Although books of hours were the most common devotional books of the fifteenth century, there were also more varied collections of prayer. This leaf comes from one such prayer book. It shows the hand of the resurrected Christ, whose palm bears the stigmata associated with his crucifixion. Set against a yellow background meant to imitate gold leaf, this inexpensive image was used by readers who looked at the image while contemplating Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection. The text encircling the image translates as, “Whatever has been, or will be, appointed through the right hand of God the omnipotent father shall be blessed.” This image is one of only two printed works in the exhibition Private Prayer, Public Performance. A woodcut, it was made around 1450, roughly contemporary with Gutenberg’s invention of printing with movable type, which would spell the end of manuscript illumination. This work illustrates that transition perfectly: although the image is printed, the prayer on the other side of the page is handwritten.This work will be on view in the 2nd floor Ripin Print Gallery through July 31 in the exhibition Private Prayer, Public Performance: Religious Books of the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance. Image:GermanHand of God, Leaf from a Prayerbook, ca. 1450Hand-colored woodcutFriends of Art Fund, 1956.2
Pop-upView Separately

Although books of hours were the most common devotional books of the fifteenth century, there were also more varied collections of prayer. This leaf comes from one such prayer book. It shows the hand of the resurrected Christ, whose palm bears the stigmata associated with his crucifixion. Set against a yellow background meant to imitate gold leaf, this inexpensive image was used by readers who looked at the image while contemplating Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection. The text encircling the image translates as, “Whatever has been, or will be, appointed through the right hand of God the omnipotent father shall be blessed.”

This image is one of only two printed works in the exhibition Private Prayer, Public Performance. A woodcut, it was made around 1450, roughly contemporary with Gutenberg’s invention of printing with movable type, which would spell the end of manuscript illumination. This work illustrates that transition perfectly: although the image is printed, the prayer on the other side of the page is handwritten.

This work will be on view in the 2nd floor Ripin Print Gallery through July 31 in the exhibition Private Prayer, Public Performance: Religious Books of the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Image:
German
Hand of God, Leaf from a Prayerbook, ca. 1450
Hand-colored woodcut
Friends of Art Fund, 1956.2

In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Oberlin College and Town in 1983, AMAM curator William Olander organized the exhibition Art and Social Change, U.S.A., in celebration of Oberlin’s long tradition of social awareness. The exhibition featured artwork by John Ahearn, Nancy Buchanan, Sarah Charlesworth, John Fekner, Mike Glier, Jenny Holzer, Peter Huttinger, Barbara Kruger, and Sherrie Levine, as well as performances by Candace Hill-Montgomery (b. 1945) and Eric Bogosian (b. 1953, OC ‘76). The performances provided direct social critique that complemented the work of the other artists in the exhibition, located not only in the galleries, but in the museum courtyard, Tappan Square, and around town.  To inaugurate the exhibition, Hill-Montgomery performed Win Within Eye Shot Out. The piece was text based, but defied classification as a poetry reading. Hill-Montgomery’s reading was accompanied and occasionally  interrupted by the piercing voice of opera singer Lisa Dunbar. The spare performance, like Hill-Montgomery’s other work, utilized the artist’s perspective as a black female artist to heighten awareness of contemporary race and gender issues. In contrast, Eric Bogosian’s two-part performance, comprised of Voices of America and Funhouse, critiqued current social issues by taking on the guise of the undesirable and desperate characters of the American landscape: the drug pusher, the criminal, the alcoholic, the beggar, the insurance salesman. These characters, which the artist sought to reinsert into public consciousness, grew out of Bogosian’s observations of daily life on subways, in diners, and on city streets.This work is on view through May 26 in the focus exhibition ’Performance at Oberlin,’ which chronicles the history of performance art at Oberlin College since the 1970s, curated by Thomas Huston (OC ‘13). Image:Poster for Live Performance, Art & Social Change, 1983AMAM Exhibition Archives
Pop-upView Separately

