926–1942
Georgia O’Keeffe:
A Place of Her Own
October 27, 2015 through
January 3, 2016
Georgia O’Keeffe, Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV, 1930
fall
2014 | 7
Friendship in Tulsa
A Different Look at Larry Clark
l arry cl ark ’ s
1971 series
Tulsa begins with two of the most
seductive images in the history of
American photography. First we
meet a handsome teenager with
dark eyes. Shirtless with his arms
crossed, he appears to lean against
the edge of the picture frame. A
dirt road stretches into the grainy
distance, where a pick-up truck is
parked on the left. The next blackand-white picture presents another
young man, also shirtless. As he
drives, his bare arm casually hangs
out the car window. Blinding sunlight washes out the background.
Captions give their names: David
Roper and Billy Mann.
On view this fall at the Chrysler is
Clark’s entire 50-work Tulsa portfolio, including these two unforgettable images—David and Billy. Shot
between 1963 and 1971, the photoessay follows these men and a
collection of Oklahoma slackers as
their lives and their bodies slowly
crumble through amphetamine
use. Many critics have praised
Tulsa’s “ferocious beauty,” while
8 | fall 2014
others have condemned its voyeuristic depictions of violence, sex,
and drug abuse. However, Clark’s
captions, naming only David and
Billy, draw attention to a crucial
and often overlooked theme within
this series: friendship.
Like his friends David and Billy,
Larry Clark was a member of this
underground subculture of speed
junkies in America’s heartland. The
artist confesses to struggling with
drug addiction since age 16, and
in Tulsa we meet fellow addicts
from his hometown. As the son of a
commercial portrait photographer,
Clark frequently wore a camera
around his neck, and insider status
allowed him to photograph fights,
needles, and nudity. He took pride
in the grim honesty and “realism”
of his work, seeing it as a response
to the sunny and uplifting photo-essays in LIFE Magazine.
“I had always been around and
always had a camera,” Clark said
in an interview for Pataphysics
Magazine in 2003. “So it wasn’t like
anybody coming in and making
photographs, it was just Larry with
his camera practicing his photography…, So when I started photographing my friends, it was just
like a natural thing.”
The frankness with which Clark
confronts sex and drugs is troubling to many viewers, but Tulsa’s
story should surprise no one. We
all know the consequences of
addiction. But if we approach
Clark’s project as a photographic
examination into friendship, its
message is more complex. When
drugs destroy homes and lives,
friends can offer comfort or guide
an addict into rehab. At other times,
friends feed the destructive cycle.
Like the images in Tulsa, pictures
of old friends from our own photo
albums and yearbooks may trigger
smiles and tears, nostalgia and
regret. In the end, we wonder: was
Clark a good friend to David Roper
and Billy Mann?
The theme of friendship returns
in Clark’s later projects, including
the quasi-autobiographical series
Teenage Lust (1983). A recent gift
to the Museum included several
photos from the portfolio, and
these are displayed here for the first
time alongside Tulsa. Friendship
is also central to Clark’s film
directing projects. Wassup Rockers
(2005) follows the misadventures
of a band of Latino skaters from
South Central Los Angeles who
get lost in Beverly Hills. Jealousy,
manipulation, and murder between
best friends Marty and Bobby
form the plot of Bully (2001). And
although Clark’s first feature film,
Kids (1995), is often remembered
as a parable against promiscuity,
it is also a portrait of the fatal
Larry Clark (American, b. 1943)
at left : Billy Mann, 1963
at right : David Roper, 1963
from the series Tulsa, 1971
Gelatin silver prints, printed 1980
Gifts of Robert W. Pleasant
bromance between inseparable
teenage ne’er-do-wells Telly
and Casper.
In Larry Clark’s dark world of sex,
violence, and substance abuse, the
meaning of friendship is always in
question. As in real life, friendships
among his characters sometimes
offer lifelines to redemption, while
elsewhere they form chains for
mutually assured destruction. An
early critic said that the photos in
Tulsa “assail, lacerate, and devastate.”
Did he mean that the needles and
bruises made him cringe? Or did he
look into the eyes of David Roper
and Billy Mann and remember
troubled friendships from his own
youth? Who are the faces and what
are the trials haunting your Tulsa? n
Alex Mann,
Brock Curator of American Art
in the galleries | 9
Reunited
Veronese’s Altarpieces for San Benedetto Po
it was the one collec tion
masterwork conspicuously
missing at the Chrysler’s Grand
Reopening—but with good
reason. The exhibition Veronese:
Magnificence in Renaissance Venice
was on view in London and our
inspiring Veronese altarpiece painting was at The National Gallery
for a very special reunion.
There, our Virgin and Child with
Angels Appearing to Saints Anthony
Abbot and Paul, the Hermit hung
to the right of a gallery doorway
in Room 3. To its left was our
painting’s long-distant relation: the
National Gallery’s Consecration of
Saint Nicholas.
It was only the second time that the
paintings, created to hang in the
same Italian abbey, have shared a
space in nearly 225 years.
Veronese painted these two soaring altarpieces, plus one other,
more than 450 years ago for the
Benedictine monastery at San
Benedetto Po, near Mantua. By his
30s, the artist already had earned his
reputation as one of the masters of
the Golden Age of Venetian Painting,
along with Tintoretto and Titian.
Hailed as “prince of the palette,”
Veronese was famed as an inspired
colorist and a compositional genius.
And since San Benedetto Po was one
of the best connected and wealthiest
monasteries in northern Italy, on
December 27, 1651, Father Andrea
de Asola sought out the celebrated
34-year-old painter for a commission.
The artist would create a trio of
altarpieces to decorate newly
refurbished chapels that honored
early Christian saints. Though the
project was ambitious—each altarpiece measured roughly six by nine
10 | fall 2014
feet—Veronese completed it with
remarkable speed. He delivered the
paintings in three months, and on
March 30, 1562, received final payment for his work, 123 gold crowns.
