The Members Magazine | Winter 2015

Chrysler
The Members Magazine | Winter 2015
ASKING QUESTIONS
It is my true pleasure to write to you as the
new Director of the Chrysler Museum of
Art. I feel fortunate to have been selected
for this duty after an extended search, and I
recognize the responsibility that comes with leading an institution of this
stature. With the staff and Trustees and volunteers and friends, I intend
to make this great Museum even better. We aspire to be a leader among
America’s art museums. To that end, I am holding an extended series
of discussions: first with our Board of Trustees and staff, and then with
community leaders, Members, and visitors. The information I gather from
these discussions will become part of our planning process as we set goals
for the Chrysler for the coming years.
Of course, we are starting from an enviable position with a world-class
collection, a strong history of careful fiscal management, and an outstanding
group of people. The building has never looked better (or functioned better)
than it does today. We are free to all the people of our community. We have
a growing endowment in an improving economy. The leaders of our region
recognize the value of the Chrysler as an economic generator and as a key
component of a full civic life. All of these factors suggest that the future will
be bright for the Museum. We know, however, that there will be challenges
and uncertainties that will affect all museums, so we will chart a course
with clear goals that are true to our ideals—and with confidence that we are
prepared to meet those challenges.
The questions that I have been asking are open-ended. There are no wrong
answers. I want to learn what people really think about the Chrysler
Museum of Art. Where have we been successful and where have we
encountered obstacles? What could be changed and where should our
priorities be? What are our strengths and weaknesses as an institution?
How will we engage with key issues of our time, such as education,
environmental change, and the rapid expansion of technology? I welcome
your ideas and your support as the Chrysler Museum of Art embarks on a
new journey. I hope you will send your comments, critiques, or kudos to
[email protected].
Erik H. Neil
Director
Learn more about Erik’s plans for the Chrysler Museum
in our story on pages 12–15.
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
Thomas Cole (American, 1801–1848)
The Voyage of Life: Youth (detail), 1840
Oil on canvas, 52 1/2 x 78 1/2 in.
Museum Purchase, 55.106
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute,
Museum of Art, Utica, N.Y.
Chrysler
The Members Magazine | Winter 2014–2015
director ’ s note
3 Inside Front Cover
featured exhibition
Thomas Cole’s Voyage of Life
in the galleries
6Exhibitions
9 Charlotte’s Web:
Who Are You Wearing?
10 12 16
17 Larry Clark (American, b. 1943)
Untitled, from the series Tulsa, 1971
Gelatin silver print, printed 1980
Gift of Robert W. Pleasant
Collection Connections:
Face to Face—Marcelle
and Pierre Monnin
chrysler news
A New Chrysler Tour with
Our New Director
Listening to American Art
At the Glass Studio:
Visiting Artist Series 2015
member exclusives
18 Worn to Be Wild Members’
19 20 21
Preview Party
Major Donor Dinner
The Honorable Society
of Former Trustees
Upcoming Member Events
A Legacy of Beauty:
Connie and Marc Jacobson
last look
Celebrating Smokey Bear
2 | winter 2015
Thomas Cole’S
VOYAGE OF LIFE
D
ecades before the publication of Huck Finn’s adventures
on the mighty Mississippi, thousands of Americans
undertook an epic river journey through Thomas Cole’s
Voyage of Life. This series of four paintings, created between 1839
and 1840, remains one of the greatest achievements in the history
of American art. Now these monumental canvases—Childhood,
Youth, Manhood, and Old Age—are at the Chrysler Museum for a
stunning celebration of nature, imagination, and spirit.
The Voyage of Life is on loan, along with related studies and
early prints, from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute,
Museum of Art, in Utica, N.Y. Cole re-painted the popular series
in 1842, and the second version now hangs in the National
Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His original formulation,
however, has left Utica only twice since its purchase by the
Munson-Williams-Proctor in 1955. This historic third tour
includes museums in Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Memphis, in
addition to the Chrysler.
“We’ve placed these extraordinary paintings right in the heart of
our American galleries so that they can be in conversation with
our own remarkable collection,” says Alex Mann, Brock Curator
of American Art. “Visitors follow the same art historical timeline,
from John Singleton Copley to Winslow Homer, with a grand
surprise in between. Our Meredith Gallery has never looked
more stunning!”
Thomas Cole (American, 1801–1848)
The Voyage of Life: Childhood (detail), 1839–40
Oil on canvas, 52 x 78 in.
Museum Purchase, 55.105
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute,
Museum of Art, Utica, N.Y.
featured exhibition
| 3
Thomas Cole (American, 1801–1848)
The Voyage of Life: Youth (detail), 1840
Oil on canvas, 52 1/2 x 78 1/2 in.
Museum Purchase, 55.106
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute,
Museum of Art, Utica, N.Y.
Attributed to Boston & Sandwich Glass Co.
American, 1826–1888
Whale-oil Lamp, ca. 1830
Pressed glass and blown opal glass, 7 5/8 in.
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
scenes. The Chrysler’s own Cole painting, The Angel
Appearing to the Shepherds (1833–34), is a perfect
example of his skill at storytelling within a beautiful,
imaginary landscape. Cole, a lifelong Episcopalian,
hoped that such religious subjects would inspire and
educate his viewers. “I am not a mere leaf painter,” he
wrote in his diary in 1838. “I have higher conceptions.”
The Hudson River and Beyond
Thomas Cole (1801–1848) is one of founding fathers
of American art, best remembered for inventing the
Hudson River School of landscape painting.
After trekking amid the hills and lakes of
upstate New York, Cole launched his career
by capturing on canvas the brilliant
fall colors of the Catskill Mountains.
Regular steamboat service between
New York City and Albany (in
operation since 1807) gave him easy
access to this gorgeous scenery. Cole
also benefitted from the opening of the
Erie Canal in 1825. His most generous
patrons were bankers and merchants who
owed their wealth to the canal and the
subsequent explosion of boat trade
around New York.