In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Oberlin College and Town in 1983, AMAM curator William Olander organized the exhibition Art and Social Change, U.S.A., in celebration of Oberlin’s long tradition of social awareness. The exhibition featured artwork by John Ahearn, Nancy Buchanan, Sarah Charlesworth, John Fekner, Mike Glier, Jenny Holzer, Peter Huttinger, Barbara Kruger, and Sherrie Levine, as well as performances by Candace Hill-Montgomery (b. 1945) and Eric Bogosian (b. 1953, OC ‘76). The performances provided direct social critique that complemented the work of the other artists in the exhibition, located not only in the galleries, but in the museum courtyard, Tappan Square, and around town. 

To inaugurate the exhibition, Hill-Montgomery performed Win Within Eye Shot Out. The piece was text based, but defied classification as a poetry reading. Hill-Montgomery’s reading was accompanied and occasionally  interrupted by the piercing voice of opera singer Lisa Dunbar. The spare performance, like Hill-Montgomery’s other work, utilized the artist’s perspective as a black female artist to heighten awareness of contemporary race and gender issues. In contrast, Eric Bogosian’s two-part performance, comprised of Voices of America and Funhouse, critiqued current social issues by taking on the guise of the undesirable and desperate characters of the American landscape: the drug pusher, the criminal, the alcoholic, the beggar, the insurance salesman. These characters, which the artist sought to reinsert into public consciousness, grew out of Bogosian’s observations of daily life on subways, in diners, and on city streets.

This work is on view through May 26 in the focus exhibition ’Performance at Oberlin,’ which chronicles the history of performance art at Oberlin College since the 1970s, curated by Thomas Huston (OC ‘13).

Image:
Poster for Live Performance, Art & Social Change, 1983
AMAM Exhibition Archives

Depicted on this chasse is the beheading of Thomas à Becket at the altar of Canterbury Cathedral by knights of King Henry II (the result of an ongoing feud between Becket and Henry over the separation of Church and State). Becket’s blood stained the floor and was collected by the cathedral clergy, diluted with water, and distributed to pilgrims who traveled to Canterbury after the saint’s death. Known as “Becket Water,” this mixture was said to perform miracles, curing illnesses and healing deformities when consumed. Limoges Becket chasses like this one may have contained Becket Water at one point, or perhaps the saint’s corporeal relics that were distributed all over Western Europe.Image:FrenchReliquary Chasse Depicting the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas à Becket, ca. 1210Gilded copper alloy and champlevé enamel over wood core Gift of Baroness René de Kerchove, 1952.20 
Pop-upView Separately

Depicted on this chasse is the beheading of Thomas à Becket at the altar of Canterbury Cathedral by knights of King Henry II (the result of an ongoing feud between Becket and Henry over the separation of Church and State). Becket’s blood stained the floor and was collected by the cathedral clergy, diluted with water, and distributed to pilgrims who traveled to Canterbury after the saint’s death. Known as “Becket Water,” this mixture was said to perform miracles, curing illnesses and healing deformities when consumed. Limoges Becket chasses like this one may have contained Becket Water at one point, or perhaps the saint’s corporeal relics that were distributed all over Western Europe.

Image:
French
Reliquary Chasse Depicting the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas à Becket, ca. 1210
Gilded copper alloy and champlevé enamel over wood core
 Gift of Baroness René de Kerchove, 1952.20 

This work is featured in our current exhibition, Illuminating Faith in the Russian Old Believer Tradition, on view through July 31. The account of St. John the Baptist’s descent into Hell after his beheading derives from apocryphal literature and carries a particular apocalyptic inflection for Old Believers, who consider the end of time to be near. In Hell, St. John the Baptist, also known as St. John the Precursor in Eastern Orthodoxy, meets the patriarchs and prophets from the Old Testament to announce those souls that Christ would take away during the Second Coming. The artist has portrayed St. John with wings, an indication of his multi-layered sanctity as angel, apostle, and martyr. Image:Russian, late 18th–early 19th centuryDescent of St. John the Baptist into HellInk and color on paperGift of Frederick Binkerd Artz, 1958.32H 
Pop-upView Separately

This work is featured in our current exhibition, Illuminating Faith in the Russian Old Believer Tradition, on view through July 31.

