Facet Winter 2021

WINTER 2021

table of CONTENTS

From the Director p. 3

Exhibitions p.4

The Art of Giving p.10

New Acquisitions p.12

p.4

The Jurii Maniichuk and Rose Brady Collection p.16

p.12

p.18

Dale Couch to Retire...Again p.18

School Tours in the Age of COVID-19 p.20

Museum Notes p.21

Gifts p.21

In the Shop p.22

on the covers: Emma Amos, “X-Flag,” 1992. Acrylic on linen canvas, laser transfer photographs, and Confederate flag borders. 58 x 40 inches. Collection of Meredith Harper, New York

Hillary Brown

Department of Publications

Thursday: 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Friday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sunday: 1–5 p.m. Closed Monday – Wednesday Museum Shop closes 15 minutes prior. Free timed tickets required.

Hours

Interns

Jean Hong, Rebecca Moon and Anna Morelock

Design

Noelle Shuck

706.542.4662 Fax: 706.542.1051

from the DIRECTOR

board of ADVISORS

B. Heyward Allen Jr. * Rinne Allen Amalia K. Amaki ** June M. Ball Linda N. Beard Karen L. Benson ** Richard E. Berkowitz Sally Bradley Jeanne L. Berry Devereux C. Burch * Robert E. Burton ** Debra C. Callaway ** Shannon I. Candler *

Ibby Mills David Mulkey

This year has been hard on the staff at the museum. We have been discommoded, displaced and somewhat desperate. Fear- ful for the museum and for our professional lives, we have worked hard to remain committed to the museum, to the uni- versity, to our students, to our audiences and to the mission. And by and large we have done so, even with “morale swings” and fear for the future. All in all, the staff stepped up in quite remarkable ways, with virtual classes and events and with an increasing regard for audiences who needed the respite of the museum through its collections and its programs. As one of them said, succinctly and accurately, “Well, we had to; it’s our job.”

Carl. W. Mullis III * Betty R. Myrtle ** Gloria B. Norris *** Deborah L. O’Kain Randall S. Ott Gordhan L. Patel, chair Janet W. Patterson Christopher R. Peterson Kathy B. Prescott Rowland A. Radford Jr. * Annemarie S. Reynolds *** Margaret A. Rolando * Julie M. Roth Alan F. Rothschild * Jan E. Roush Bert Russo Sarah P. Sams **

Faye S. Chambers Harvey J. Coleman Sharon Cooper James Cunningham Martha Randolph Daura *** Annie Laurie Dodd *** Sally Dorsey ** Howard F. Elkins Judith A. Ellis Todd Emily James B. Fleece Phoebe Forio *** John M. Greene ** Helen C. Griffith ** Barbara Guillaume Judith F. Hernstadt Marion E. Jarrell ** Jane Compton Johnson * George-Ann Knox * Shell H. Knox *

Part of our unhappiness at the museum is the loss of our patrons and our colleagues.

D. Jack Sawyer Jr. * Henry C. Schwob ** Mr. Ronald K. Shelp Margaret R. Spalding

Among the former are our board member from Memphis, Honey Scheidt, who along with her husband, Rudi, also re- cently deceased, set the standard for philanthropy in Ten- nessee. Her generosity as well as her love of art and music enriched the lives of so many, including those of us here who were beneficiaries of her kindness. We also lost Ed Myrtle, a real shock to all of us, who enjoyed his cheerfulness, his humor and his genuine love of the fine arts. He and his wife Betty, to whom we offer sincere condolences, were mainstays of the museum’s programming, especially as sponsors and Betty as leader of our Collectors group. Among the latter is Paul Richelson, former head curator at the Mobile Museum of Art, a friend of ours who donated objects to our collection, wrote for our publications and always acted as an advocate and cheerleader for our status as an academic museum. Educated at Yale and Princeton, he believed abso- lutely in the importance of academic museums, and he took every opportunity to say so. We shall miss him. Among the many things I have learned this year has been how difficult it is to say good-bye. Many directors in such spaces as this one talk about the com- ing season of exhibitions and events. Although I rarely use this chance to do that, as the information is elsewhere in this newsletter, I am urging you to visit us in person or virtually. You will not be disappointed if you love art, appreciate beauty, and seek solace, consolation, inspiration or learning. We offer it all and we welcome all.

Dudley R. Stevens Carolyn Tanner ** Anne Wall Thomas *** Brenda A. Thompson, immediate past chair William E. Torres C. Noel Wadsworth * Carol V. Winthrop Gregory Ann Woodruff

Ex-Officio Lacy Camp Linda C. Chesnut William Underwood Eiland S. Jack Hu Kelly Kerner Marisa Pagnatarro

Andrew Littlejohn D. Hamilton Magill David W. Matheny, chair-elect Mark G. McConnell Marilyn M. McMullan Marilyn D. McNeely

* Lifetime member

** Emeritus member

*** Honorary member

Mission Statement: The Georgia Museum of Art shares the mission of the University of Georgia to support and to promote teaching, research and service. Specifically, as a repository and educational instrument of the visual arts, the museum exists to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret significant works of art. Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. The Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. Individuals, foundations and corporations provide additional museum support through their gifts to the University of Georgia Foundation. The Georgia Museum of Art is ADA compliant; the M. Smith Griffith Auditorium is equipped for deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors. The University of Georgia does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or military service in its administrations of educational policies, programs or activities; its admissions policies; scholarship and loan programs; athletic or other University-administered programs; or employment. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the Equal Opportunity Office 119 Holmes-Hunter Academic Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Telephone 706-542-7912 (V/TDD). Fax 706-542-2822. https://eoo.uga.edu/

WilliamU. Eiland Director

We thank the Landon Family Foundation for operating support.