Cole later traveled beyond the
Hudson River region, painting views
of Pennsylvania, the White Mountains
of New Hampshire, and Italy. He
also dreamed up idealized landscape
compositions and used these as
settings for biblical and literary
4 | winter 2015
In The Voyage of Life, Cole tackled an even more
complex subject, summarizing the ups and downs
of human existence in four grand scenes. “Cole saw
this series as a poem,” Mann explains. “He dabbled in
poetry writing, but art was his real genius. Think of
his light and shadows as adjectives, shapes as rhymes,
color as punctuation. That’s how Cole understood
these elements, and that’s why it took him almost two
years to make—no, to invent—this series.”
An Assembly of Angels
Both The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds and The
Voyage of Life are milestones in Cole’s career, Mann
says, and this exhibition marks the first time ever that
“his early ambitious masterpiece and his crowning
achievement have ever been presented in the same
building.” Visitors will spot dozens of similarities in
the composition and figures in The Angel Appearing,
the largest canvas that Cole ever painted, and Old Age,
his final Voyage of Life painting. “Cole clearly copied
himself,” says Mann. “The celestial vision in Old Age,
with the heavens opening and angels descending, is an
encore for Cole, repeated from the Chrysler’s massive
masterwork. Scholars have written about this, and now
we can study it firsthand.”
This reprisal of older ideas may result from Cole’s
lack of confidence in painting the human figure.
“The Angel’s face has given me a great deal of trouble,”
Cole wrote in 1840 to a friend. “Angels’ visits to me
are really so few and far between that I forget their
features,” he joked. Sketchbooks from Cole’s travels in
Italy were a reference point for his later paintings and
may be the link between these two projects. “These
are the great bookends of his career,”says Mann, “but
of course Cole never expected The Voyage of Life to be
his last major work. He was still basking in the critical
triumph from this series when he caught pneumonia
just a few years later and died at age 47.”
Shining New Light on an Old Favorite
In Youth, the second picture in the series, a red-robed
boy reaches up toward a magnificent castle in the
clouds. This painting was the most popular of the
four when Cole first unveiled The Voyage of Life, and
the inspiration for its “aerial architecture,” as Cole
described it, continues to intrigue many viewers. In
the exhibition’s catalogue, Dr. Paul Schweizer, who
coordinated the traveling show, explores its sources in
depth. He suggests that Cole’s celestial castle blends
classical edifices like the Pantheon with famous
buildings from South Asia, particularly the Taj Mahal.
At the Chrysler, visitors will see another proposed
source for Cole’s “air-built castle,” a potential link
that has never been published. An 1830s glass whale
oil lamp in the shape of a domed temple, discovered
within the Chrysler’s glass collection, occupies a small
case at the center of the exhibition. The juxtaposition
with Youth makes the similarities obvious.
Thomas Cole (American, 1801–1848)
The Voyage of Life: Old Age, 1840
Oil on canvas, 51 3/4 x 78 1/4 in.
Museum Purchase, 55.108
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute,
Museum of Art, Utica, N.Y.
“Did Thomas Cole own a lamp like this?” asks curator
Alex Mann. “We don’t know, but it’s possible,” he
adds. “Even the most famous pictures have mysteries
and unanswered questions. I’m excited that this
exhibition allows our community to weigh in on a
new hypothesis.”
This glass lamp, along with five of Thomas Cole’s
greatest paintings and other related works, will be on
view at the Chrysler Museum through January 18, 2015.
Make these masterpieces in Gallery 211 a stop on your
next sail through the Chrysler collection! n
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.
featured exhibition | 5
Exhibitions
i n t h e m u s e um g a l l e ri es
Larry Clark: Tulsa
On view through January 18 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 they 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 through February 1
in the Focus Gallery (g. 229)
“Only you can prevent forest fires!”
The Chrysler honors seven decades
of wildfire prevention by America’s
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
On view through January 4
in the Norfolk Southern Special
Exhibitions Gallery and the Waitzer
Community Gallery (gs. 101–103)
Cool has come 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 that is
quintessentially American. Snap
a selfie on the Harley on your way
home, and be sure to post your
photos to #worntobewild.
Worn to Be Wild: The Black Leather Jacket
is presented by EMP Museum, Seattle, in
partnership with the Harley-Davidson®
Museum, Milwaukee.
The Art of Video Games
Opening the evening of February 13
(Members’ Preview Party)
in the Norfolk Southern Special
Exhibitions Gallery and the Waitzer
Community Gallery (gs. 101–103)
Game on! The Chrysler celebrates
the creativity, technology, and
industry that put visual effects and
virtual worlds at your fingertips
(and thumbs) over the last four
decades. This groundbreaking
exhibition sets a high score,
drawing millions to museums to
ponder the impact of Pac-Man and
to play the home-console games
that became a global sensation.
From Atari to Wii or Xbox, every
generation of gamers and geeks will
love this interactive experience.
#TAOVG
For information on The Art of Video
Games Members’ Preview Party, see
page 20.
The Art of Video Games is organized by the
Smithsonian American Art Museum, with
generous support from Entertainment
Software Association Foundation, Sheila
Duignan and Mike Wilkins, Shelby and
Frederick Gans, Mark Lamia, Ray Muzyka and
Greg Zeschuk, Rose Family Foundation, Betty
and Lloyd Schermer, and Neil Young. The C.F.
Foundation in Atlanta supports the museum’s
traveling exhibition program, Treasures to Go.
Mass Effect 2,
Microsoft XBox 360, 2010
Casey Hudson, director; Mac Walters,
Drew Karpyshyn, writers;
Casey Hudson, producer
© and ™ 2010 Electronic Arts, Inc.
6 | winter 2015
Collection Conversations:
The Chrysler Museum of Art
and the National Gallery of Art
Our yearlong series with the
National Gallery of Art features
exhibitions that highlight key
modernists represented in both
collections.
