Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

On-Line Exhibitions

Past Exhibitions
- Harnett Museum of Art
- Harnett Print Study Center
- Lora Robins Gallery

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

Nächtliche Blumenstücke: 1925 Print Portfolio by Wilhelm Heise
Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature
June 18 to November 21, 2010
In 1925, Wilhelm Heise (German, 1892-1965) created Nächtliche Blumenstücke (Flowers at Nighttime), a portfolio of stone engraving lithographs. Heise’s prints include highly detailed images of botanicals within nocturnal landscapes, demonstrating both his understanding of the natural world and his inventive imagination as a graphic artist. Considered his most important series, the prints are from the permanent collection of the Harnett Print Study Center, University Museums, and demonstrate not only his affinity of the precise depiction of objects but also contain elements of fantasy and the unnatural.

Wilhelm Heise (German, 1882-1965), Königskerzen (Mullein), 1925, stone engraving lithograph on China paper, 14 1/4 x 10 1/8”, Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, Museum purchase, H2009.08.09 © Estate of the artist

Nature’s Forms: Pattern, Texture, and Rhythm in Natural Objects from the Collection
Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature
July 26, 2010 to June 26, 2011
This exhibition examines the patterns, rhythms, and textures evident in natural objects such as seashells, minerals, and gems. Focusing on concepts such as fractals, the Fibonacci sequence, and growth formations, the objects reveal both the complexity of organically occurring forms as well as their visual appeal.

Charonia tritonis (Trumpet Triton), Linnaeus, 1758, Queensland, Australia, Gift of Lora McGlasson Robins, R0000.107.31

Inuit Sculptures from the Collection
New installation opens July 26, 2010
Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature
Inuit sculpture is deeply rooted in tradition, steeped in storytelling, and offers a glimpse into the daily lives of the Inuit people. Highlighting the continuity and transformation of the art of the Inuit, the exhibition features a selection of contemporary Inuit sculptures, including objects from a gift of Virginia A. Arnold to the museum.

Annual Student Exhibition
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
August 18 to September 19, 2010
Selected by the studio art faculty, this exhibition features works by studio art majors and minors along with non-majors enrolled during the University’s Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters.

New at the Harnett
Harnett Museum of Art and Print Study Center
August 18 to October 3, 2010
The exhibition celebrates new acquisitions in the Harnett Museum of Art and Print Study Center over the past few years. Highlights include works on paper recently added to the permanent collection of more than 6,000 objects, such as Polaroid photographs by Andy Warhol, an etching by German artist Käthe Kollwitz, and nineteenth-century lithographs by French artist Honoré Daumier.

Reginald Marsh (American, born France, 1898-1954), Girl Walking (Elevated), 1945, lithograph on imperial Japan paper, 10 ½ x 7 7/8 inches, Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, Museum purchase, funds from the Louis S. Booth Arts Fund, H2009.11.06, © Estate of the artist

Tomás Lasansky: Icons for America
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
October 3 to December 5, 2010
Tomás Lasansky (American, born 1957) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Iowa City. In his paintings, prints, and works on paper, he is known for his large, expressive, and colorful portraits of iconic figures from history and popular culture, such as George Washington, Sitting Bull, Picasso, and Mick Jagger. Son of the renowned printmaker Mauricio Lasansky, the artist has been greatly influenced by his enthusiasm for history and significant figures of the past, in particular great leaders, Native Americans, artists, and thinkers.

Lincoln 1861-1865: A Print Series by Tomás Lasansky
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
October 3, 2010 to June 26, 2011
Starting in 2006 Tomás Lasansky (American, born 1957) created a series of prints featuring Abraham Lincoln’s profile as well as interpretations of other famous depictions of the president. Lasansky employed four copper sheets of Lincoln’s profile in each piece, using different colors, orders, and backgrounds with hand additions of painting and drawing.

Tomás Lasansky (American, born 1957), Lincoln, 1861-1865, 2006, etching, drypoint, soft ground, mezzotint, aquatint, and color pencil on paper, 35 ¾ x 23 ¾ inches, Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, Gift of the Czestochowski Family in honor of Dr. Gene H. Anderson, Professor of Music, University of Richmond, H2009.14.02 © Tomás Lasansky

Rincon Falls, Trinidad: A Print Series by Chris Ofili
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
through September 19, 2010
Chris Ofili (British, born 1968) explores contemporary black experience in his work using references from traditional African art, images of popular culture, and influences from hip-hop music. He recently moved to Trinidad from Britain and has been inspired by its predominately black culture. Rincon Falls is a waterfall on the north coast of Trinidad and is the source for this recent series of prints.

Chris Ofili (British, born 1968), Grey Bathers, from the series Rincon Falls, Trinidad, 2008, etching with color spit bite, sugar lift aquatint, and drypoint on paper. Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, Museum purchase, funds from the Louis S. Booth Arts Fund, H2009.04.04

Surface Tension: Pattern, Texture, and Rhythm in Art from the Collection
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
through October 3, 2010
Drawn from the University Museums’ collection, this exhibition features art in which pattern, texture, and rhythm are the primary elements that generate energy and visual movement as well as emotional and aesthetic content. Highlights include a vibrant screenprint by Op artist Victor Vasarely from 1975, photographs of patterns found in natural objects by Life magazine photographer Andreas Feininger, and densely composed screenprints depicting the four seasons, by contemporary artist Jennifer Bartlett.