Emma Amos: Color Odyssey January 30 – April 25, 2021

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Emma Amos (1937 – 2020) was a distinguished painter and printmaker. She is best known for her bold and colorful mixed-media paintings that create visual tapestries in which she examines the intersection of race, class, gender and privilege in both the art world and society at large. This survey exhibition will include approximately 60 works from the beginnings of her career to the end of it, reflecting her experi- ences as a painter, printmaker and weaver. Her large-scale canvases often incorporate African fabrics and semiautobiographical content, drawn from her personal odyssey as an artist, her interest in icons in art and world history and her sometimes tenuous engagement with these themes as a woman of color. Amos’ work challenges the norms of Western art tradition with her unique narrative painting style characterized by an expressive use of color, which animates her compositions and pushes the visual boundaries of desire and difference. She also combined lithography, intaglio, collage and laser-transfer methods learned independent- ly or through the workshops of important figures such as Robert Blackburn and Kathy Caraccio to make prints and monotypes. The exhibition will serve as a study of the complex themes of identity politics and difference shaping Amos’ body of work. It will examine works dating from her formative years in the 1960s to her partici- pation in the feminist and multicultural debates of the late 20th and early 21st century. Amos graduated from Antioch College in Ohio in 1958 and the Cen- tral School of Art in London in 1960. She subsequently moved to New York, soon joining such prominent African American artists as Romare Bearden, Hale Woodruff, Norman Lewis and Charles Alston as the sole female member of the group Spiral. In 1965, she earned her master of arts degree from New York University and later taught art at the Dalton School in New York. A feminist activist, she was an important member of the Heresies collective, founded in 1976 by artists and activists Joyce Kozloff, Miriam Schapiro and Lucy Lippard, among others. Amos was a professor of visual arts at the Mason Gross School of Art at Rutgers University for 28 years and served as chair of the department, too. Her work is held in various collections including the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers; the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropol- itan Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York; the Birmingham Museum of Art; the Pennsylvania Acade- my of Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the British Museum, London; the Cleveland Museum of Art; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; and the Georgia Museum of Art, among others, many of which are lending to the exhibition, alongside numerous private collectors. In recent years, Amos’ paintings have been featured in import- ant traveling exhibitions, including the Tate Modern’s “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power” and the Brooklyn Museum’s “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85.” Amos received the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson prize from the Georgia Museum of Art in 2016, and in the same year, the Studio Museum in Harlem honored her as an “Icon,” along with artists Faith Ringgold and Lorraine O’Grady.

The museum is publishing a scholarly exhibition catalogue to accompany the show, with essays by Shawnya Harris, Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Dias- poric Art at the Georgia Museum of Art; Lisa Farrington of Howard University; artist LaToya Ruby Frazier; Laurel Garber, Park Family Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Philadelphia Mu- seum of Art; artist Kay Walkingstick; and Phoebe Wolfskill, asso- ciate professor in the departments of American studies and African American and African Diaspora studies at Indiana University. The exhibition will travel to the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute from June 19 to September 12, 2021, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art from October 9, 2021, to January 2, 2022.

Curator: Shawnya Harris, Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art Sponsors: The National Endowment for the Arts, the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, the W. Newton Morris Charitable Foundation and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art

Emma Amos, “Equals,” (detail) 1992. Acrylic on linen canvas with African fabric borders. 76 x 82 inches. Private collection

Emma Amos, “Tightrope,” 1994. Acrylic on canvas with Kente borders, 82 x 58 inches. Minneapolis Institute of Art; Gift of funds fromMary and Bob Mersky and the Ted and Dr. Roberta Mann Foundation Endowment Fund. 2020.43

exhibitions

Modernism Foretold: The Nadler Collection of Late Antique Art from Egypt Through September 26, 2021

This extraordinary assembly of objects dating from the 3rd to the 8th century CE belongs to Emanuel and Anna Nadler of New York City and Palm Beach.

Coptic art was made by and for native Egyptians, Greeks and Romans who favored both classical pagan and Christian themes. Among the objects on display are a marble Corin- thian capital with crosses and eagles from the Monastery of St. Menas; two sections of large tapestries used as wall hangings in churches or homes; small textile fragments which originally embellished tunics used in burials; works of sculpture derived from funerary sites; and miniature bone carvings that were embedded into pieces of furniture, bridal cas- kets and small chests for storing jewelry and other precious items. “Modernism Foretold” draws attention to the history of the collection and to changing perceptions of late antique art from Egypt. You can purchase the accompanying catalogue in the Museum Shop.

(top) Boy with a dove, 3rd century CE. Marble statue, 19 x 9 x 5 3/4 inches. The Nadler Collection. (left) Female figure, 3rd or 4th century CE (?). Ivory carving, 1 7/8 × 1 1/2 × 1/4 inches. The Nadler Collection. (right) Nude female (Aphrodite?), 3rd or 4th century CE (?). Carved ivory, 3 3/4 x 1 3/4 x 1/2 inches. The Nadler Collection.

Large vessel, 5th – 7th century CE. Red clay with polychrome slip, 18 x 17 x 7 inches. The Nadler Collection.

Curator: Asen Kirin, Parker Curator of Russian Art and professor, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia

Extra Ordinary: Magic, Mystery and Imagination in American Realism February 27 – June 13, 2021

“Extra Ordinary” surveys a range of American artists who embraced realism, representation and classical artistic techniques in the face of the rising tide of abstraction at mid-century.