The Virgin and Child with Angels
Appearing to Saint Anthony
Abbot and Paul, the Hermit, The
Consecration of Saint Nicholas,
and Saint Jerome in the Wilderness
with the Madonna in Glory quickly
became the abbey’s most esteemed
art treasures. By 1568 the Florentine
art theorist Giorgio Vasari had
acclaimed them as the best paintings in the church—and they
remained so for another century.
The Saints and the Paints
The Christian lore about each of
the saints had been popularized
in the 13th-century Golden Legend,
but “Veronese imparted a new level
of human imagination and heavenly splendor to each scene,” says
Jeff Harrison, the Chrysler’s Irene
Leache Curator of European Art. “All
three paintings depict a miraculous
commingling of the terrestrial and
celestial realms, all three share a
compositional consistency, and all
three reveal Veronese in complete
command of his chromatic powers.”
The National Gallery’s canvas
depicts the moment when Saint
Nicholas (270–343) was divinely
revealed as the next Bishop of Myra
with an angel descending with a
bishop’s staff, stole, and crown at the
very moment of the saint’s investiture. “Here, Veronese celebrates the
solidity and splendor of both the
heavenly realm and the material
world,” Harrison says. The ecclesiastical ceremony invited the use of
rich and varied color, and Veronese
brought the full range of his palette
to bear on the subject with brilliant,
jewel-like hues. “His genius as a
colorist is superbly displayed in
these works.”
The Chrysler’s painting commemorates the lives of two early Christian
hermit saints, Anthony Abbot
(251–356) and Paul, the Hermit
(229–342). “As founders of the
monastic life of poverty, penance,
and prayer, these saints enjoyed a
special reverence among the monks
of San Benedetto Po,” Harrison says.
“Like these humble desert saints, we
are awestruck by Veronese’s burst
of miraculous golden light and an
opulent, celestial vision.” As viewers
looked up at this and the other
paintings high above their altars,
“they were drawn visually toward a
promise of splendid eternal life.”
The altarpiece featuring Saint
Jerome (347–420), the scholar
who translated the Scriptures into
Latin, remains only in a preliminary sketch by Veronese and an
18th-century copy of his canvas.
“The central images in this painting
and the Chrysler’s canvas include
a miraculous visit of the Madonna
and Child,” Harrison says. Mystical
experiences by visionaries as Saint
Ignatius and Saint Teresa of Avila
may have influenced contemporary
depictions of early saints, he adds,
“but Veronese’s vision was virtually
unprecedented in the pictorial arts
of the 16th century.”
Separated For Centuries
For more than a century, Veronese’s
prized paintings remained in the
abbey and its monastery. In the
1790s, when Napoleon’s army
occupied northern Italy, troops
confiscated the three altarpieces
and countless other works of art
as spoils of victory. The paintings
eventually surfaced in France,
where ours remained in private collections until its purchase by Walter
P. Chrysler, Jr., in 1954.
The other two altarpieces made
their way to England early in
the 19th century with French
art dealer Alexis Delahante. The
British Institution purchased The
Consecration of Saint Nicholas in
1811 and donated it to the National
Gallery in 1826, two years after
its founding. Saint Jerome in the
Wilderness with the Madonna
in Glory was sold at auction in
London several times and, sadly,
was destroyed by a fire at Yates’
Galleries in 1836. Its composition
now survives only in a Veronese
shop drawing and in the late
18th-century painted copy still on
view in San Benedetto Po.
Though a full reunion of Veronese’s
three original altarpieces is now
impossible, the Chrysler achieved
a near miracle in 1995. Thanks to a
loan from the National Gallery, the
museums reunited the two remaining paintings here in Norfolk. It
was the first time the works had
been displayed together since the
18th century.
This year, Veronese: Magnificence
in Renaissance Venice provided the
Chrysler a high-profile chance
to return the favor, allowing the
National Gallery to display the
paintings in the United Kingdom
for the first time. In fact, the show
featured three reunions of National
Gallery works with other masterpieces from around the globe. It’s
little wonder that The Spectator
hailed the Veronese one-man-show
as “the exhibition of a lifetime”—
and one that the Chrysler is proud
to have helped make so. n
Paolo Caliari, called Veronese
(Italian, Venice, 1528–1588)
The Consecration of Saint Nicholas, 1562
Oil on canvas
Collection of The National Gallery, London
Image courtesy of The National Gallery,
used by permission
The Virgin and Child with Angels Appearing
to Saints Anthony Abbot and Paul, the
Hermit, 1562
Oil on canvas
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in memory of
Della Viola Forker Chrysler
collection connections | 11
12 | fall 2014
horizontal logo with Subtitle
It’s a journey from function to freedom to
fashion as told by a single item of clothing.
This Fall’s keynote exhibition is dedicated
to the ultimate American sartorial statement:
the black leather jacket.
Logo should appear in solid white or black whe
which
From its humble beginnings as protective wear for bikers
and aviators, to its de facto status as the revolutionary uniform for rebels with (and without) a cause, to rockers who
moved the jacket off the motorcycle and onto the stage, to
the must-wear fashion accessory of today, the black leather
jacket is iconic, on the run and on the runway.
Worn to be Wild
The exhibition includes more than 50 leather jackets worn
by rock stars, film legends, runway models, and fighter
Graphic desiGn + illustration
Jacob covey,
proprietor
unflown.com
pilots, as well as hundreds
of related
ads and artifacts
on
loan from all around the world. It’s the first serious look
at how the black leather jacket has become a staple in
popular culture.
But Is It Art?
Like Rubber Duck last spring, some may think the exhibition seems more like an attraction than art. How does
Worn to Be Wild fit the Museum’s mission?
“This show certainly will draw new audiences,” said Jeff
Harrison, the Chrysler’s Chief Curator, “but Worn to Be
Wild goes far beyond that. In many ways it’s a traditional
costume exhibition, but one of the things we loved was
how it bridges high art with popular culture. The show
offers a genuine historical survey of what is quintessentially a democratic fashion invention. What could be more
American than the leather jacket? So why not tell its story?”