Fractured Lens: Picasso, Braque,
and Cubism’s Influence
On view through February 15
in the Roberts Wing | 20th-Century /
Modern Art Gallery (G. 219)
Our first collaborative show started
the cross-institutional conversation
with a focus on the inventors
of the Cubist movement and the
contemporaries who followed
their lead.
Henri Matisse: Harmonious Color
Opening February 24 in the Roberts
Wing | 20th-Century / Modern Art
Gallery (g. 219)
At once following and breaking
from the classical French tradition
in painting, this revolutionary
figure in modern art wrote a new
language of form and color.
Thomas Cole’s Voyage of Life
On view through January 18 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 childhood, youth,
manhood, and old age. These
masterpieces, the original versions
of the iconic series, mark the
pinnacle of Cole’s illustrious
Clockwise from top:
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973)
Nude Woman, 1910
Oil on canvas, 73 3/4 x 24 in.
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund 1972.46.1, National
Gallery of Art, Washington
Jacques Lipchitz (French, 1891–1973)
Seated Figure, 1916
Bronze
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
© Estate of Jacques Lipchitz,
courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York
in the galleries | 7
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.
Shooting Lincoln: Photography
and the Sixteenth President
Opening February 10 in the Frank
Photography Galleries (g. 228)
Come face to face with one of
America’s greatest leaders, 150 years
after his tragic death. Long before
an assassin’s bullet struck Abraham
Lincoln on April 14, 1865, dozens
of photographers had aimed their
cameras at the President. This
exhibition features rarely exhibited
vintage images from the Chrysler’s
David L. Hack Civil War Collection,
including studio portraits,
battlefield scenes, and photos from
the historic funeral procession that
helped our nation grieve and heal.
Greta Pratt: Nineteen Lincolns
Opening February 10 in the Frank
Photography Galleries (g. 228)
An homage to honesty?
Photographer and Old Dominion
University professor Greta Pratt
explores the role of historical
images and myths in contemporary
American identity. This series
introduces us to re-enactors from
The Association of Abraham
Lincoln Presenters, capturing the
unique persona beneath each black
suit and stovepipe hat. Study the
many faces of Abe and learn why
Lincoln remains so recognizable
and inspiring to these performers
and their audiences.
In The Box: Saya Woolfalk
Ongoing in The Box
The Box, our new-media gallery,
becomes its own hybridization
laboratory of visual, performing,
and tactile arts with the Brooklynbased 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
American (1789–1823)
Covered Urn Commemorating
Caesar Augustus Rodney, 1821
Silver
Gift of the Independence National Historical
Park Project, conserved through the generosity
of Allan L. Segal, in memory of Joan Sue Segal,
and with funds provided by the National
Endowment for the Arts
Charlotte Potter (American, b. 1981)
Charlotte’s Web (detail), 2012
Blown, cased glass, cameo-carved; metal chains
Museum purchase
8 | winter 2015
part-human, part-plant. Discover
how Woolfalk’s trade show
combines biology, genetics, and
anthropology with needlework,
sculpture, glass-blowing, and video
to create a vibrant new world that
defies race, cultural labels, and easy
definition.
Charlotte’s Web
Opening December 13 in the Glass
Project Space (g. 118)
Modern social media meets the
crafts of the past. Charlotte Potter,
our Glass Studio Programming
Director, explores the spaces
between friends, real and virtual,
in this favorite from the Chrysler
Collection. Hand-carved cameos of
the profile pictures of each of her
864 Facebook friends are “posted”
to a gallery-turned-map displaying
where they first met. Fine jewelry
chains connect the pendants to
each other and to the artist to form
this web of personal cartography.
There’s more to “like” with the
Chrysler Connections project. Read
more about it below.
At the H istoric Houses
Ongoing at the
Moses Myers House
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.
Ongoing at the
Willoughby-Baylor House
601 E. Freemason St. | Norfolk
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 recently
reopened Norfolk History Museum.
Who Are You Wearing?
Charlotte’s Web is about facilitating
connections between people and articulating
the unknown spaces that define these
relationships. This “friend”-filled network
raises questions about how we create
meaningful engagements in a world
saturated with virtual experiences.
To further this exploration, we hope that
visitors to the exhibition will participate
in Chrysler Connections, an experimental
web that will grow while the show is on
view. Unlike Facebook and other Internetbased prostheses for face-to-face human
connections, our project is designed to
connect and engage those who actually visit
Charlotte’s Web in real life.
The premise is simple. Have your photo taken
in the exhibition gallery and post it as your
new social media profile picture. The Museum
will, in turn, put your visage on an inexpensive
cameo portrait button. Since this button will
not be created before you leave the show, pick
up an existing button that you’d like to wear
out in public. You might select the semblance
of someone you already know or choose the
portrait of an interesting stranger to wear.
Either way, your button will picture someone
else who has seen the show.
As you circulate in the community, wear the
button you’ve selected and watch for others
doing the same. On their pins, you may
find faces you recognize—acquaintances,
Museum staff, Walter Chrysler, or even your
own. And as you locate others participating
in Chrysler Connections, start a conversation.
Discuss your thoughts about Charlotte’s
Web or compare your experiences wearing
the cameo adornments. Who knows? In the
process maybe you’ll make a new friend.
Let us know about your encounters as they
occur. Post your discoveries to your social
media pages with #ChryslerConnections.
winter
2015 | 9
Face to Face
Marcelle and Pierre Monnin
T
he Swiss couple has never
been to the Chrysler, yet
they’ve long been a part of
it. In 1975, Walter Chrysler, Jr.
purchased one of Alfred Leslie’s
newest paintings for his museum
collection. By the time it went on
view in Norfolk, the monumental
double portrait of Marcelle and
Pierre Monnin had been featured
in two one-man-shows, reviewed in
several arts columns, and seen by
thousands.