Through sharp focus, suggestive ambiguity and an uncanny as- semblage of ordinary things, their works not only show that the extraordinary is possible, but also conjure the strangeness and wonder of everyday life. The exhibition takes as its point of depar- ture the 1943 show “American Realists and Magic Realists” at the Museum of Modern Art — when the term “magic realism” entered the American art historical lexicon — and will feature a suite of paintings originally included in MoMA’s show. By bringing together significant works by Ivan Albright, Paul Cadmus, Philip Evergood, Jared French, Henry Koerner, George Tooker and John Wilde, along with a number of lesser known artists, “Extra Ordinary” reveals the slippery task of categorizing this eccentric group of painters into a single style. After all, the canon of artists we now identify as “magic realists” was codified through a series of exhibitions organized by curators Alfred H. Barr, Dorothy C. Miller and Lincoln Kirstein, among others. “Extra Ordinary” also emphasizes, in critic Clement Greenberg’s words, “the extreme eclecticism now prevailing” in the American art world during this period. In so doing, it highlights a wid- er constellation of artists — including such women as Gertrude Abercrombie and Honoré Sharrer, such artists of color as Eldzier Cortor and Hughie Lee-Smith, and other artists from farther-flung regions such as Everett Spruce and Patrick Sullivan — who also

turned to the mysterious, supernatural and hyperreal to examine key social issues including the dignity of the working class, wartime trauma and environmental concerns. These artists embraced magic or fantasy not as a means to escape everyday reality but as a way to engage more directly with it.

Curator: Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, curator of American art

(top) Brian Connelly, “A Night Garden,” 1955. Oil and casein on panel, 18 × 30 inches. The Schoen Collection: Magic Realism. Image courtesy of Debra Force Fine Art. (right) George Ault, “Black Night: Russell’s Corners,” 1943. Oil on canvas, 18 × 24 1/16 inches. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. John Lambert Fund, 1946.3.

exhibitions In Dialogue: Look, Paint, Repeat: Variations in the Art of Pierre Daura February 4 – May 23, 2021

Don’t Miss

Sarah Cameron Sunde: 36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea Through January 17 In Dialogue: Cecilia Beaux’s “Twilight Confidences” Through January 31 Contemporary Japanese Ceramics from the Horvitz Collection Through September 21

Power and Piety in 17th-Century Spanish Art Through November 28

Four hundred miles south of Paris lies Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, a medieval settlement perched on top limestone cliffs.

The village was a source of constant inspiration to many artists, including Pierre Daura and famous poet André Breton. This exhibition uses our recent acquisition of Daura’s “View of Saint- Cirq-Lapopie” to highlight how the artist depicted certain subjects over and over again. “In Dialogue” is a series of installations in which the Georgia Museum of Art’s curators create focused, innovative conversations around a single work of art from the permanent collection. The series brings these familiar works to life by placing them in dialogue with works of art by influential peers, related sketches and studies or even objects from later periods.

Curators: Nelda Damiano, Pierre Daura Curator of European Art, and Julia Kilgore, Pierre Daura Curatorial Research Assistant

Pierre Daura (American, b. Spain 1896 - 1976), “Church and Presbytery (Saint Cirq-Lapopie, France),” ca. 1955 - 71. Oil on canvas, 32 x 25 1/4 inches. Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, Gift of Martha Randolph Daura, H2003.38.032. Pierre Daura (American, b. Spain 1896 - 1976), “André Breton House fromDaura’s Window, St. Cirq #3,” 1955 - 70. Watercolor on off-white paper, 10 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Gift of Martha R. Daura. 2000.206.

the art OF GIVING

The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia has received several transformative gifts over the course of its existence.

T HE FIRST WAS IN 1945, when Alfred Heber Holbrook donated 100 American paintings to establish the museum, many of which are still on display in its permanent collection galleries. In 2012, Larry and Brenda Thompson mirrored Holbrook’s gift, donating 100 works of art by African American artists and funding an endowment to support a curatorial position to study those artists. Major gifts of Russian art and an endowment to fund another curatorial position dedicated to that work have likewise expanded our focus. The most recent gift in this series came at the end of 2019, when John and Sara Shlesinger of Atlanta donated 110 works of contemporary art to the museum, a gift that, like the others before them, will fundamentally transform how the museum operates. John and Sara came from different backgrounds, but they shared a passion for art. John says that, early on, Sara appre- ciated their growing collection from an aesthetic perspective, while he was more interested in the financial side of the art market, but he soon became fascinated by learning how dif- ferent works of art are made. He also credits her with devel- oping his sense of philanthropy. John and Sara Shlesinger of Atlanta donated 110 works of contemporary art to the museum, a gift that, like the others before them, will fundamentally transform how the museum operates. The Shlesingers began thinking about donating a sizable portion of their collection as they contemplated downsizing. They didn’t want to sell the art into which they had poured so much effort and time, partially because they wanted people to see it. Selling it would have meant it was more likely to end up in private collections. They thought deeply about the kind of institution where their collection could add value, and the Georgia Muse- um of Art seemed like a clear choice, given that its permanent collection is historically less strong in contemporary art. They also wanted a museum close to Atlanta so that they and their children could continue to be involved, and they wanted it to be

Sara Shlesinger

Palmieri says she can think of almost no other collectors who approach art in the way the Shlesingers do, citing their tendency to take risks and the fact that they bought works because they loved them and wanted to live with them, not as part of an investment portfolio.

