Jacob de Wit (Dutch, 1695-1754), Study of an Anguished Man, circa 1740s, red and gray chalk on paper. Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, Museum purchase, funds from the Louis S. Booth Arts Fund, H2008.29.01.
Exhibition
Jan 21, 2009
throughMar 06, 2009

The Human Figure, Archetype and Actuality: Works from the Collection

Print this event Add to Outlook Add to iOS Device Add to Google Calendar Add to Google Calendar
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.
About the Exhibition
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.