Scores of pop culture hallmarks fuel Worn to Be Wild. In the
spotlight here are biker wear that helped define Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s T-800 cyborg in Terminator 2: Judgment
Day in 1991 and Elvis Presley’s lipstick-red 1956 Harley and
the black leather jacket he sported. Photo by Brady Harvey,
courtesy of EMP Museum, Seattle
Rooted in Risk
The leather jacket was born about 100 years ago as motorized transportation first became popular. In the 1910s and
into the 1920s, airplanes, motorcycles (like the vintage 1920
Model J Harley-Davidson on view), and many new cars featured open cockpits, leaving drivers vulnerable to weather
and hazards of the road. Early racers and risk-takers found
that leather provided the perfect protection against the
featured exhibition
| 13
20
elements. “For decades, leather outerwear was largely
armor for adventurists and aviators,” Harrison said.
As planes and cars moved toward enclosed models,
designs focused more on cyclists’ needs. Leather jackets
took on practical functionality and options that cycling
enthusiasts (and later the public) appreciated. By the
1930s, mail-order catalogs and major department stores
offered them for sale.
War and the Wild Blue Yonder
World War II forever changed the leather jacket and
its cachet. “Hailed as courageous and cool, few service
members were more revered than military aviators,”
Harrison said. “It’s no surprise that their fly-boy uniform, the A-2 bomber jacket, took on just as heroic
an image.”
And what started as standard-issue soon became a
symbol of belonging. Entire squadrons customized
their jackets to match. Official patches denoted that
they were part of an elite brotherhood and team morale
soared. Although regulations prohibited decorating
military equipment with anything but sanctioned
markings, leaders turned a blind eye to a new, if illicit,
tradition of personalization.
Fueled by camaraderie and pride, many military
members embellished their aircraft with nose art and
nicknames. “Crew jackets also became a canvas for
self-expression, but the paint used was never meant
for leather, so often the designs flaked off or faded,”
Harrison said. “Still, the leather jacket was by now an
indelible symbol of service and success.”
at top : “Jack’s Gang” and their bomb-riding pin-up
girl scored at least seven successful hits, per the graffiti
painted on this World War II-era A-2 flight jacket.
at bot tom : “Speak with a live psycho. Please have your
important questions ready” is one of the anti-social
attitudes expressed on this punk jacket from the late
1970s–early 1980s. Each jacket is on loan from a private
collection. Photos by Brad Chaney, © Harley-Davidson
Motor Company
14 | fall 2014
Antiestablishment Archetypes
Following the war, motorcycling exploded in popularity.
Although most bikers obeyed the law, the few riders
who saw themselves as outlaws caught America’s attention, and Hollywood soon capitalized on this bad-boy
biker image in films. In 1953’s The Wild One, Marlon
Brando portrayed the defiant leader of a leather-clad
motorcycle gang, and in 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause,
James Dean starred as troubled, misunderstood teen.
“The counterculture had co-opted ‘cool,’” Harrison said,
and despite the ambiguity, many Americans wanted to
dress the part.
One of them was Elvis Presley. In 1956, four days after
recording “Heartbreak Hotel” for RCA, the not-yetfamous 21-year-old purchased a new red-and-white
Harley-Davidson Model KH. The bike is on view in the
show, along with its bill of sale, $50-a-month financing
documents, and a ca. 1960 black leather motorcycle
jacket that the King bought at J.C. Penney.
“Elvis cemented the connection between motorcycle
jackets and rock ’n’ roll, and thousands followed in his
bootsteps,” Harrison said. By the late 1950s, a youth
subculture of “rockers” with fast motorcycles and personalized jackets evolved in the United Kingdom. The
movement peaked in the 1960s and influenced both the
rockabilly revival and pop music scene. As the exhibition’s wall of album covers attests, rock ’n’ roll’s fetish
with leather, metal, and rebellion
would live on much longer.
It found its apotheosis in Punk.
The 1970s’ primal, progressive
scream of individual preference
was popularized on both sides of
the Atlantic by aggressive bands
like the Ramones, the Clash, and
Sex Pistols. Functional metal
zippers and snaps were enhanced
by fashionable heavy metal in the
addition of pins, safety pins, slogan
buttons, chains, patches, nails, and,
notably, spikes and studs. “Punk
jackets often looked painful, but
they made a statement—and sometimes several,” Harrison said. “It’s
ironic that these biker jackets were
so carefully crafted and are some of
the most artfully adorned apparel
of the late 20th century.”
From Vogue to Prêt-à-porter
In 1960, inspired by The Wild
One and the Rive Gauche beatnik
movement, Yves Saint Laurent sent
models down the couture catwalk
in Paris wearing motorcycle jackets
made of black crocodile. Though
several critics adored his bold
move, the world of haute couture
was largely horrified with his
vision. Shortly thereafter he was
dismissed as Dior’s lead designer.
But a trend had begun and in the following decades,
bikerwear transitioned from sheer functionality to
a form-focused fashion statement. Worn to Be Wild
includes runway-ready interpretations by some of the
world’s leading designers: Jean Paul Gaultier, Gianni
Versace, Jeremy Scott (with a signature black-and-white
Keith Haring print). It took little time for high fashion
couture to reach hometowns across America, and
would-be fashionistas who were happy to buy their
leather jackets off the rack.
“Hollywood designers copied the fashion trends, dressing
the stars of the screen and stage in leather with increasing frequency and force,” Harrison
said. “In some cases, the costume
almost becomes a character. Think
of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s
‘hasta la vista, baby’ jacket from
Terminator 2: Judgment Day, or
Rooney Mara’s Gothic chic-geek
The Members’ Preview Party
Thursday, October 2
look from The Girl with the
6–10 p.m.