Marcelle and Pierre have seen it
only once since its completion.
Their second viewing has been
almost 40 years in the making.
As they turn the corner to Gallery
226 and see their younger selves
on the facing wall, staring into the
distance, they can’t help but smile.
They pause for a moment more.
“Do you think it still looks like me?”
Marcelle asks from the doorway.
“I was much taller then,” Pierre
jokes as he approaches the soaring
canvas.
Within minutes, they talk about
1975 as if it were yesterday.
A Wonderful Triangle
A gallerist who saw the portrait in
process described it as a “wonderful
triangle,” Marcelle says. “That’s
a surprising way to define it, but
it’s true. Even though we don’t
look at him, we look right in front
of us, we made a triangle with
Alfie,” Marcelle says. “We felt his
influence.”
Alfred Leslie already was famous
by 1974, when the Monnins met
him. The Bronx-born artist had first
made his mark in the 1950s as an
abstract expressionist, but by the
early 1960s had abandoned that
10 | winter 2015
“dead-end” modernism to embrace
a more hard-edged realism. Leslie
returned to the studies and styles
of the old masters—David, Rubens,
Carravaggio—in hopes of forging
a new excellence in contemporary
painting. With larger-than-life
scale, dramatic lighting, and careful
detail, Leslie painted “no-nonsense”
portraits meant to inspire viewers
to care not only for his subjects, but
for the people in their own lives.
They were introduced by mutual
friends. Leslie, 47, was painter-inresidence at Amherst College. The
Monnins, then in their 30s, had
left their native Switzerland just
months earlier. Pierre was teaching
and working on his Ph.D. in Old
English poetry at the University of
Massachusetts. Marcelle was caring
for their two preschool daughters at
home. The Monnins were flattered
when the artist asked if he could
include them in a new portrait
series of couples.
Lights, Ladder, and Life
At the artist’s barn studio, Leslie
placed two lights on the floor, one
on either side, to convey a heroic
seriousness. “It gave the feeling of
fire on the ground,” Marcelle says.
“He painted directly in front of us.
We were all in the same light.”
says. “I was just finishing my
dissertation and I had deadlines.
We had already two daughters
and actually our third child was
stillborn just a month or two before
we started. It took a toll.”
He feels his doppelganger’s pain.
“You can tell there is some sadness
there. In the midst of this very
personal crisis, it was very difficult
for me to have that conversation.
Look at the way she is standing
there with me—she’s the one with
the strength. That’s how I felt.”
Marcelle smiles knowingly. The
project was cathartic for both of
them. “It took us out of it,” she
says. The couple often took Rachel
and Lorraine, 5 and 2, with them,
and Leslie’s wife, Constance, would
watch the girls along with their two
children. As he painted, “sometimes
Alfie would just want to be quiet,
but usually we would talk about
everyday things,” Marcelle recalls.
“We came to know them,” she says.
“Those were great experiences.”
“Fortune and Fame”
Though the couples became friends,
Pierre says, they were paid for
posing. “We were supposed to get
one dollar per hour.”
“Each,” Marcelle quickly adds. “It
was twice as expensive for him
when we sat together,” which
they usually did. The sittings took
several months. “He worked very
fast,” Pierre says, “but I can tell you,
that portrait was a lot of hours.”
Leslie worked on the monumental
canvas from a ladder so that he
could keep his focus level on each
portion of the portrait. Each of
three sections—the faces, the torsos,
and the legs—was painted straight
“And,” Pierre adds with a smirk,
on, slightly shifting the overall
perspective. “Our heads look a little “Alfred said right away that he would
larger than they should,” Pierre says. double the amount he paid us if—
if!—the painting sold.”
Their then-serious demeanor suited
It did sell and very quickly. Walter
Leslie. “This was an age when we
Chrysler
and two other collectors
were really under pressure,” Pierre
purchased the new Leslie double
portrait at the artist’s Allan Frumkin
Gallery show in New York from
June to November 1975.
Did the Monnins ever think about
buying the 9' by 6' painting? “No,
do you know how much he sold it
for?” Pierre laughs. “$80,000!” they
answer in the unison of a couple
married 47 years.
Their painting illustrated a New
York Times review in newspapers
nationwide, and garnered more
attention in the acclaimed 1976
Alfred Leslie retrospective at the
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
But the Monnins tracked its success
from a continent away, through
letters full of clippings from the
Leslies and other friends. “We
left the United States in ’75 when
I had completed my dissertation,
so we didn’t really know what
happened so soon after it was
completed,” Pierre says. But before
they returned to Switzerland, they
saw the finished painting in Leslie’s
studio. “We were just standing
there, looking at us standing there.”
They’re doing that again now,
finally. It’s been a good first visit
to the Museum—“so moving and
memorable for us”—probably not
their last. “Indeed,” the Monnins
later write from home in Geneva,
“we strongly feel like coming back
sometime.” It’s an encore reunion
the Chrysler will welcome. n
Alfred Leslie (American, b. 1927)
Marcelle and Pierre Monnin, 1975
Oil on canvas, 108 x 72 in.
Gift of David Hatch, Edna and
Hugh Gordon Miller, and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
© Alfred Leslie
Cheryl Little, Museum Editor
with special thanks to
Melanie Neil, Assistant Registrar
There’s more about the Monnins and Alfred
Leslie’s portrait of them in our Chrysler Web
Exclusive. Learn more about their visit at www.
chrysler.org/facetoface
Photos by Ed Pollard, Museum Photographer
collec tion connec tions | 11
A New Chrysler Tour
With Our New Director
Erik H. Neil, the Chrysler’s
new Director, walked through
the Museum with community
volunteer and Museum
Trustee Lelia Graham Webb
in October. Their informal
conversation serves as an
introduction to Erik as the
Museum and the community
welcome him aboard.