an institution committed to teaching. The Georgia Museum of Art’s strong relationships with departments all over campus, and with faculty and students who frequently use its collec- tions, were big points in its favor. That the museum is part of John’s alma mater also made it a natural choice. The Shlesing- ers also made a significant pledge over the next five years to support the costs associated with their gift of art, concrete evidence of their understanding of the needs of our museum. Together, the Shlesingers have purchased works of art for or donated works to many museums, including the High Muse- um of Art, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (Ridgefield, Connecticut) and the Tate Americas Foundation. They began collecting art in 1997, when they bought an early spin paint- ing by Damien Hirst that is included in the gift and will be on display at the museum this summer in “Neo-Abstraction: Celebrating a Gift of Contemporary Art from John and Sara Shlesinger,” a focused exhibition that gives a small sample of the donation. Through careful study and by developing rela- tionships with artists and dealers, the Shlesingers continued to build credibility and grow their impressive collection. At first, they focused their collecting efforts on the Young British Art- ists (YBAs), a group that included Hirst as well as Gary Hume and Gavin Turk, whose works they also acquired. Contem- porary art was easier to come by for relatively new collectors than Old Masters, for example, and they were passionate about helping to build artists’ careers. They continue to collect, both works by established artists like Glenn Ligon and emerg- ing artists, including Atlanta’s Shanequa Gay, and ARTNews named them to its “Top 200 Collectors” list in October. Gabriela Palmieri, now an independent art consultant who works with the Shlesingers, developed a relationship with the couple while serving as chair of contemporary art of the Americas at Sotheby’s. Palmieri says she can think of almost no other collectors who approach art in the way the Shlesing- ers do, citing their tendency to take risks and the fact that they bought works because they loved them and wanted to live with them, not as part of an investment portfolio. They have cutting-edge taste and have collected across a wide variety of media. Palmieri talks with enthusiasm about the entire family’s intellectual curiosity, which she sees as fueling the collection and this gift. Palmieri also points out that the Shlesingers’ tendency to collect works from across an artist’s lifetime will allow UGA students to see the trajectories of different careers. She calls

that unusual even among people who collect contemporary work and believes that the desire to educate and instruct was a driving factor in this gift. For example, she points to that purchase of Hirst’s spin painting the year it was made. Created using a mechanism that rotates the canvas and leaving much to the power of chance, these works were a new approach to painting, almost removing the hand of the artist. William U. Eiland, the museum’s director, said, “This gift from Sara and John Shlesinger to the Georgia Museum of Art is certainly a quantitative change for our collection, but, most important, it is a qualitative one. It gives us the means not only to teach and to exhibit the cutting-edge art of the past 25 years, but also allows us to help students and our general audiences to find, to understand and to step beyond that edge. Overnight, due to their generosity, we are able to extend our collection planning and expand our ability to teach in an age when visual-arts education has become more and more necessary.” John Shlesinger received his bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University and a master’s of business administra- tion from UGA in 1983. He is a vice chairman in the advisory and transaction services occupier practice of CBRE, a commer- cial real estate and investment services group, as well as the leader of CBRE’s Atlanta Consulting Group, which provides strategic planning, financial structuring and transaction man- agement services to occupier clients. With his business partner of more than 30 years, Sam Holmes, Shlesinger has complet- ed over 2,200 sales and lease transactions across 88 million square feet, and has been involved in 8,600 acres of land transactions, all with a total value of more than $15 billion. Shlesinger serves on the boards of the Atlanta History Center and Oakland Cemetery. He was previously a member of UGA’s Board of Visitors. Sara Shlesinger, a long-time arts fundraiser, has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Brandeis University. She is a board member at Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, where she and John have donated work to the collection and funded bus transportation for Title 1 schools in the Emo- ry area. She served on the selection committee for the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and on the Modern Women’s Fund Committee of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and is the incoming advisory board co-chair for Art 21, a nonprof- it organization dedicated to inspiring a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists.

new ACQUISITIONS

Holly Trostle Brigham, “Mother Monument,” 2018. Sculptural artist book, edition of 10, 42 × 10 × 10 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Board of Advisors in memory of William F. Prokasy IV. GMOA 2020.27.1–5.

MOTHER MONUMENT

Holly Trostle Brigham’s “Mother Monument” celebrates famous and forgotten women artists throughout history.

Brigham created this sculptural artist book in collaboration with eight poets, whose verses accompany the eight historical figures encircling the piece. Brigham often models these historical figures as self-portraits, linking her own creative work to a matriarchal line of women throughout history. The historic artists Brigham celebrates include Artemesia Gentileschi, Frida Kah- lo, Edmonia Lewis and Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. Nested into a hand-drawn marbled-paper box, the work unfolds into an obelisk-like form, reclaiming this highly masculine shape for a monument to female agency and creativi- ty. Various flaps and doors adorned with poetry allow for further interaction as the viewer participates in the act of commemoration. The artist’s devotion to feminist narratives of history and this work’s em- powerment of underrecognized women seemed a fitting tribute to the late William F. Prokasy IV, board member of the museum and vice president for academic affairs emeritus at UGA, who championed the causes of women at the university.

Jeffrey Richmond-Moll Curator of American art

new ACQUISITIONS

KEVIN COLE

The wall sculpture was on view in the exhibition “Kevin Cole: Soul Ties,” which was cut short by the novel coronavirus pandemic but lives on on the museum’s website. One of six children, Cole was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1960 to Sam and Jessie Mae Cole, a mortician and a cafeteria worker. After earning an undergraduate degree in art education at the Univer- sity of Arkansas, Cole received a master’s degree in painting and art education from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Cham- paign, followed by a master of fine arts degree in drawing from Northern Illinois University. He taught art in the Atlanta public school system for decades. In December, he received a Georgia Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities. His work fea- tures explosive curvilinear forms inspired by neckties that evoke lynchings. The motif channels memories of struggle and pain but also personal triumph to inspire hope and change.

Early in 2020, Larry and Brenda Thompson purchased Kevin Cole’s “Seeking Blessing I” for the museum’s collection.

Kevin E. Cole (American, b. 1960), “Seeking Blessing I,” 2011. Mixed media on wood, 47 × 78 × 11 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Museum purchase with funds provided by Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson. GMOA 2020.13.

TINA DUNKLEY

The granddaughter of a well- known Jamaican artist, Tina Dunkley initially thought she wanted to be a dancer and studied with Black choreographer Katherine Dunham.