Dragon Tattoo.” Other examples in
Kick-start the night with a special lecture by Jim
the show range from the subFricke of the Harley-Davidson® Museum, then get
lime—a short-shorts outfit worn
your motor revving with music by The Bartones.
by Fergie on the Sunset Strip—to
the ridiculous—Harry Shearer’s
Worn to Be Wild Wednesdays
jacket from the mock rockumenGallery Talks | 1 p.m.
tary This is Spinal Tap. “The Pop
Culture
Pantheon helped make it
Family Day
an
icon,”
Harrison said.
Saturday, November 8
E 10
M a.m.–3
P S T Yp.m.
LEGUIDE
“In its 100-year journey, the leather
Make a motorcycle or design your own jacket in
jacket has come a very long way,”
between artsy performances and
Harrison said. “It will be interphoto ops on the Harley today.
esting to see what vehicles take it
further down the road ahead.” n
Third Thursdays
5–10 p.m. | Free for Members
Worn to Be Wild: The
Thursday, October 16
Renegades and Rock ’n’ Roll:
Curator Jeff Harrison shows off the
show’s bad boys and girls.
Thursday, December 18
On the Run(way): This funky, fashion-forward
evening includes edgy performances at the Museum
and the Glass Studio.
Worn to Be Wild Gear
Buy a fun souvenir in
The Museum Shop.
Black Leather Jacket
is presented by EMP
Museum in partnership with the HarleyDavidson® Museum.
The exhibition is on
view at the Chrysler
from October 3, 2014–
January 4, 2015.
featured exhibition | 15
Bringing Art and People Together
The Life and Legacy of Bill Hennessey
In March 1997, Bill Hennessey began
work as the sixth Director of the
Chrysler Museum of Art. He has
remained at the helm for 17 years,
making him the longest serving
director in the Museum’s 81-year
history. Last fall, Hennessey, 66,
announced his plans to retire from
the Chrysler on October 3, 2014.
As the Museum celebrates his many
successes, Anne Corso, our Director
of Education, talked with him about
how it all began, what makes him
most proud about his time here, and
what’s next.
16 | fall 2014
anne:
I’m sure that our Members
would love to know what got you
started in museum work. What
sparked your interest?
bill: I grew up in suburban New
Jersey, very close to New York. I
loved the big city and would head
into town nearly every weekend.
It’s hard to say exactly why, but a
lot of the time I would end up in a
museum. I liked them because they
felt serious and important. I liked
the sense of being surrounded by
history. I even liked the way they
smelled. Somehow I got the sense
that there was some mystery there
that needed to be unraveled, and
that I should pay attention.
Then I went off to college planning
to be a history major. But I was
dating a girl who asked me if I had
ever taken an art history class. I
didn’t know what art history was,
but I figured I was being given a
message, so I signed up for a class.
I couldn’t get into the introductory
survey because it was full, so I
ended up in the history of printmaking. The instructor was a very
fierce, elderly Austrian scholar,
and when I arrived to discover
that I was the only student in the
class, I thought, “Well, I guess
I’m off the hook.” “Nonsense,” he
said, “this will be better. We’ll go
right into the vault. Let’s start with
at left :
Bill Hennessey enjoyed a rare quiet
moment alone in the galleries on May 10
shortly after the Chrysler welcomed guests into
the expanded building. The completion of the
new Chrysler has been hailed as the apogee
of his career. Photo by Ed Pollard, Museum
Photographer
over the past 40-plus years has been
to weed and prune that collection,
to figure out how to display it,
interpret it, and put it to work. That
process was well underway by the
time I got here.
the best—Dürer.” So he pulled out
Melencholia I, and for three hours,
we sat and talked about this little
piece of paper. I got to hold it in my
hand; I learned about who Dürer
was, about the ancient theories
of personality, about numerology,
symbolism, and the technology of
print- and papermaking, about the
politics of patronage, the economics
of print selling, and on it went. And
I thought, “All of that is in this little
sheet of paper? This is amazing!
I want to do more of this.”
But in spite of that work, there was
still a sense, rightly or wrongly, that
the Chrysler was not a warm and
welcoming place. Perhaps it was for
some, but for many it wasn’t. Unless
you were a Member, you had to
come up with some money just to
get in. Once inside, the first people
you encountered were stern-looking security guards. There was
very little information to help you
understand the things hanging on
the walls. And most of our galleries
were painted a kind of drab grey—
very formal and, well, institutional.
The Museum felt to me a little
like broccoli—something vaguely
unpleasant that you eat because it is
good for you. We had a great opportunity to transform the Museum
into a much warmer and more lively,
responsive, and engaging place. And
that’s been one of our top priorities
for the past 17 years.
anne:
What happened then?
Well, I went on to graduate
school at Columbia for my M.A
and Ph.D. I had a wonderful Ford
Foundation Fellowship at the
Worcester Art Museum and then
went on to work as a curator and
director at a series of mostly university museums—at Vassar, the
University of Kentucky, and the
University of Michigan—before
coming to the Chrysler.
bill:
anne:
I think everyone would agree
that now the Chrysler is one of the
top midsized art museums in the
country, but 17 years ago was that
the case? What were some of the
strengths and challenges that the
Museum had prior to your arrival?
bill: The Chrysler’s core has always
been its extraordinary collection.
Walter’s gift back in 1971 brought us
amazing riches, but also some real
challenges. There were great things
and a good number of not-so-great
things. One of the our biggest jobs
Another thing struck me as very
peculiar. I thought, “Here’s a
museum with an extraordinary collection and a very handsome building, but everyone is always apologizing for it.” I would hear people, even
staff, say, “Yes, the Chrysler’s great,
but it’s not the National Gallery…
or the Met…or the M.F. A.”
“Why,” I wondered, “can’t we focus
on what we are, on the Museum’s
truly unique and distinctive personality? Instead of trying to compete
with larger and far richer museums
in bigger cities, why can’t we focus
on being a truly great museum for
our community?”
anne:
So what is the Chrysler’s
special identity? What do you think
has transformed the Chrysler?