12 | winter 2015
lgw:
Welcome. That’s the most
important place to begin. I hope
your first month has been exciting.
ehn:
Thank you. It’s certainly been
busy, but busy in the best possible
way. I’ve been meeting with people
who really care about the Chrysler
and it’s clear that I have inherited
a healthy institution with every
hope of success. Walking into a
brand-new museum with gorgeous
galleries and a building that has
just been upgraded, it really allows
me to think about the future.
Where do we want to go? What
do we want to do? What are the
possibilities? We are really poised
to do some strategic thinking and
planning and then implement it. I
feel very fortunate.
lgw:
What is the first thing you
noticed about the Chrysler?
ehn:
Well, there’s no question I
knew about the collection. But
when I first visited the Museum,
what struck me immediately were
the Gallery Hosts.
lgw: They really are different.
They aren’t your standard security
guards. They know so much about
the art, and they’re so friendly, so
warm. There’s nothing that says
stay away; it’s all come in and
engage.
ehn: I saw that when they didn’t
know who I was yet. I just watched
them making the experience better
for people—asking “How can I
help you?” or “Would you like
to know more about this?” That
doesn’t happen in every museum. I
don’t think everyone realizes how
unusual what we do here is. That
kind of welcome is rare.
an artist, or a family activity. But
the fact that we are free means we
are available for everybody in our
community.
lgw:
lgw: So, here we are in Huber
Court…and it’s beautiful, a great
place to host a party or a wedding.
That’s one of the things I
remember from the first time we
met. You said it is not enough for
the Chrysler just to be free.
ehn:
ehn:
It’s also the front door to
the Museum. Here is where we
welcome people from all across our
community, all demographics and
all interests. They converge here.
This type of space is something
I’ve seen in larger communities—
the public spaces of the museum
become destinations in themselves.
The Museum should be a place
where you can stay awhile and
have multiple experiences. I hope
it means looking at great art and
seeing an exhibition, but maybe
you also do some shopping, hear
some music, have something to eat.
lgw: I love that al fresco dining at
Wisteria! And because the Chrysler
is free, you can come to see one
thing during your lunch hour, and
then leave and come back the next
day to see something else. There’s
not that pressure to cover the entire
Museum at once. We’ve all had
the experience where we buy the
tickets, then we exhaust ourselves
seeing everything. Here you don’t
have to do that.
ehn: Free admission is the
cornerstone of the Chrysler,
the foundation on which this
community resource will rely. We
are free—and now we have to go
beyond that. We have to give them
more reasons to come visit us, to
become Members and frequent
visitors. They can come take in a
lecture, a performance, a talk by
It is not enough. We have to do
more. We have to extend our hand
out, to open our arms even more.
We certainly can’t hide our lamp
under a bushel, so one of the things
that we will be trying to do is really
get that message out—the Chrysler
has something for you.
How we are going to do that, I’m not
sure I know today, but some of that
will be serving as a venue for groups
in the community. Or reaching
out to military service members,
maybe through the USO, to say
that we have some great activities
scheduled for you and your family.
For example, we’re hosting a free
Veterans’ Glassblowing Day. We
need to do more events like that.
I am looking for a good corporate
sponsor for these programs so we
can really spread the word.
We need to find other ways to meet
and engage the African American
community, the LGBT community,
lots of different communities. We
can go to groups and let them
know what can we offer, how
can we partner, and what will be
meaningful. I don’t expect that we
will invent all these ideas, but we
will make sure people know that
the Chrysler is a welcoming place
for them.
lgw: And that we are a gathering
place for civic engagement. We can
be that by being free.
Now, let’s go look at some art.
Erik and Lelia Graham begin with
ancient glass in the Waitzer Galleries
of Glass.
ehn: What I think is wonderful is
that with these new glass galleries
we can really tell the stories behind
these pieces of art. We have to
stop here. This is a killer bowl!
What’s amazing, first of all, is that
this 2,000-year-old piece of glass
survived. Beyond that, the artist—
his name is Ennion—felt he was
important enough and this was fine
enough work of art for him to want
to put his name on it.
lgw:
And now it’s going out on loan
for nearly a year?
ehn:
And that’s a good thing. It’s
going to be in a major exhibition,
first at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, then at the Corning Museum of
Glass. And that points to something
else about the Chrysler as a whole.
Even if the public sometimes
doesn’t know, museums know that
the Chrysler has a world-class
collection. The objective proof
of this is the fact that we receive
loan requests every week from all
over the world for works in our
collection. Right now, we have our
art on view at museums across
the United States, and in England,
France, and Australia. And we will
continue to promote our collection
and, I hope, find other ways that we
can highlight its quality.
lgw:
I’ve heard that you were
something of a collector yourself.
ehn:
Like many people in the
museum world, I started collecting
as a child: baseball cards, beer
cans, bottle caps…. And they
were all systemized at the time. I
still collect 19th-century cartes
de visite in a casual way. I think
new director | 13
that understanding the value of
objects—that objects and works of
art have meaning beyond just the
thing—is essential.
lgw:
So here you’re a kid in a candy
shop.
ehn:
Yeah, look what I get to play
with now!
lgw: One thing I appreciate about
the expansion of the glass galleries
is the ability to show live video
from the Studio. I love that teaching
and learning aspect.
ehn:
The development of the
Glass Studio tells you something
about the future of the Chrysler.
Museums started as wunderkammer,
places of wonder, and there is
something really spectacular about
glass. You put sand in the fire and
then it’s a glowing orb and then it
becomes a piece of art. The Studio
helps explain that art and offers
experiences—I think that’s why
it has really taken off. Whether it
helps you understand chemistry
or your own creativity, something
dynamic is happening there.
lgw:
And it’s certainly brought us
an entirely new audience. So has
Worn to Be Wild. Everyone I know
who has seen it has adored it. Some
friends have asked me, “Why did
you get it at the Chrysler?” but
almost everyone said, “I’m so glad
you have it at the Chrysler!”
ehn: Exhibitions like Worn to Be
Wild open up people’s ideas of what
a museum is—and that includes
everybody here who makes up
the Chrysler. We live in a visual
culture. I think that an exhibition
on fashion, or our upcoming show
on video games, are ways that
museums can help us understand
14 | winter 2015
our visual world, and celebrate it
and appreciate it.