The account of St. John the Baptist’s descent into Hell after his beheading derives from apocryphal literature and carries a particular apocalyptic inflection for Old Believers, who consider the end of time to be near. In Hell, St. John the Baptist, also known as St. John the Precursor in Eastern Orthodoxy, meets the patriarchs and prophets from the Old Testament to announce those souls that Christ would take away during the Second Coming. The artist has portrayed St. John with wings, an indication of his multi-layered sanctity as angel, apostle, and martyr.


Image:
Russian, late 18th–early 19th century
Descent of St. John the Baptist into Hell
Ink and color on paper
Gift of Frederick Binkerd Artz, 1958.32H 

Our final First Thursday of the semester is this week! Join us as we welcome Audrey Flack to the museum. A pioneer of Photorealism and a nationally recognized painter and sculptor, Flack will give a lecture titled: Women the Passion and the Sorrow in conjunction with the exhibition, “Religion, Ritual and Performance in Modern and Contemporary Art.” This talk is sponsored by the AMAM and the Art Department Ellen Johnson Fund. Originally scheduled to give a talk in November, and delayed by Hurricane Sandy, we are thrilled to welcome her to campus. The talk will begin at 5:30pm, and galleries remain open until 8pm. Hope to see you there!
Pop-upView Separately

Our final First Thursday of the semester is this week! Join us as we welcome Audrey Flack to the museum. A pioneer of Photorealism and a nationally recognized painter and sculptor, Flack will give a lecture titled: Women the Passion and the Sorrow in conjunction with the exhibition, “Religion, Ritual and Performance in Modern and Contemporary Art.” This talk is sponsored by the AMAM and the Art Department Ellen Johnson Fund.

Originally scheduled to give a talk in November, and delayed by Hurricane Sandy, we are thrilled to welcome her to campus. The talk will begin at 5:30pm, and galleries remain open until 8pm. Hope to see you there!

Among the ten paintings in the collection of the Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) that were gifts of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1961, is one by the artist Giampietrino of the death of Cleopatra, dating to circa 1515. The painting is the AMAM’s closest link to the work of Leonardo da Vinci, as Giampietrino is known to have worked in his studio.

It had been in storage, due to discolored varnish, uneven surface, extensive overpaints, and cleaving paint. With a generous grant fro the Kress Foundation, the painting was conserved from 2010-2012 at the Intermuseum Conservation Association in Cleveland (an organization founded in 1952 at Oberlin College with the support of AMAM director Charles Parkhurst). 

In this video, AMAM Director Andria Derstine and ICA paintings conservator Andrea Chevalier discuss the extensive process of research and conservation, which included submitting the painting to x-ray scans, ultraviolet imaging, infra-red reflectography, and comparisons to similar work in other collections. Very interesting!

This Thursday and Friday, April 25 and 26, we will be hosting a very special symposium on Renaissance art in conjunction with our year-long exhibition “Religion, Ritual and Performance in the Renaissance” which presents important Renaissance paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from the AMAM and the Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) collections. The symposium - free and open to the public - will be held in the museum’s King Sculpture Court, and will last from 11am to 6:30pm on April 25, and from 9am to 5pm on April 26.Presenters include Oberlin College faculty members from the Art, English, History and Musicology departments, three Oberlin College students who were selected via a competitive process, faculty from Case Western Reserve University, Washington & Lee University, Miami University of Ohio, and Ohio State University, along with staff from the AMAM, the YUAG, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Intermuseum Conservation Association. These two days promise to be exciting ones, and the public is warmly urged to attend. Presentations will range widely on topics related to medieval, Renaissance and baroque art, literature, history and music, as well as pilgrimage and religious practice.A complete schedule of speakers and events can be found on the symposium’s page here. If you are in town, we hope you can make it out to some of the talks!
Pop-upView Separately

This Thursday and Friday, April 25 and 26, we will be hosting a very special symposium on Renaissance art in conjunction with our year-long exhibition “Religion, Ritual and Performance in the Renaissance” which presents important Renaissance paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from the AMAM and the Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) collections. The symposium - free and open to the public - will be held in the museum’s King Sculpture Court, and will last from 11am to 6:30pm on April 25, and from 9am to 5pm on April 26.