Which accomplishments of the last
two decades make you most proud?
bill: Well, I do think the Chrysler
has a special personality. When I
travel around to other museums,
I’m often struck by how bland and
predictable many of them seem.
We wanted the Chrysler to be
different, distinctive, with its own
style, look, and feel. A part of our
personality, of course, comes from
the collection, from Walter’s taste
and collecting preferences. But I
really think the thing that sets us
apart is our attitude towards our
visitors. We actually like to have
them in the building. We welcome
them, we trust them, we listen to
them, and we do everything we can
to be sure that they enjoy their visit
to the Chrysler. We’ve worked hard
to prove that no matter who you are
or what your background, there’s
something here to interest you and
your family.
We really want the Chrysler to be
fun—a great place to go for a good
time and, along the way, maybe
you learn something new about
yourself and your world. For this to
happen, we knew we needed to get
rid of barriers like admission fees.
And we knew we needed to shift
our perspective. So we replaced our
security officers with Gallery Hosts
and we rethought the look and feel
of our galleries, adding strong wall
colors, more dramatic lighting, and
comfortable seating.
We also thought about how to
help visitors begin a rewarding
conversation with a work of art. As
a start, we changed the style and
content of our labels—no more
chrysler news | 17
insider art history jargon! We added
audio guides, scavenger hunts, and
special tours that are more relaxed
and informal. But our Gallery Host
program, something of which I am
extremely proud, is at the center of
it all. The hosts go out of their way
to talk with visitors and to share
stories about their favorite works in
the collection. Frankly, I can’t think
of another museum where literally
every person that a guest encounters is committed to making their
experience as happy and rewarding
as possible.
anne:
Harry Lester, our former
Board chair who recruited you,
once said that you challenged the
Trustees to think in new ways.
What do you think he meant?
bill: I suspect he might be thinking
about our efforts to rethink the
Chrysler’s mission. Like a lot of
places we had always defined ourselves in terms of objects—the traditional idea is that museums exist
to “collect, preserve, display, and
study” things. I felt it was important that we embrace the idea that
museums are about both art and
people. To me, no collection, no
matter how fine, has life or meaning
unless it makes a real difference
in people’s lives. That’s what the
Chrysler is all about, and I thought
we should say so straight out.
But the idea of saying that you exist
to change people’s lives made the
Board a little uneasy. They worried,
“How can you prove that that really
happens?” It was a great discussion
and in the end we decided it was
okay to be a bit aspirational. We’d
always try to succceed, knowing
that at times we would fall flat.
top : Hennessey’s first post-doctoral professional position
was at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of
Kansas in 1975. Within three years, the 28-year-old was
serving as the museum’s acting director. Photo courtesy
of Leslie Hennessey
bot tom : “Great art has a unique power to change
people’s lives,” Hennessey told The Daily Press in 1997
when he became the Chrysler’s new director, ending a
14-month search with more than 100 candidates.
Photo © The Daily Press, used by permission
18 | fall 2014
In the end, we all agreed that
“The Chrysler Museum exists to
enrich and transform lives. We bring
art and people together through
experiences that delight, inform, and
inspire.” Nearly everything we have
done since then grew out of that
new mission statement.
anne:
You’ve talked about the
Museum’s collection, but how do
changing exhibitions fit in?
bill: A little uneasily. On one hand,
we have this extraordinary collection that begs to be better studied,
understood, and explained. On the
other hand, like most museums,
we have a tendency—incorrectly, I
think—to assume that the only way
to get people to visit is with splashy
loan shows. The result is a constant
push-and-pull between our eagerness to find fresh and creative ways
to use our collection and the siren
call of sexy special exhibitions. We
need to do both, but because there
are only so many hours in the day,
it’s a tough balance to get right.
anne:
I’m sure a few exhibitions
have been personal favorites.
bill: Of course! I’m particularly
enthusiastic about exhibitions that
are a bit “out of the box,” shows
that might surprise our visitors
and help them see things in new
ways. Our Ferrari show back in
2003 and our upcoming show, Worn
to be Wild, are good examples of
that. Then, I’m really proud of the
Fitzwilliam Collection show that
we did in 2006. This was the first
international loan exhibition the
Chrysler ever organized, and I’m
very pleased to have had the chance
to curate it. And I loved the Royal
Holloway show of Victorian art. As
you can tell, I like English art, and
both of these shows contained
works of extraordinary quality,
things that rarely go on loan.
Way back in 2000 I organized A Fair
Wind. It was an exhibition of about
a dozen really great Winslow Homer
paintings. Another show with
unbelievable quality was the 2008
Rembrandt print show from Boston.
It was gaspingly beautiful, but not
especially popular. In a very different way, the show we organized to
commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the end of Massive Resistance
sticks in my memory. It was one of
the toughest shows I have ever done,
but it got genuine conversations
going in the community about a
difficult and painful moment in
our shared history. Overhearing our
visitors’ comments brought tears to
my eyes more than once.
anne:
And then there was Rubber
Duck. What did the Duck do for the
Chrysler and the community?
bill: That Duck is magic! At first
blush the idea of a 40-foot bathtub
toy floating in front of the Museum
seems a little silly—though I think
there’s a lot more going on with
Rubber Duck than it’s given credit
for. But how many works of art
could bring 150,000 people to the
Museum in 10 days—people of all
kinds, backgrounds, and ages—all
of them smiling and eager to share
the experience? And a very large
number of them came inside the
Museum. For many it was not just
their first visit to the Chrysler, it
was their first step inside any art
museum. That’s pretty wonderful.
anne:
We’d both agree that the
Museum’s collection is its heart.
Since you’ve been Director, the
Museum has acquired 2,000 more
artworks. What stands out?
bill: We already have a wonderful
collection, and that’s a good thing
since the present state of the art
market with its crazy prices makes
it really difficult for museums like
ours to make major acquisitions.
