The Human Figure, Archetype and Actuality: Works from the Collection January 21 to March 6, 2009 Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art University of Richmond Museums On view at the Harnett Museum of Art from January 21 through March 6, 2009, The Human Figure, Archetype and Actuality presents art from the University of Richmond Museums’ permanent collection that depict the human figure. The more than 50 two- and three-dimensional works, created from 5th century B.C.E. to contemporary pieces, attest to the human body’s prominent and enduring role in art and artifacts from around the globe. The exhibition explores the interplay between idealistic and realistic representations of the figure through observational and imagined portrayals of the body. Highlights from the exhibition include a stylized silhouette of a male figure decorating an ancient Greek earthenware amphora; an intensely drawn study of an anguished face by Jacob de Wit, one of the leading decorative paintings of 18th-century Holland; and Nude with Rocker, a detailed color lithograph from 1977 by Philip Pearlstein, an artist known for his highly detailed and sensitive studies of the human form.
The Human Figure, Archetype and Actuality: Works from the Collection was curated by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University of Richmond Museums, and Schuyler Swartout, ’11, philosophy major, University of Richmond, and 2008-2009 curatorial assistant at the University of Richmond Museums. The exhibition was organized by the University of Richmond Museums.