With the opening of Rembrandt in America, our visitors are able to see more authentic paintings by this master presented together than in any other show to date in the U.S. They can enjoy these great works of art, learn about the Rembrandt Research Project, and have a glimpse into the intriguing field of conservation.
A few steps outside the Rembrandt exhibition in East Building is another exhibition, titled Self, Observed. Conceived and organized by our Education Department, this exhibition is a juried college art competition. Over 160 online submissions of original self-portraits in various media were received from all over the country. The jury, made up of college students from the Curatorial Projects class at UNC–Chapel Hill, selected 41 works for display, plus two video entries. Other entries can be viewed on a video screen.
This project is unique for the NCMA in several ways. It is our first juried college art exhibition. I will admit the suspense was thick over the summer as the entries seemed slow to arrive, but as soon as the fall school semester started, the whole thing went viral. The entries poured in.
Another twist is that the jury was made up of college students. The Curatorial Projects students (under the leadership of professor Elin o’Hara Slavick) selected art for the exhibition and wrote label copy. They provided not only enthusiasm and thoughtful perspectives, but also another layer to the outreach programming for which our Education Department is known. That reaching out and taking the Museum experience into different communities creates connections and partnerships that enhance the art experience for us all.
As the designer for this project, my original challenge was to design a room with only 18 works. By the time final entries were received, the challenge was to design a room with so many. The curatorial students wrote what we call “extended” labels, which take up more than the usual amount of wall space. I felt it was important to allow each work to have enough space to be seen on its own and not simply as part of the whole. I believe a good balance was created between the individual self-portraits and the groupings of works.
Self, Observed is an inviting and contemporary companion exhibition to Rembrandt in America. Congratulations to those students whose work was selected. Between these students and Rembrandt, there really are masters among us!
Image above: Mark Wroblewski, I’m Trying to be Serious, 2011, Charcoal, 13” x 19”. Self, Observed is on view on Level B in East Building at the Museum.
It’s that time of year again, dear readers! With the change of the seasons comes a new edition of our billboards project, Park Pictures. We’ve been promoting 
The eyes, oh those incredible, penetrating eyes in Self-Portrait, 1659 tell the tale not simply of the artist but of the man. His expression draws you in, swiftly rolling back the centuries. I stood before the portrait and wondered how it was possible that coarse paint applied to stiff canvas more than 350 years ago could stir emotion in me. A sense of connection (with a touch of melancholy) swelled within as I looked at the portrait of Rembrandt van Rijn, painted in his later years when financial woes and personal tragedies had deeply scarred his life.
Rembrandt lived and worked during the Golden Age of Dutch history. The city of Amsterdam dominated world trade and grew wealthy in the process. Science flourished, and so did the arts. This Sunday at the Museum, the Magnolia Baroque Ensemble, an accomplished group from Winston-Salem, will perform the music of Rembrandt’s Amsterdam on period instruments, including harpsichord, viola de gamba, and recorder.
When I moved to North Carolina in 1989, I didn’t know a soul, I didn’t have a job, and I didn’t have a place to live; I stayed at the YMCA on Hillsborough Street before finding a room in a boarding house near the NCSU campus and, eventually, an apartment. And, although I’d been a photographer for nearly 20 years, I had never exhibited any of my photographs. I was 36 years old and had been a pharmacy technician in a small-town New Jersey drugstore. I moved here, in fact, to be a photographer, and to live my new life as one.
Over half a century ago, a fledgling art museum mounted its first major exhibition: Rembrandt and His Pupils. Near the end of his remarkable career, a towering figure in the history of American museums and scholarship, W. R. Valentiner, its first director, exerted his vision on shaping a collection, and in a short time the institution was on its way from infancy to becoming a major art museum.
Participating in the residency was such a rewarding experience for my students and me. First, in the words of Moe Win: “I had so many new experiences in a few days. The environment at the NCMA made me feel so creative. As I was an author/writer, I learned so much about showing not telling, revising, and editing for the story. I am not the type of person who likes to work with a team, but I learned that it is more fantastic to work with others. We were discussing and helping each other while writing our story. Another good opportunity was visiting the art galleries. I loved the tours Ms. Rusak guided. The art work invited me to think more about the purpose of the artists.”
With the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks upon us, it seems only fitting that we step back to reflect on the unutterable losses that have ultimately changed our world. Across the country, memorials will be held, poetry read, and prayers uttered. It’s not a surprise, then, when we consider that the Art World has been affected by this tragedy as well—and New York, in particular, is ripe with artistic expression surrounding the events of September 11.
Alice Walker once wrote, “If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for.”