That said, we have done very well in
recent years with some carefully targeted acquisitions that have made a
real difference. We were able to reunite the two Boncori pictures that
had been separated for centuries.
And we did the same with the amazing Woodall glass cameo plaques;
those are now together for the first
time, as the artists intended. And
Jeff Harrison has been particularly
Artist Florentijn Hofman and Bill Hennessey celebrate the opening of Rubber Duck, by far the
Museum’s most popular exhibition. Photo by Ed Pollard, Museum Photographer
good at finding preparatory drawings and sketches for paintings
already in the collection.
In terms of personal favorites, I love
the Noel Paton Home, a great British
Victorian storytelling picture. The
Claude Ramey terracotta bust is an
extraordinary tour de force, and I’m
fascinated by the elegant geometry
and balance of the Sidney Gordon
sculpture. And, like everyone, I find
the Idelle Weber irresistible.
anne:
Ten years from now, what
do you want people to say that Bill
Hennessey did for the Chrysler?
What one thing would you like to
have as your legacy?
bill: I would love people to say that
during my time here we met our
mission—that we made a real and
positive difference in the quality of
people’s lives.
anne:
Being named as a Magnetic
Museum was a great honor for the
Chrysler, as well as for you personally. Talk a little about that.
bill: We didn’t apply to be in the
Magnetic book; the authors discovered us. But being cited as one of
six museums doing things right
was a wonderful validation. We
were thrilled that they noted several
ways that we could serve as a model
for reinventing what museums can
and should be for the 21st century.
That’s pretty flattering.
anne:
What do you think is next for
the Chrysler?
bill: I hope we can continue to
build on the gains we’ve made.
We’ve raised $80 million in two
capital campaigns in the last 15
years. That is a lot of money! We’ve
completed a big expansion and
renovation that has given us a
building that will stand us in good
stead for a long time. We’ve opened
a state-of-the-art Glass Studio that
chrysler news
| 19
our momentum and enthusiasm
without getting overextended.
anne:
Most of our Members know
that Leslie is the perfect counterpart
to you, and that you’re something
of a package deal. What is the best
advice that Leslie has ever given you
about the Museum?
bill: Oh which day? I’ve got the
most patient and supportive spouse
in the world. Leslie is an incredibly
insightful critic and gadfly. We talk
constantly about art and museums.
She has a spectacular eye in works
of art and an uncanny ability, I
think, to talk to people about them.
She is also a wonderful (and tactful)
editor. Countless times she’s helped
me remove my foot from my mouth.
One could not imagine a smarter,
more generous, more supportive
partner.
anne:
clock wise from top :
The opening of the Chrysler Museum Glass
Studio was the fruition of a longtime dream
for Hennessey. The Director and his family
took several glassblowing classes.
Photo courtesy of Leslie Hennessey
Travel has always been one of Hennessey’s
favorite pastimes. In 1969, as a student at
Wesleyan University, he took a river trip
on the Moselle. Photo courtesy of Leslie
Hennessey
Leslie, Claire, and Bill Hennessey enjoyed
a summer respite Blue Mountain Lake in
the Adirondacks. Photo courtesy of Leslie
Hennessey
20 | fall 2014
is attracting international attention.
We’ve fundamentally shifted our
relationship with our audience to
make ourselves an integral part of
the life in our community. We are
rethinking our relationships with
schools and regional universities
and with other arts organizations.
And we’re on the edge of doing
some really exciting things with
technology. Overall, we need to
figure out the best way to continue
Certainly you’ve changed
the Chrysler in your time here, but
how has the Chrysler changed you?
What have you learned?
bill: We should listen more. In the
museum world we spend a lot of
time in a bubble, talking to ourselves, congratulating ourselves on
our knowledge and sophistication.
Instead, we should be seeing things
as our visitors do. Here’s a really
simplistic example. Once I was
talking to a group of kids about a
painting. I was standing and they
were sitting on the floor. Try as I
might, I couldn’t get them to tell me
what they saw in the picture. They
just wouldn’t talk. Then I sat down
with them and discovered why. The
reflection on the surface of the
painting made it impossible to see
anything. Take that on a larger metaphorical level: if we sit down with
our visitors, we can all talk about
these works of art together and learn
Erik H. Neil
The Chrysler’s New Director
about them together. The more we
can make the Museum a place for
conversations rather than lectures,
about learning rather than teaching,
the better off we are. Yes, a part of
me still believes that the ideal way
to look at a work of art is by yourself, in silence, with nobody around
to annoy or distract you—but my
time at the Chrysler has taught
me that this is not what museums
should be about.
anne:
As you look to your next
chapter, what are you interested
in doing? What would surprise
people?
bill: Well, I have more reading
than I can catch up on in a lifetime
awaiting me, along with a couple
of writing projects. We are certainly
going to try to do a bit of travelling,
particularly in search of wonderful music to listen to. And then, I
will probably try my hand at more
glassblowing, and I am determined
to finally master my breadmaking.
anne:
Is there anything else that
you would like our Members to
consider, a final note?
bill: You know, I can’t think of any
organization that depends more on
collaboration than a museum. I
was doing some cooking last weekend, using Julia Child’s recipe for
ratatouille. She says that the secret
of a great ratatouille is to cook
each vegetable separately so that
it retains its own special character
and identity. Then, when they are
combined, something magical happens—the dish is much more than
the sum of its parts. I think the
principle works for museums, too.
Bold and visionary trustees, smart
and hard-working staff, energized
visitors, great works of art—as the
Chrysler shows, it’s a great recipe. n
The Board of Trustees has named Erik H. Neil as
the Chrysler’s next Director and President. Neil,
50, has been Director of the Academy Art Museum
in Easton, Maryland, since 2010, and previously
he served as Executive Director of the Heckscher
Museum in Huntington, N.Y. (2006–2009) and
Director of the Newcomb Art Gallery of Tulane
University in New Orleans (1999–2006).