Exhibitions like these also appeal
to wider audiences. Obviously, we
hope that regular friends of the
Chrysler will come and will come
back, but we also hope that we will
make new friends. People who come
to see an exhibition like this might
also go see our painting by Veronese
or ancient Roman sculpture or the
Egyptian sarcophagus. Maybe they
wouldn’t come just to see those, but
will take a look after they see the
show that brought them in the door.
Exhibitions broaden what we can
offer.
lgw: You
told me earlier that the
new Chrysler is developing some
exciting new technology. How will
that change the usual visit to the
Museum?
ehn:
Going forward, technology is
going to be ever more important in
people’s experience in the Chrysler.
Whether it will be through your
smart phone or your tablet, through
social media, through the website—
and it will probably be through all
of those things—technology gives
us ways of providing much more
extended content.
Today at the Chrysler, you can
read an informative label to get an
introduction to a work of art, or you
might watch a short video or tap a
touchscreen in the galleries to learn
more. But in the future, maybe you
click your handheld device and
say, “I want to know more about
this artist” and an app gives you a
bio or a reading list. Or you have
your headphones on and when you
stop at certain works, an artist’s
voice suddenly starts telling you
about the piece or a curator gives
a personal perspective so you can
really begin to learn more. Maybe a
QR code lets you know that if you
are interested in this piece, you may
also enjoy these other works of art.
There are so many possibilities.
lgw:
That ability to go deeper is
important. It makes the experience
much more personal.
Lelia Graham and Erik walk
around the upstairs galleries and
come to a tableau of objects in the
Waldo Gallery of the Brock Wing of
American Art.
lgw:
I can tell you exactly why I
came to the Chrysler Museum
for the first time. I have a huge
affection for Gustave LeGray’s
photography, and I came to see
one of his images in the Chrysler
Collection. That’s how I found out
that you have a serious Civil War
collection.
ehn:
The quality of our Civil War
collection is hard to compare
because it is almost unique. We
have many photographs that
are extremely rare and we have
a concentration of images that
is unrivaled, so that is really
exceptional. And it’s not all
photographs. I really like this
grouping—we have the white
marble sculpture of the soldier and
his daughter, we have this poignant
battle scene painting by Leutze, and
we have these almost documentary
photographs of Civil War soldiers.
All these different works, in
different media, come together in
one corner of one gallery to tell the
story of the Civil War. It’s a great,
dynamic display of how you can
really use a good collection—and
this goes back to what I said about
how fantastic the collections are
here. They really encourage our
curators to be creative.
Erik and Lelia Graham walk over to
our first Collection Conversations
series show in the Roberts Wing.
lgw:
It seems these days that many
of those huge, world-traveling
blockbuster shows are being
replaced by museums working
together and combining resources
to tell stories. I’m a huge fan of how
we did that in this room. What
can you tell me about this loan
partnership with the National
Gallery of Art?
ehn:
Our relationship with the
National Gallery is longstanding
and it includes curators, Trustees,
and visitors who appreciate both
museums. Collaborations like this
give us the chance to have different
paintings from our collections
talk to each other. It’s a chance to
see our wonderful Picasso next to
this earlier analytical Cubist work
on the wall to my right, and to
compare them to later works by
other artists in this gallery.
lgw:
It makes the community
appreciate their own local
collection so much more when they
see it on view with masterpieces
from other important museums. It
lifts them up side by side.
ehn:
What you said is absolutely
correct. These focused exhibitions
lower costs and pack an artistic
punch. We will most certainly
continue these kinds of
relationships.
Erik and Lelia Graham move into
the McKinnon Wing of Modern and
Contemporary Art.
ehn: The Chrysler has been really
very well known for historic
painting, American and European,
but thankfully Walter Chrysler also
had a serious collection of 20th
century art. This one is a standout
to me: Roy Lichtenstein’s Live
Ammo. I hope that in the coming
years we will continue to acquire
works by rising artists and bring
in contemporary exhibitions that
will open up new avenues for
our visitors.
The public shows a growing
interest in contemporary art, so
we will have to lead the way and
continue to investigate and present
works that can be challenging,
no question, difficult, even
obscure. Audiences are flocking to
contemporary exhibitions in other
cities. There is every reason to
believe we can see that here.
lgw: Talking about contemporary,
you mentioned that The Art of the
Video Games is coming this winter.
ehn: What I love about this
exhibition is that it won’t be the
first, or the last, in which we bring
new technology and new media to
the Museum. As we talked about
with things like new apps for our
visitors, many artists are using
computers in diverse ways to create
works of art. Now that everyone is
conversant and experienced with
screens of all different sizes, not
surprisingly artists are engaging
there, too.
lgw:
The video games exhibition
will be interactive?
ehn:
It will—and a little nostalgic,
too. It goes from Space Invaders
and Ms. Pac-Man to much more
complex, contemporary games. It’s
a mix of the familiar and the future.
It’s really an exciting time to be at
the Chrysler—and I am excited
to be here. The opportunities are
myriad. In the coming years, I
know that we will be exciting and
different and new and bold here at
the Chrysler Museum of Art.
lgw: The community is with you.
We are ready! n
Photos by Ed Pollard, Museum Photographer
new director | 15
Robert Colescott (American, 1925–2009)
Listening to Amos ’n’ Andy, 1982
Acrylic on canvas
In memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper
from the family of Joel B. Cooper
© Robert Colescott,
courtesy Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
certain sounds are linked to those
works,” says Director of Education
Anne Corso. “This program provides
us with another great opportunity
to fulfill our mission—to connect
people and art in ways that delight
and inspire.”