Presenters include Oberlin College faculty members from the Art, English, History and Musicology departments, three Oberlin College students who were selected via a competitive process, faculty from Case Western Reserve University, Washington & Lee University, Miami University of Ohio, and Ohio State University, along with staff from the AMAM, the YUAG, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Intermuseum Conservation Association.

These two days promise to be exciting ones, and the public is warmly urged to attend. Presentations will range widely on topics related to medieval, Renaissance and baroque art, literature, history and music, as well as pilgrimage and religious practice.

A complete schedule of speakers and events can be found on the symposium’s page here. 

If you are in town, we hope you can make it out to some of the talks!

Check out our new video (with music and captions!) documenting the recent creation of a sawdust carpet in the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s King Sculpture Court. The carpet was de-installed on April 14. During that time, we had a large number of visitors who saw the installation, from a second-grade tour to adults and admitted students in town for All Roads Lead to Oberlin visitation days. 

And, if you like this be sure to visit our Vimeo page for our other videos. More to come!

bettyv: Romare Bearden, Conjur Woman, 1975, collage of various papers with paint and ink on wood, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin CollegeRead an interview with Bearden about the inspiration for this and similar works here  This collage is currently on view in our Ellen Johnson Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, through May 26. 
Pop-upView Separately

bettyv:

Romare Bearden, Conjur Woman, 1975, collage of various papers with paint and ink on wood, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College

Read an interview with Bearden about the inspiration for this and similar works here 

This collage is currently on view in our Ellen Johnson Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, through May 26. 

(via blackcontemporaryart)

Source: bettyv

This small-scale object features Adam and Eve after their expulsion from paradise. Both figures are evidently ashamed: their bodies are hunched forward and shrouded, with Eve holding onto Adam’s arm, raised to obscure his face. Neither figure looks upward, building tension between the viewer and the depicted subjects. It is as if the viewer is being immersed in the very moment that God uttered to the pair, “What is this that thou hast done?” (Genesis 3:13). The scale and intended installation of the object in a collector’s cabinet would have permitted a close and personal viewing experience. The medium also played a notable role in situating the viewer’s encounter with the sculpture. Ivory was considered a precious material and objects carved from it were admired for their fine detail.Currently on view in the museum’s East Gallery, this work is included in our gallery flip book situating permanent collection works within our year-long theme of Religion, Ritual and Performance.Image:NetherlandishExpulsion from Paradise (Adam and Eve), ca. 1600IvoryR.T. Miller, Jr. Fund, 1959.114
Pop-upView Separately

This small-scale object features Adam and Eve after their expulsion from paradise. Both figures are evidently ashamed: their bodies are hunched forward and shrouded, with Eve holding onto Adam’s arm, raised to obscure his face. Neither figure looks upward, building tension between the viewer and the depicted subjects. It is as if the viewer is being immersed in the very moment that God uttered to the pair, “What is this that thou hast done?” (Genesis 3:13).

The scale and intended installation of the object in a collector’s cabinet would have permitted a close and personal viewing experience. The medium also played a notable role in situating the viewer’s encounter with the sculpture. Ivory was considered a precious material and objects carved from it were admired for their fine detail.

Currently on view in the museum’s East Gallery, this work is included in our gallery flip book situating permanent collection works within our year-long theme of Religion, Ritual and Performance.

Image:
Netherlandish
Expulsion from Paradise (Adam and Eve), ca. 1600
Ivory
R.T. Miller, Jr. Fund, 1959.114