Neil is known in the museum world for the breadth
of his artistic interests, strong management and
team-building, a genial personality, and a collaborative approach to work and leadership, with a
common goal of making the good even better.
Erik H. Neil will become
the seventh director
of the Chrysler Museum of Art
in October 2014.
Photo by Annie Raymond
“I am very excited to come to the Chrysler and
build upon the great work done by Bill Hennessey,
the Trustees, and the Museum staff,” Neil said. “The chance to work
with such an outstanding collection and to be creative with it, to open
up doors to new audiences is very appealing,” he added.
“I am looking forward to living in Norfolk. It’s rare to have an institution
of the Chrysler’s stature in a community of this size. I hope to be able
to leverage that stature to see that the Chrysler Museum has both great
local impact and a broader stage of influence,” he said.
“Erik Neil is a leader who loves art,” said new Board Chair Lewis Webb,
who led the Museum’s search committee. “The Chrysler has always been
a leader in the national conversation about art and museums—and Erik
is just the right person to continue to nurture and coordinate our efforts
for even more impact,” he said.
Neil was selected from among more than 70 candidates in the international executive search. Past and present colleagues laud his transparency, his ability to build community, his visionary pragmatism, and his
intelligence. He holds a B.A. (1986) in modern European and American
history from Princeton, and both an M.A. (1991) and Ph.D. (1995)
in the history of art and architecture from Harvard. He also earned a
certificate in museum management (2003) from the prestigious Getty
Leadership Institute.
Neil has been married for nearly 25 years to artist Luisa Adelfio. The
couple has four daughters and two dogs. Among his personal interests
are classical and rock music, running, and films.
Neil will assume leadership duties on October 6, the Monday after Bill
Hennessey retires. “With his strong art history background, strategic
vision, and solid management experience, Erik Neil is an inspired
choice to lead the Chrysler into its next chapter,” Hennessey said.
Look for an in-depth interview with our new Director in the
Winter issue of Chrysler.
chrysler news | 21
The Visiting Artist Series 2014
Nancy Callan and Katherine Gray
n o v e m be r
The Chrysler Museum Glass Studio
concludes this year’s Visiting Artist
Series with a demonstration of
glass artistry from two of today’s
leading glassblowers: Nancy Callan
and Katherine Gray. This is the
second visit to the Chrysler for
both. Gray’s Forest Glass, a recycled
tree evoked in vintage glassware
on acrylic shelves, was a standout
work in Contemporary Glass Among
the Classics, one of three Art of
Glass 2 exhibitions here in 2009.
Callan first came to the Chrysler
in 2011 for the opening of our
Glass Studio. She assisted Lino
Tagliapietra, our inaugural Visiting
Artist, in creating Poesia and Ostuni
in our new facility. Both artists will
be creating new work during their
time here.
Chrysler asked our Barry Curator of
Glass, Diane Wright, what to expect
in our upcoming visit from these
two glass artists:
22 | fall 2014
13–16
Nancy Callan and Kathy Gray are
stalwarts of the contemporary glass
scene today. Their longstanding
friendship and collaboration brings
them together at the Chrysler’s
Glass Studio, where they will work
as a team to make glass that speaks
to each of their artistic visions.
The process of glassblowing is
physically challenging and by its
very nature requires many hands
to make. Throughout their careers,
artists working in glass often
build close relationships that are
compatible with their working
style and skill level, teaming up
in the hotshop to blow and sculpt
glass that could not be made alone.
While Nancy and Kathy live far
apart (Callan in Seattle and Gray in
Southern California), they reunite
to teach courses in glassmaking and
to work as visiting artists—their
purpose here at the Chrysler.
“About 10 years ago, we realized how
much we loved working together,
so we have been trying to find
excuses to do so ever since,” Nancy
and Kathy explain. “We inspire
each other by what each of us
does with the material—even
though this is so different, there
is a collaborative spirit that runs
through how we share ideas.”
For Nancy, the pursuit of fun and
play as an integral part of creativity is paramount in her work. Her
spinning tops, snowmen, and bee
butts are recognizable to people of
all ages. She infuses these playful
forms with brilliant colors and traditional Italian glassmaking techniques. Nancy’s whimsical pieces
are both technically masterful and
full of the energy and vitality that
goes into making them.
For Kathy, glass can embody both
otherworldly perfection and the
banal and mundane. She shows her
need for flawlessness with her beautifully designed and precisely made
Katherine Gray (Canadian/American, b. 1965)
Broken Bow, 2011
Solid glass, 18 x 12 x 6 inches tall
© Katherine Gray
Photo by Fredrik Nilsen, courtesy of the artist
www.katherine-gray.com
nesting Wonder Sandwich bowls.
Yet another of her latest works, A
Tree Grows, addresses issues of reuse
and recycling and is constructed
from commonplace colorless, green,
and brown glasses purchased at
thrift stores.