Listening to American Art
Have you ever visited the Glass
Gallery and wondered what the
Grand Harmonicon sounds like?
Or have you thought about what
kind of music inspired Gene Davis’
Shabazz? The Chrysler’s new
interactive program, Listening to
American Art, lets Museum visitors
an opportunity to experience the
sounds of several works from our
American collection.
It’s a recent trend in American art
to focus on the multisensory nature
of many works, so the Chrysler
decided to encourage visitors
not just to look at the art, but to
listen to the sounds that might
have inspired the artists to create
it. The program fits the Museum’s
educational philosophy. “We want
everything we do to draw our guests
deeper into the work, not away from
it,” Interpretation Manager Seth
Feman says. “It’s important that they
stay visually focused on the art itself
16 | winter 2015
rather than on information about
it.” With this in mind, Listening to
American Art was born.
Gallery Hosts access the program
on the Museum’s iPads. “It’s based
on Aurasma, an augmented reality
app that uses the art itself as a
visual trigger to play an audio
clip that helps you understand
that work,” says Interactive Media
Specialist Stacy Hasselbacher. “And
the artwork is the only visual
component. You continue to look at
the painting or glass while the app
plays sound or music related to it.”
The app is very simple to use—
Gallery Hosts just turn it on and
point their iPads at a selected
work. The related audio plays
automatically and a brief narration
explains what the sound is. But the
interpretation doesn’t end there.
“We hope visitors will enjoy the
fullest experience: interacting with
our staff and others, discussing why
A dozen artworks are currently part
of Listening to American Art. Most
are upstairs in our American and
contemporary art galleries; the one
work downstairs is the glass Grand
Harmonicon. Some of the choices are
illustrate a musical instrument or
performance, such as Robert Henri’s
Gypsy with Guitar or Franz Kline’s
Hot Jazz. Other titles reference
a sound that is not explicitly
depicted, as Winslow Homer’s Song
of the Lark. Yet others share a very
specific aural history that may not
be familiar to Museum visitors,
such as the brief from the popular
radio show that plays to Robert
Colescott’s Listening to Amos ’n’ Andy.
Praise for the project has been
effusive and the Chrysler is using
the same technology to develop
other interactive programs akin
to traditional audio tours. Guests
will download an easy-to-use app
to access more in-depth content
on their own mobile devices. Our
collection highlights, children’s,
and conservation tours now in
development will use different
kinds of augmented reality, such
as video or still images that overlay
the art to show a painting before
and after conservation treatment.
The possibilities are endless and
exciting, and an example of what to
expect from the new Chrysler. n
Listening to American Art is generously funded
by The Henry Luce Foundation.
The Visiting Artist Series 2015
Emilio Santini
f e b r ua ry
The Chrysler Museum Glass
Studio is proud to launch this
year’s Visiting Artist Series with
an internationally acclaimed guest
who hails from both an hour away
and worlds away. Emilio Santini
lives in nearby Williamsburg, but
was born on the island of Murano,
Italy—a place well-known and
greatly admired for its history of
glassmaking. Like many families
from this tiny part of Venice, the
lineage of glassmakers in his family
goes back hundreds of years, so his
career path was nearly inevitable.
As a young boy of 11, he worked
with a master chandelier maker and
later focused on goblet making—
the form all glassmakers seek to
master first. He took a break from
glass to pursue studies in Italian
literature and writing, but after
college turned to flameworking
(sometimes called lampworking).
It was his father who helped
him refine his skills at the lamp,
teaching him to balance and adjust
the molten glass until it was shaped
exactly the way he desired.
Emilio’s story might have easily
continued in Italy, comfortably
situated in a glassmaking world
with the support of tradition
and an established community
and marketplace had he not met
Theresa Johansson. After the
couple married they relocated to
her hometown, Winston-Salem,
N.C., where he found challenges
rather than success. His career in
production glassmaking was not
easily translated to North Carolina
and twice he returned to Italy. It
was during his third stay in the
United States that he finally made
inroads into the American glass
scene—meeting Glass Studio
Movement pioneer Harvey Littleton,
26– ma r c h 1
connecting with the Peninsula
Glass Guild, and, critically,
landing a solo exhibition of his
work. Emilio’s story, not unlike
that of master glassblower Lino
Tagliapietra, evolved into one about
his transformation into an artist.
Incredible skill and technique
defines Venetian glassmakers, but it
is often venturing out on their own
that pushes the craftsman to work
more creatively with the material.
“Glass is basically the art of
constant adjustment.”
—Emilio Santini
Emilio now infuses his work in glass
with his own sensibilities. His ready
sense of humor is apparent in Urna,
a glass sculpture in the Chrysler’s
collection. This perfectly balanced
and elegantly symmetrically urn
is elongated to the point that is
no longer a useful object. Look
closer and you’ll see a series of
black and white monkeys with
interlocking arms and falling every
which way. Perhaps this is Emilio’s
way of showing off his incredible
skill while letting us know he is
thinking about playfulness and
connectivity—and how mixing
humor with serious talent can
ultimately lead to success. n
Diane Wright,
Barry Curator of Glass
Emilio Santini
(Italian, b. 1955, working in the United States)
Urna, 1997
Blown lampworked glass,
sandblast frosted with oil pastel
Gift of Scott Waitzer
chrysler news | 17
Member Events
More than 620 Members got their
motors running over to the Museum on
the night of October 2 as we debuted
our big fall exhibition. Guests enjoyed
a first look at the exhibition, a special
lecture by organizing curator Jim Fricke,
dancing to the revved-up music of The
Bartones, and photo ops with loaner
jackets and the Harley-Davidson Softtail
Deluxe on display.