She moved to Atlanta in the 1970s to get her master’s degree at Atlanta University and discovered its collection of works by Black artists that Hale Woodruff had built. The art hadn’t been shown in about 10 years at the time, and after writing about it for her thesis, Dunkley asked if she could be its curator. Forty years of intense involvement in Atlanta’s art scene followed, during which time she elevated and grew Clark Atlanta’s collection, helped establish its museum, served as director of Georgia State’s museum and worked as artist in residence at numerous institutions. While researching her family history, Dunkley found out that her maternal ancestors had been enslaved in the colony of Virginia prior to their ar- rival in Trinidad. During the War of 1812, the Brit- ish Royal Navy began to recruit African freedmen and fugitive slaves from the coastline stretching from the Chesapeake Bay to Georgia to fight volun- tarily against American colonists, many of whom were their former enslavers. The British decreed in 1814 that refugee slaves would be rewarded with freedom and the ability to resettle in British colo- nies such as Nova Scotia or the island of Trinidad. Black colonial marines (termed “merikins”) each also received 16 acres of land in the southern por- tion of Trinidad at the war’s conclusion, in 1815.

After researching records at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the National Archives of London, the University of Virginia and the Univer- sity of Trinidad, Dunkley created a series of images based on this history, including this recent acqui- sition. “Lunar Eclipse of 1815: For Sergeant Ezekiel Loney #44, Fourth Company, Royal British Navy” references one of her more prominent ancestors, who served as a British colonial marine. In the absence of photography, Dunkley wondered what he and others like him may have looked like. She chose the early photographic medium of cyano- type, invented by Sir John Herschel in 1842, which produces a blue and white image through the use of ferrous (iron) salts. Dunkley draws in imagery of the sails and broadsides from the ships that her ancestors may have manned. She silkscreens the names of men, women and children on the ship in the background.

Tina Dunkley (American, b. 1951), “Lunar Eclipse of 1815: For Sergeant Ezekiel Loney #44, Fourth Company, Royal British Navy,” 2016. Cyanotype, silkscreen and watercolor on paper, 36 × 22 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; William Underwood Eiland Endowment for Acquisitions made possible by M. Smith Griffith. GMOA 2019.465.

Shawnya L. Harris Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art

Born in L’viv, Western Ukraine, Maniichuk grew up in the Soviet years, earning his doctoral degree and teaching international law at Kyiv State University before immigrating to the United States and becom- ing an American citizen in the late 1980s. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he returned to his native country as a legal consultant to the newly independent Ukrainian government on behalf of the World Bank. The country was undergoing tremendous political and economic change, and its art world was no exception. Realist and socialist realist paintings that Soviet-era government ministries and museums had commis- sioned and exhibited were out of favor — in danger of being forgotten, painted over or even destroyed. With the help of art experts, Maniichuk acquired paintings directly from leading painters, their heirs and regional

In November 2019, the Georgia Museum of Art received a gift of paintings from the Jurii Maniichuk and Rose Brady Collection.

F IVE OF THESE SIX PAINTINGS are now on view in the museum’s permanent collection wing, where they will be up through September 26 (the sixth is undergoing conservation). They represent highlights of a collection of more than 100 paintings from Soviet-era Ukraine assembled by the late Jurii Maniichuk (1955 – 2009), while he was living and working in Kyiv, Ukraine, in the 1990s.

art institutions. The collection includes works from the 1950s to the 1980s that are portraits, still lifes, historic images and scenes of Soviet work and life. All of the painters were based in Ukraine and came from various ethnic backgrounds — Russian, Jewish, Tatar and Ukrainian. Most trained or taught at top art academies such as the Kyiv Art Institute (now the Ukrainian National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture). Maniichuk’s goal was to preserve a window into the past and to rescue the paintings for study and reflection by future generations. He brought the collection to the U.S. in 1999. The following year, he married Brady, Moscow bureau chief of BusinessWeek from 1989 to 1993 and later one of its senior editors. When Maniichuk died, in 2009, she began looking for a permanent home for the collec- tion. Edward Kasinec, visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and curator emeritus of the historic Slavic and East European Collections of the New York Public Library, introduced Brady to the Georgia Museum of Art, where she donated these paintings, appreciating its impressive collection of and commitment to studying Russian art.

Danilo Dzevanovsky (Moldovan, 1916 – 2002), “Kherson, In the Port,” 1973. Oil on canvas, 39 3/8 × 48 13/16 inches. GMOA 2019.286. Ivan Babenko (Ukrainian, 1935 – 2005), “Waiting, 1945,” 1975 – 85. Oil on canvas, 48 7/16 × 65 3/4 inches. GMOA 2019.287. Mikola Kravtsov (Ukrainian, 1934 – 1980), “Autumn,” 1979. Oil on canvas, 31 3/4 × 46 3/8 inches. GMOA 2019.285. All Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of the Jurii Maniichuk and Rose Brady Collection.

during his time as curator, one being the aforementioned Green Symposium. He’s spoken at many of these events through- out the years and has been heavily involved in its organization. The event is vital to decorative arts studies in both the museum and state, and its mission is one of education. “I think that I have been able to chan- nel my connections in the field to the expansion of Georgia decorative arts scholarship and to include students and interns in that. I am satisfied with our efforts and with the success of those symposia,” said Couch. Upon joining the staff, Couch also had specific goals for his own scholarship. He wished to publish new approaches to dealing with Georgia material culture that broadened understanding of the material and set a pattern for future scholarship. His position at the museum gave him the opportunity to do so. Couch attributes these motivations to his initial attraction to the subject, stating that he dedicated a large part of his career to decorative art due to its unrecognized diversity. He said, “I am not attracted to only expressions of ‘elite’ art. I’m attracted to subjects in which a variety of people are represented, and southern decorative arts has that. It’s unavoidable. The diversity spanning class, wealth, literacy, race and culture is the big story for me in this field.” Couch has made significant advance- ments in diversifying his field of study, and his recent exhibition and book “Material Georgia 1733 – 1900: Two Decades of Scholarship” are especially notable. Together, they took a compre- hensive look at the diverse contributions of early decorative arts, proving that the presumed homogeneity of the American South’s artistic culture is inaccurate. “Echoes from the Continent: Franco-Germanic Chairs in Georgia” was an exhibition jointly presented by the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center and the Georgia Museum of Art, and Couch considers it one of his most gratifying projects. He has a particular interest in Georgia period furniture but has worked on a number of exhibitions outside his immediate expertise.

