The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens presents 50 Forward: New Additions to the Permanent Collection. The exhibition, on view January 31 through August 15, 2012, features a selection of paintings, works on paper, and decorative objects that have entered The Cummer’s collection in celebration of the Museum’s 50th Anniversary in 2011.
Although several paintings were bought by The Cummer using funds restricted to art purchases that were raised through special fundraising initiatives like The Cummer Ball, the majority of the works highlighted in this exhibition were either given to the Museum, or have been promised to the Museum in future years.
The gifts and purchases acquired to commemorate the Museum’s 50th Anniversary mark a new interest in the art of the 20th century. Over the last few years, The Cummer has been actively listening to our members and visitors, who have expressed an interest in seeing more modern works on display within our permanent collection. Many of these new acquisitions help The Cummer explore the popular trends in art in the last fifty years, and continue the story of art through the ages.
Henry Ossawa Tanner (American, 1859 – 1937), Midday, Tangiers, c. 1912, oil on canvas, 24 1/8 x 20 in., Museum Purchase, AP.2011.1.1.
Among the highlights are three paintings by prominent African American artists: Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), Hughie Lee Smith (1915-1999), and Bob Thompson (1937-1966).
Hughie Lee-Smith (American, 1915-1999), End of the Festival, 1954, oil on Masonite, 24 x 36 in., Museum Purchase, AP.2011.3.1.
Other works in the exhibition include a selection of Shaker decorative objects, which will be future gifts from area collector Ken Hatcher; Christina Foard’s Cummer Aerial, 2011, a museum purchase; Steve Williams’s Passion of the World with Pioneer Chaser, a mixed media portrait of Jacksonville namesake Andrew Jackson, a gift from the artist; and five works from Andy Warhol’s series Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century, a future gift of Jacksonville collectors Cindy and Dan Edelman.
Christina Foard, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Aerial, 2011, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 in., Museum Purchase, AP.2011.5.1