Photos by Charlie Gunter for the
Chrysler Museum of Art
18 | winter 2015
w o r n to b e w i l d m e m be r s ’ p r e v i e w pa r t y
Thank You Events
t h e ma j o r d o n o r d i n n e r
|
h o n o r a bl e s o c i e t y o f f o r m e r t r u s t e es d i n n e r
October 16 marked the Museum’s
annual evening to honor our most
beneficent contributors, as well as Bill
Hennessey’s 17 years of service to the
Chrysler. More than 289 guests joined
us for the event, which included tributes
from friends and colleagues near and
far for our retiring Director and the
legacy he leaves to Hampton Roads.
The Museum welcomed back its
leadership—old and new—on
October 21. In support of the group’s
official mission, Museum Conservator
Mark Lewis presented an overview
of conservation and art restoration
projects completed during the
Chrysler’s expansion. The special event
also included a behind-the-scenes tour
of the new Chrysler.
Photos courtesy of Glenn Bashaw,
Images in Light Photography
Photos by Ed Pollard, Museum Photographer
Billye Roy, Jeff Chernitzer,
Alva Holland, McGregor Joyner
Angelica Light, Joseph and Evelyn Green
Dick Barry, Lemuel Lewis, Carolyn Barry
Jerrauld and Lyn Jones
William and Betsy Burnette,
Mary Lyall and Harry Ramsey
Ted and Susan Sherman,
Patricia and Jefferson Brown
Erik Neil, Oriana McKinnon, Harry Lester
Tom Hubbard and Christine Hamlin
Julia Curtis and Linda Kaufman
Conrad and Anne Shumadine,
Penny and Peter Meredith
chrysler news
| 19
Upcoming Member Events
Marc and Connie Jacobson
A Legacy of Beauty
Connie and Marc Jacobson have
recently added the Chrysler to their
estate plans, making a generous gift
to the Museum. In gratitude for their
philanthropy, the Museum is pleased
to recognize their contributions to the
Chrysler by renaming the rooms that
house our Tiffany masterworks as The
Marc and Connie Jacobson Gallery.
“We are fortunate to have a jewel such
as the Chrysler Museum of Art in the
community,” the Jacobsons say. “Our
connection to the Chrysler for many
years has been meaningful to us. We
hope that perhaps our commitment
will in some small way serve to enhance
the cultural and artistic experience of
those who visit the Museum.”
The Chrysler’s collection of Tiffany
glass is peerless in its comprehensive
nature and quality of works by the
great American master. Adjoining
galleries include masterworks in 19thcentury English cameo glass and 20thcentury European art glass, making
this space within the Museum one of
its most popular and beautiful. It is
fitting that the one of the Chrysler’s
premier locations should be named for
in honor of such dedicated supporters.
The Jacobsons’ generosity of spirit and
support is invaluable to the Museum
and constitutes a gift that will enrich
our community in perpetuity.
If you would like information on
making a planned gift or to inform the
Museum of a bequest, contact Homer
Babbitt in the Development Office at
(757) 333-6298.
20 | winter 2015
Photos by Ed Pollard, Museum Photographer
Evening with the Director
The evening of Tuesday, January 13
In thanks for your generosity, the Museum invites
Members of our Masterpiece Society, Business
Exhibition Council, and Director’s Circle to join
us for this highlight of each new year. Enjoy an
exclusive cocktail reception and an engaging
exploration of art with our new Director, Erik Neil.
Invitations for this exclusive upper-level membership
event will arrive by mail.
New Members Welcome
Third Thursday, January 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Meet fellow newcomers to the Chrysler over light refreshments in the
Gifford Room, then enjoy a highlights tour of the Museum. Stay afterwards
for our eclectic mix of Third Thursday activities, which are always free for
Members. RSVP with Megan Frost at (757) 333-6294 or [email protected].
The Members’ Preview Party:
The Art of Video Games
Friday, February 13 from 6–10 p.m.
It’s on like Donkey Kong! Our opening event for
this interactive exhibition sets a new high score for
multisensory experiences. Enjoy live music inspired
by your favorite games, light refreshments, and
a chance to challenge your children or friends at
some vintage arcade-style games. So limber up those
thumbs, master your joystick skills, and watch
the mailbox for your invitation to fun. It’s free for
Museum Members and children 17 and younger.
Bring a friend for only $10!
Conversations with the Curators
The evening of Thursday, February 26
Come see the Chrysler up-close and behind the scenes. The Museum
welcomes Members at our Patron level and above to participate as our guests
in this perennially popular program. After cocktails, our curators and
conservators will share their unique insights into the Chrysler Collection.
Kindly RSVP when your mailed invitation arrives.
Last Look
As the famous firefighter
turned 70, the Chrysler asked
visitors to Celebrating Smokey
Bear: Rudy Wendelin and the
Creation of an Icon to let us
know what they thought of
the exhibition. Here are a few
of our favorite images and
impressions:
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Norfolk, VA 23510
(757) 664-6200 | chrysler.org
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Norfolk Society of Arts
museum and glass studio hours
events begin with a coffee
Tuesday–Saturday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday from noon–5 p.m.
Third Thursday til 10 p.m.
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, January 21, 2015
The Present and Future:
Art Glass in the 21st Century
Glenn Adamson, Director
The Museum of Arts and Design, New York
Glass art’s long history of aesthetic
brilliance is now being matched by great ideas. Discover how
today’s and tomorrow’s artists are finding both commercial
success and critical acclaim.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Techniques of Impressionists
David Bomford
Director of Conservation,
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
It seems effortless and spontaneous, but Impressionist
art was rarely what it first appeared. Gain a conservator’s
perspective on the science, materials, and intricate skills
behind art in the making.
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.
For more information about membership in the society,
please contact Edith Grandy at (757) 621-0861.
Wisteria is open during Museum hours.
Free Parking | Wheelchair Accessible
historic houses hours
Saturday and Sunday from noon–5 p.m.
Limited Accessibility
general admission is free
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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.