DALE COUCH to retire…again

Dale L. Couch, the GeorgiaMuseumof Art’s curator of decorative art and director of the HenryD. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts, will officially retire this year after 11 years with the museum. T HIS WILL BE THE SECOND TIME HE HAS RETIRED, as he enjoyed a full career at the Georgia Archives before starting at the museum. Couch has been an employee since 2009, but his professional relationship with the museum extends much farther back.

decorative arts, Ashley Callahan, serv- ing as co-curator of several exhibitions and speaking at several Henry D. Green Symposia of the Decorative Arts. Couch occupied this role for eight years before being hired as curator. He also consulted for projects at the Atlanta History Center as well as the High Museum of Art and other institutions. The Georgia Associa- tion of Museums named Couch Museum Professional of the Year in 2019, and in 2008 he received a Governor’s Award in the Humanities. Although his position at the museum is part time, those familiar with Couch’s work would assume otherwise. Couch has taken on a range of responsibilities

In 1986, Couch was a Horton Fellow at the Institute for Southern Material Culture at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. Afterward, he consulted for the Georgia Museum of Art’s exhibi- tion “Georgia’s Legacy: History Charted Through the Arts.” He was invited to join the Decorative Arts Advisory Committee (DAAC) in 2000. He went on to collabo- rate with the museum’s first curator of

“Hands down, my greatest achievement has been inciting interest in the decorative arts with interns and promoting their success.”

“Georgia’s Girlhood Embroidery: ‘Crowned with Glory and Immortality’” was the first comprehensive exhibition to focus on colonial and ante- bellum girlhood embroideries, and it highlighted the history of feminine education in the state. “Artful Instruments: Georgia Gunsmiths and Their Craft” emphasized rifles as works of art for the silversmithing, casting and woodworking involved, representing the highest level of craft in 19th-century Georgia. “Although I know little of textiles and rifles, my friends and contacts in the field supplied subject expertise as contribu- tors and guest curators. I am proud that I stepped aside from my focus to publish a record of contributions on materials largely untreated by the Georgia canon,” said Couch. While such work has been a defining factor of his success, Couch said his proudest accomplishment is his work with students. “Hands down, my greatest achievement has been inciting interest in the decorative arts with interns and promoting their success,” said Couch. “My students shadow me. If I write, they write. If I research, they research. If I design and implement, they design and implement. They go where I go, and I give them real work in real time. I just think that if my work here isn’t useful to them, then it isn’t useful at all because they are the future of this field.” Couch’s time at the Georgia Museum of Art has been a fulfilling experience, and he’s served many with his expertise and mentorship. He stresses that the relationship he’s developed with the Athens art community will not be abandoned in retirement. “I want to continue to participate in muse- um programs and the director has asked me to assist with special projects. I would like to remain connected and work on my scholarship,” he said. “Many of my closest friends are associated with the Georgia Museum of Art.” Reflecting on the future of the decorative arts at the museum, he hopes to leave the next curator with the greatest possible flexibility, but his primary wish is for the program to remain universal while not abandoning its com- mitment to regional material. One area he desires to receive more attention is 20th-century studio craft. “It deserves work that it hasn’t fully had yet. We’ve gone a long way, but it remains underrepresented in our collection. I hope to see studio craft as a regular inclusion in the program,” said Couch. He added: “I also hope to see contemporary decorative arts and crafts added to the program and parallel the other divisions within the museum.” An example of this interest has been Couch’s creation of a strong collection of modern and contemporary objects in wood. He closed by saying, “I owe so much to so many people for our successes with the Green Center. Bill Eiland’s support for our program was essential; DAAC, (helmed by Linda Chesnut) supporters and Green family have been awesome; friends and colleagues throughout this field; donors and lenders. And I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the museum team who makes our program possible.”

Opposite page: Dale Couch.

This page, top to bottom: Joseph Litts, Couch, Lacy Middlebrooks Camp and Perri Lee Roberts; DAAC chair Linda Chesnut and Couch; Couch and Betsy Davison.

Anna Morelock Intern, Department of Communications

August always brings the start of school tours at the Georgia Museum of Art, with thousands of elementary, middle and high school students cheerfully making noise throughout the building.

