Gazette staff reports
UNIVERSITY PARK — The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State will open a major exhibition of American art this week to launch a yearlong celebration of the museum’s 50th anniversary.
“An American Place: Selections from the James and Barbara Palmer Collection” opens on Saturday and will be on view through April 24 as the centerpiece of the museum’s jubilee year.
Highlighting a century of American art from post-Civil War years through the Civil Rights era, the exhibition features 59 paintings, works on paper and sculptures from the bequest of philanthropist Barbara Palmer, who died in 2019.
“We are proud to present this major exhibition devoted to the signature collection of American art assembled by our great benefactors the late Barbara and James Palmer,” Erin M. Coe, director of the Palmer Museum of Art, said in a news release.
“This collection will shape, even define, the museum’s presentation of American art for generations to come.”
Over more than 30 years, the Palmers assembled a nationally renowned collection that includes a broad range of American art and artists.
The title of the exhibition comes from pioneering photographer Alfred Stieglitz’s “An American Place,” one of several galleries he established to support a group of modernist American artists for nearly two decades in the first half of the 20th century.
The show includes works by artists Thomas Anshutz, Milton Avery, Romare Bearden, Thomas Hart Benton, Charles Burchfield, Paul Cadmus, Mary Cassatt, Frederic Edwin Church, Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove, Robert Gwathmey, Marsden Hartley, Childe Hassam, Martin Johnson Heade, Robert Henri, Winslow Homer, Jacob Lawrence, Seymour Lipton, George Luks, John Marin, Alfred Maurer, Georgia O’Keeffe, Theodore Robinson, Charles Sheeler, John Sloan, Joseph Stella and George Tooker.
“’An American Place’ tells the story of the coming of age of American art and the search for an authentic aesthetic rooted in America,” said Joyce Robinson, the museum’s assistant director who curated the exhibition.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon until 5 p.m.
For more information, visit www.palmermuseum.psu.edu.
50TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITIONS
“A Way Through: Abstract Art of the 1940s,” opened Jan. 15 and explores the decisive leap from figuration to abstraction in New York through a selection from the Palmer’s own collection and of major works on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is one in a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of the Art Bridges Initiative.
“Printmaking in the Age of Dürer,” opened Jan. 18 and takes a rare look at the expressive achievements in the medium of printmaking by German Renaissance artist and worldwide name Albrecht Dürer, along with some of his students and contemporaries. Among the works on view is Dürer’s Lamentation (c. 1498-99), the first work of art acquired for the museum using funds provided by its Friends membership group.
RELATED PROGRAMS
In observance of its 50th anniversary, the Palmer Museum will host a number of programs and events related to the collection and “An American Place” designed to inspire and bring together the Penn State and regional community. From gallery activities, performances and workshops to talks, tours and virtual programs, the Palmer’s anniversary offerings will seek to make connections and foster conversations.
Museum Conversation: A Curator’s Perspective on “An American Place” — Wednesday, Feb. 2, 4 p.m. — Joyce Robinson, assistant director — Join the exhibition curator for a closer look at “An American Place: Selections from the James and Barbara Palmer Collection.”
Gallery Conversation: Diverse Voices at the Palmer — Thursday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. — Victoria Kenyon, graduate assistant — As part of Art After Hours, discover artists in the Palmer’s collection who found success while pushing through oppressive cultural structures.
Art After Hours: Black History at the Museum — Thursday, Feb. 24, 5 to 8 p.m. — Celebrate Black History Month and learn more about Black artists represented in the museum’s permanent collection. Enjoy a variety of gallery and artmaking activities inspired by these artists and designed to foster individual differences.
Museum Conversation: Winslow Homer and “An American Place” — Wednesday, March 2, 4 p.m. — Adam Thomas, curator of American art — Take a deep dive into the work of Winslow Homer, one of the foremost painters in 19-century American art.