Andreas Feininger (American, born France, 1906-1999), Ice Cubes, circa 1970s, gelatin silver print on paper, 10 ¾ x 13 ½ inches, Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, Gift of the Feininger family and Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, H2001.04.123. © Estate of the artist

Eye of the Collector: Works on Paper from the Sigmund R. Balka Collection
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
October 21 to December 5, 2010
A selection of works on paper from the Sigmund R. Balka Collection at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion Museum in New York, the exhibition features works from artists such as Max Beckmann, Isabel Bishop, Marc Chagall, Lyonel Feininger, Robert Motherwell, Larry Rivers, and Rembrandt van Rijn. The collection includes European and American Jewish artists and themes in Jewish art by other artists, and the exhibition provides a glimpse, both secular and religious, into Jewish life and culture.

The 2010 Harnett Biennial of American Prints
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
October 21 to December 5, 2010
The ninth competitive national exhibition organized by the University of Richmond Museums is a celebration of contemporary printmaking by artists throughout the United States. This year’s juror is Laura Kruger, Curator of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion Museum, New York.

Traces of Time: Fossils from the Collection
Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature
through October 24, 2010
The exhibition explores different prehistoric environments with examples of fossil plants and animals from the collection. The specimens show some of the similarities and differences between earlier earth environments and modern ecosystems. Highlights include fossils from the Green River Formation in the United States and the Santana Formation in Brazil. Also included are flora and fauna that were native to what is now Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region, such as the Pliocene scallop Chesapecten jeffersonius.

Xiphactinus audax (bulldog fish fossil), Leidy, 1870, Late Cretaceous period (100 to 65 million years ago), Gove County, Kansas, 21 x 30 ½ x 4 inches, Museum purchase, R0000.42.01

Feedback: Video by Artists
Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature
January 11 to March 18, 2011
Feedback: Video by Artists is a four-part exhibition and screening series that places contemporary artists’ video within a historical framework. Reflecting upon key modes of production in the 1960s and 70s, each screening showcases contemporary video in one of four thematic categories – Performance, Documentary, Appropriation, and Narrative. Each of these screenings is accompanied by a two-week exhibition highlighting a seminal, thematically related historical video. Focusing upon the distinct features of the medium, the exhibition explores relationships between video as a marginal medium of the 1960s and 1970s and contemporary video of today.

Civil War Drawings from the Becker Collection
Harnett Museum of Art and Print Study Center
January 15 to April 3, 2011
This exhibition presents drawings by Joseph Becker and his colleagues, nineteenth-century artists who worked as artist-reporters for Frank Leslie’s “Illustrated Newspaper.” The featured drawings were created while the artists were embedded with the Union troops during the American Civil War. The exhibition is featured concurrently with selections on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and coinciding with the country’s Civil War Sesquicentennial.

Andrew McCallum (American, active 1864-65), Siege of Petersburg: A Night Attack, March 31, 1865, graphite on wove paper, 6 ½ x 9 ½ inches, The Becker Collection

Pilgrimage and Faith: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
January 28 to May 20, 2011
Highlighting the shared thematic categories of three world religions—Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam—this exhibition explores how art vivifies and recreates the pilgrimage tradition. Featured are objects dating from the twelfth century to present, which illuminate the commonalities and differences of the pilgrimage experience amongst the three faiths.

Tile inscribed with text of the Qur’an, Kashan, Iran, 1200-1250, glazed and painted ceramic tile, 11 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches, The Newark Museum, 38.242.

Aesthetic Ambitions: Edward Lycett and Brooklyn’s Faience Manufacturing Company
Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature
February 16 to June 19, 2011
During the 1880s the Faience Manufacturing Company (1881-1892), the pre-eminent Brooklyn, New York pottery earned praise for producing ornamental ceramics that “surpassed everything previously produced in this country.” These bold and eclectic wares display a synthesis of Japanese, Chinese, and Islamic influences characteristic of the Aesthetic Movement style. The firm owed its artistic and commercial success to Edward Lycett, an English china painter who became its artistic director in 1884. This exhibition includes more than forty objects drawn from public and private collections.

Context and Object: Museum Studies Seminar Exhibition
Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature
April 7 to June 5, 2011
The exhibition is presented by students enrolled in the Seminar in Museum Studies during the 2011 spring semester, a course offered in the University’s Department of Art and Art History and part of the Interdisciplinary Concentration in Arts Management. Using the concept of “context and object,” the students select works from the collection of the University Museums, design the installation of the objects, and develop educational programming.

Senior Thesis Exhibition
Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art
April 15 to May 6, 2011
Selected by the faculty of the Art and Art History Department to participate in the thesis program, graduating senior studio art majors present their artwork in this exhibition.

Best in Show: Staffordshire Dogs from the Collection
Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature
through September 25, 2011
Displayed on the mantelpieces of Victorian homes, Staffordshire dogs have today become one of the most popular pieces of collectable ceramics. Since the 1720s, ceramic dogs had been produced by pottery factories in Staffordshire, England, along with other popular figurines, such as shepherds, British royalty, and a variety of animals. The exhibition features a selection of dogs from a recent gift to the museum’s permanent collection from Fletcher Stiers, Richmond College class of 1948, University of Richmond. On display are Staffordshire dogs ranging in height from four and a half inches to fourteen inches, and dating from 1845 to the mid-twentieth century that illustrate variations in style over time.

Spaniels and Clock Mantelpiece, circa 1855, slip-cast earthenware body with glaze, Staffordshire, maker unknown, 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches, Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature, University of Richmond Museums, Gift of Fletcher Stiers, R’48, R2009.10.018.