SCHOOL TOURS in theageof COVID-19

O UR 5TH-GRADE TOUR PROGRAM, WHICH DATES BACK DECADES, usually brings every 5th-grade class in the Clarke County School District (CCSD) to the museum for a tour and a hands-on art project, as part of Experience UGA. So how do you translate those tours into a format that keeps everyone safe? Emily Hogrefe-Ribeiro, our assistant cu- rator of education, who also works directly with the museum’s community docents, jumped in with both feet to help figure that out alongside her colleagues. These days, school tours take place synchronously through Zoom or Google Meets or Micro- soft Teams or any other video software a school might be using. The museum’s ed- ucators, communications department and others worked together on a short video that students on a virtual tour see first, to introduce them to what the museum is and what it does. Then they “walk” through the galleries, spying a work of art and zooming in close to it. Virtual tours require a little more focus than in-person ones, meaning that the museum usually only delves into one or two works of art with the students (as opposed to the usual seven), plus an activi- ty, but they have benefits, too. Hogrefe- Ribeiro points out that the museum doesn’t have to stick to what’s on display at the moment. It can use all of its considerable collection to engage students. Close-up photography allows them to get much clos- er to a work of art than they could in per- son. In-person tours are limited by gallery and school logistics. The number of kids who can be in a given area at a given time is relatively small, meaning large schools tend to have their tours broken up over a number of days and students move through the galleries to multiple stops, meaning

less sustained engagement with a single work of art. Those limitations evaporate in the digital realm, and although most of the classes Hogrefe-Ribeiro has given tours to so far top out at 20 or 30 students, the museum can host an entire grade at once, even from a large school. The museum’s docents, who normally help with school tours, will be shadowing the education staff, learning how to give tours in this new format. So far, most partici- pants have been 1st-graders, 3rd-graders and kindergartners, but tours can be cus- tomized for any grade level and interest. Hogrefe-Ribeiro has been working on a STEAM tour for West Jackson Elementary School, which is studying pollinators, that includes a project in which they’ll make a bee hotel out of an empty can and look at flower-filled landscapes from the col- lection. The museum is also working on asynchronous tours because teachers have asked for those as well. There’s plenty of interaction on these tours, sometimes even more than in person. The educators have made sure to build in moments where students can vote in polls, fill in the blanks of what figures in a painting might be thinking or talk about what they collect. Hogrefe-Ribeiro says that she thinks there’s more participation partially because students can’t see each other on Zoom, just the screen that she’s sharing. Shy students can use the chat to type their answers. And, of course, she’s seen a lot of cats as students participate from their homes. With CCSD going back to in-person school in November, virtual tours are still here to stay because of the way they expand the pool of people able to experience the museum. We miss the noise as 120 5th-graders walk up the stairs to the galleries, but we’re happy that we still get to reach them.

ADVANTAGES OF VIRTUAL TOURS

Can pull from entire collection, not just what’s on display

Close-up photography allows for more detailed viewing

Not limited by gallery and school logistics

More sustained engagement with works of art

Shy students feel more confident in participating

Students aren’ t distracted by each other

Expands audience able to engage with the museum

Thanks to Georgia Council for the Arts for providing funding for 5th-grade tours for "Emma Amos: Color Odyssey" and to the Junior League of Athens for providing funding for STEAM tours.

MUSEUM NOTES

in the galleries

awards

staff notes

The museum received a number of awards from the Southeastern Museums Conference in Octo- ber. In its Excellence in Exhibi- tions Competition, both “Material Georgia 1733–1900: Two Decades of Scholarship” and “Mary Lee Bendolph: Quilted Memories” received honorable mentions . The museum’s Daily Inspiration series on Instagram snagged a bronze for digital marketing in SEMC’s Technology Competition , in a particularly competitive year. The exhibition catalogue for “Materi- al Georgia,” designed by Thomas Dang, was awarded an honorable mention in the Publication Design Competition for books and cata- logues. And, last but very much not least, our co-publication with the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, “Deborah Roberts: The Evo- lution of Mimi,” designed by Roy Brooks (Fold Four), received Best in Show for publication design .

In late November 2020, the muse- um finished reinstalling its Martha Thompson Dinos Gallery to create a lasting space for Russian art. The display consists primarily of objects from the Parker Collection and the Belosselsky-Belozersky Collection , together spanning nearly three centuries of art.

Patricia Hanson, our grants coor- dinator, retired at the end of 2020, after two years with the museum. She always referred to working here as her “dream job,” and we’ve often seen her in the galleries, so we feel confident that she’ll come back to visit frequently.

gifts

The Georgia Museum of Art received the following gifts between July 1 and September 30, 2020.

In honor of Nick Danna by Joann Danna

In memory of C.L. Morehead Jr. by William Underwood Eiland, Paul Manoguerra and Tom Wilfong

In memory of Eileen Sapera by William Underwood Eiland

In memory of Irene Smith by William Underwood Eiland

In memory of Louis Blair William Underwood Eiland

In memory of Chatham Murray by William Underwood Eiland

In memory of Peggy Suddreth by William Underwood Eiland, Jinx & Gordhan Patel and Tom Wilfong

In memory of Doris Buck by Jane Johnson

In memory of Martha Jane Patton by William Underwood Eiland

In memory of Edwina Ferguson by William Underwood Eiland

In memory of William Power by William Underwood Eiland

in the SHOP

Now in our galleries, “Contemporary Japanese Ceramics from the Horvitz Collection” features pottery and porcelain created by three generations of master ceramic artists. The Museum Shop is excited to offer a collection of modern Japanese tableware imported from several regions known for their centuries of exceptional craft. From painstakingly lacquered and carved chopsticks to delicately glazed sake sets, you’re sure to find the perfect addition to your own kitchen or dining room.

1 2

1. WAKASA LACQUERED CHOPSTICKS: $20 – $35

2. SHIGARAKI VASE: $70

3. MATCHA CHAWAN (TEA BOWL): $50

4. TOKONAME KYUSU (TEA POT): $50

5. SAKE VESSEL AND CUPS: $35

6. SET OF FOUR TEACUPS: $35

Visit http://bit.ly/gmoashop to view items available in our online store

CALENDAR CALENDAR CALENDAR CALENDAR

C C C C

CALENDAR

All events are virtual unless otherwise indicated. Check our website and social media channels for sign-up links and the most up-to-date information.

the department of visual and performing arts at Fairfield University. In this Zoom lecture, Eliasoph will focus on identity, magic and metaphor in Paul Cadmus’ 1947 painting “Playground,” featured in the exhibition “Extra Ordinary: Magic, Mystery and Imagination in American Art.”