Nancy Callan (American, b. 1964)
Kaleidoscope Cloud, 2012
Blown and carved glass with stand,
18 x 18 x 7 inches;
© Nancy Callan
Photo by Russell Johnson,
courtesy of the artist
www.nancycallanglass.com
Watching Nancy and Kathy work
together is to experience the unfolding of a well-synchronized creative
process. It is an event that succeeds
because of the strength and ingenuity of these two women who have
spent years practicing their skills
and forming their ideas into glass. n
chrysler news | 23
Celebrating the New Chrysler
First Night Gala
t u e s day, may
Ron Gage, Henry McKinnon, Oriana McKinnon, Patt and Colin McKinnon
Barbara Fine and Karen Fine
Susan and John Wynne, Betty Darden
24 | fall 2014
Blair Mielnik, Martha Goode, Susan and David Goode
Douglas and Maria Hillebrandt
Penny and Peter Meredith
Macon and Joan Brock, Carolyn and Richard Barry
6
Friends of the Museum Preview
t h u r s day, may
8
Pam Kloeppel, Steve and Mary Lou Johnson,
Linda Pinkham
14 of the 25 Board Members of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation
John and Pat Stecker, Dorothy and Robert Doumar
Evelyn Munden, Stephan and Marynell Gordon
Leah and Richard Waitzer, Oriana McKinnon
Museum Docents Helen Galanides, Sandra Finn,
Chris Rowland, Dana Adams
Mary Jane Birdsong and Meredith Lauter
Idelle Weber and her painting Munchkins I, II, and III
fall
2014 | 25
Member Preview | Grand Reopening
f r i day, may
9+
s at u r day, may
10
Photos by Ed Pollard, Museum Photographer;
Gary Marshall, Museum Websmith; Megan Frost,
Museum Development Officer; and Charlie Gunter
for the Chrysler Museum of Art
26 | fall 2014
The Norfolk Society of Arts
is pleased to announce
its slate of distinguished
speakers for the year. Each
month’s event begins with
a coffee reception in Huber
Court at 10:30 a.m., followed
by the free lecture in the
Museum’s Kaufman Theater
at 11 a.m.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Driving People to Music and to Museums
Fred Child, Host,
Performance Today
in honor of William Hennessey
Director, Chrysler Museum of Art, 1997–2014
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
(The Mabel Brown Lecture)
What Was Cubism?
Harry Cooper, Curator
Modern and Contemporary Art
The National Gallery of Art, Washington
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Thomas Cole’s Course of American
Politics in the 1830s
Brian T. Allen, Director, Museum Division
The New-York Historical Society, New York
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The Present and Future: Art Glass
in the 21st Century
Glenn Adamson, Director
The Museum of Arts and Design, New York
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Techniques of Impressionists
David Bomford
Director of Conservation,
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Degas/Cassatt: An Impressionist Pas-de-Deux
Kimberly A. Jones
Associate Curator of French Paintings
The National Gallery of Art, Washington
Josepha Gasch-Muche
(German, b. 1944)
7.3.2011, 2011
Glass mounted on wood
© Josepha Gasch-Muche
Museum purchase
Monday, April 13, 2015
The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of
Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece and the Restitution
Battle That Shocked the World
Anne-Marie O’Connor, Author
The lecture will be followed by a brief annual
meeting and a ticketed luncheon for the benefit
of the Chrysler Museum.
The Norfolk Society of Arts promotes and enhances
the cultural life of the South Hampton Roads
community through lectures, special events, and
financial support to the Chrysler Museum of Art. NSA
membership is open to all current Museum Members.
For more information about membership in the
society, please contact Edith Grandy at (757) 621-0861.
27
Last Look
Our Big Chrysler Quack
A supersized bath toy floating in
the water in front of the Chrysler
became the Museum’s most
popular exhibition ever. Florentijn
Hofman’s Rubber Duck was Wave 2
of the Chrysler’s Grand Reopening,
one of the most joyful successes
of Director Bill Hennessey’s career,
and “Selfie Central” and a must-visit
attraction for all of Hampton Roads
for two weeks in May.
1
couple who took
wedding photos with
Rubber Duck in Pittsburgh
and first-anniversary
pictures with him in Norfolk
Stats compiled by Gary Marshall, Websmith;
Stacy Weiland, Museum Shop Manager; Megan Frost,
Development Officer; and Robert Holtzscheiter, Glass
Studio Adminstrative Coordinator. Photo by Ed Pollard,
Museum photographer
3,284
28 | fall 2014
photos tagged
#ChryslerQuack.
22,303
visitors to
duck.chrysler.org.
150,000
estimated total visitors
who came to see Rubber
Duck at the Chrysler.
10
days floating in The Hague.
7
tons of unseen
barge supporting the
heavy-duty vinyl
Rubber Duck.
40
feet (in height).
2,500
pictures taken per hour,
calculated noon–1 p.m.
on Tuesday, May 20.
719
cast-glass ducklings
made at the Glass Studio.
7,747
visitors inside the Museum
in a single day—a new
record for the Chrysler.
551,000
page views at Rubber Duck’s
Facebook page, May 17–26.
1,600,000
impressions at the Chrysler Museum’s Facebook Page, May 17–26.
8,683
purchases of
Rubber Duck bath
toy collectibles,
stickers, buttons,
and t-shirts.
too numerous to count
smiles encouraged by our
happy yellow friend.
non profit org.
u.s. postage
One Memorial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
(757) 664-6200 | chrysler.org
paid
norfolk, va
permit #138
dated material
do not delay delivery
address service requested.
museum and glass studio hours
Tuesday–Saturday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday from noon–5 p.m.
Third Thursday til 10 p.m.
the annual members ’ appreciation sale
at the museum shop
Wisteria is open during Museum hours.
Free Parking | Wheelchair Accessible
Save 20% on all your holiday buying!
historic houses hours
Select from our eclectic range of jewelry, glass, stationery, and
unique giftware—and enjoy festive giftwrap, with our compliments!
Saturday and Sunday from noon–5 p.m.
Limited Accessibility
general admission is free
and supported by Museum Members!
Join the Chrysler on site,
on the phone at (757) 333-6298,
or online at chrysler.org/membership.
information
(757) 664-6200 | Chrysler.org
follow the chrysler at
Subscribe to the Chrysler Museum Weekly at
chrysler.org/email-signup.
Encourage new memberships. Rather than recycle,
share this issue of Chrysler with a friend.
The Chrysler Museum of Art is partially supported
by grants from the City of Norfolk, the Virginia
Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Business Consortium for Arts
Support, and the Edwin S. Webster Foundation.
November 18–23 |This Week Only | Museum Members Only
Or give the gift of the Chrysler.
•Save 20% on annual gift memberships at the Individual,
Household, Associate, and Friend levels.
•Each gift membership comes beautifully packaged
and can be mailed directly to your recipient or to you.
Spend $100 during the Appreciation Sale and
receive a bonus gift with our thanks!
We are grateful for your patronage.