CURATOR TALK: RUSSIAN ART FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE GEORGIAMUSEUMOF ART Thursday, March 4, 1 p.m. Join Asen Kirin, Parker Curator of Russian Art, for a special curator talk, presented in conjunction with the installation of select- ed objects from the museum’s collection of Russian art. FACULTY PERSPECTIVES: DANA BULTMAN Wednesday, March 10, 2 p.m. Dana Bultman, professor of Spanish at UGA, will give a special talk on Zoom in conjunc- tion with the exhibition “Power and Piety in 17th-Century Spanish Art.” Dr. Bultman’s talk will expand on the exhibition through the lens of her expertise in Spanish literature and cultural history.

VIRTUAL TOURS AND GALLERY TALKS

Keep an eye on our website/social media channels for additional virtual tours and video gallery talks by museum staff.

PANEL DISCUSSION: INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ONMAGIC REALISM Thursday, March 18, 1 p.m.

ARTFUL CONVERSATION These Zoom programs are 30 minutes long, focus on just one work of art and provide opportunities for open-ended dialogue and discovery. Space is limited. Register in advance o n our website. • Wednesday, January 20, 1 p.m. Star Gazers,” by John T. Biggers. With Emily Hogrefe-Ribeiro, assistant curator of educa- tion. • Wednesday, February 17, 1 p.m. “Cryptomeria Avenue, Nikko,” by Kawase Hasui. With Sage Kincaid, associate curator of education. • Wednesday, March 17, 1 p.m . Selected works from “Emma Amos: Color Odyssey.” With Callan Steinmann, curator of education.

A major trend that spanned art and literature in the 20th century, “magic realism” is a term that embraces contradiction: reality and un- reality, the commonplace and the spectacular, the ordinary and the extraordinary. It is also a global phenomenon, encompassing painting in the United States, modern film, the writings of Gabriel García Márquez and more. In this panel discussion, faculty from UGA and Clark Atlanta University will discuss magic realism against the backdrop of selected objects from the exhibition “Extra Ordinary: Magic, Mys- tery and Imagination in American Realism.” The panel will begin with a brief introduction to the exhibition and will be moderated by the exhibition’s curator, Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, curator of American art at the museum. Pan- elists include: Nora Benedict, assistant pro- fessor of Spanish and digital humanities, UGA; Nell Andrew, associate professor of art history, UGA; and Maurita Poole, director and curator at Clark Atlanta University Art Museum.

LECTURES + PANEL DISCUSSIONS

VIRTUAL DISCUSSION: “EMMA AMOS: COLOR ODYSSEY” Thursday, February 4, 4 p.m. Join Shawnya Harris, Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art, in a Zoom conversation with scholars, artists and curators in conjunc- tion with the exhibition “Emma Amos: Color Odyssey.” ARALEE STRANGE LECTURE: TIM SAN PEDRO Friday, February 26, 3 p.m. Tim San Pedro, assistant professor of multi- cultural and equity studies in education at the Ohio State University, will give the 4th annual Aralee Strange Lecture for Art and Poetry. This lecture series features scholars and scholar- ship focused on the intersections of visual art, poetry, equity and justice in education. This online program is presented in collabora- tion with UGA’s department of language and literacy education and funded by the Aralee Strange Fund for Art and Poetry. MAGIC REALISTS’ PLAYGROUND: UNMASKING ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ METAPHORS” Thursday, February 25, 4 p.m. Philip Eliasoph is an American art historian, critic, curator and professor of art history in LECTURE: PHILIP ELIASOPH “‘HIDE-AND-SEEK’ ON THE

CURATOR TALK: PERRI LEE ROBERTS Tuesday, January 19, 1 p.m.

Join Perri Lee Roberts, curator of the exhibi- tion “Contemporary Japanese Ceramics from the Horvitz Collection,” for a special virtual gallery talk on Zoom. CURATOR AND COLLECTOR CHAT: THE MANIICHUK-BRADY COLLECTION Thursday, February 11, 1 p.m. Join Asen Kirin, Parker Curator of Russian Art, and Rose Brady, collector, for a discussion about Ukranian socialist realist paintings do- nated to the museum from the Jurii Maniichuk and Rose Brady Collection. Selections from the donation are on view at the museum through September 26.

SPECIAL EVENTS

GRADUATE STUDENT SYMPOSIUM: “MODERNISM FORETOLD” Saturday, January 30, 1–5 p.m. This virtual symposium will showcase research by graduate students in Dr. Asen Ki- rin’s fall 2020 art history seminar course. The course and scholarship focus on the exhibition “Modernism Foretold: The Nadler Collection of Late Antique Art from Egypt.” EMERGINGSCHOLARS SYMPOSIUM: “VISUALIZING IDENTITY: EXPLORINGDI- MENSIONSOF THE SELF THROUGHART” Keynote: Thursday, February 18, 5:30 p.m. Graduate Student Sessions: Friday and Saturday, February 19 and 20 The 2021 Emerging Scholars Symposium will showcase research by current graduate students and other emerging scholars related to themes of art and identity throughout the history of visual and material culture. The

COFFEEWITH THE CURATORS: NELDA DAMIANO AND JULIA KILGORE Tuesday, February 23, 1 p.m.

Grab a coffee and join us via Zoom for a lively conversation with Nelda Damiano, Pierre Dau- ra Curator of European Art, and Julia Kilgore, our new Pierre Daura Curatorial Research Assistant. The two will chat about the new “In Dialogue” exhibition “Look, Paint, Repeat: Variations in the Art of Pierre Daura,” on view February 6 – May 23.

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