(Cazenovia, NY – June 2015) The Cazenovia Public Library is pleased to welcome back Anna D’Ambrosio, Director and Chief Curator at Munson Williams Proctor Museum of Art in Utica and Paul D’Ambrosio, President and CEO of the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown. All are invited to join them in the Library Community Room at 7 p.m. on Tuesday June 30 for “Monet to Matisse and Maxfield Parrish: A Season of Art in Utica and Cooperstown.”
Anna D’Ambrosio will present Monet to Matisse: The Age of French Impressionism, a current exhibition at Munson Williams Proctor Museum of Art, and the first time in its nearly 80-year history that the Museum has hosted an exhibition of French Impressionism. Featuring more than 60 paintings and pastel drawings, the exhibition includes landscapes, portraits, interiors, and still lifes by leaders of French Impressionism.
With an expansive view of nineteenth-century French painting and its influences, Monet to Matisse tells the story of artistic freedom and the shift from stilted academic historicism to near abstraction. Through the eyes of the artists and the paintings they created, the enchantment of Paris, the French countryside, and the foundation of the most important artistic movements of the twentieth century are all revealed.
Organized thematically, the subject matter of Monet to Matisse ranges from shimmering seacoasts and sun-bathed rural Normandy to lively Parisians socializing in cafés, attending the ballet, or strolling leisurely on the city’s newly renovated grand boulevards. Landscapes and seascapes fill the gallery walls with glorious colors and light, while interior views capture the vivacity of modern Paris.
Paul D’Ambrosio continues “A Season of Art” with Maxfield Parrish: Art of Light and Illusion, on exhibit at the Fenimore Art Museum until Sept. 7. As one of the most popular American artists of the twentieth century, Maxfield Parrish created fantastic images of fairy-tale figures and idyllic landscapes in a style that was all his own.
The Fenimore exhibition features approximately 45 pieces comprised of paintings, prints, and sketches as well as photographs that show Parrish’s influence in contemporary films. These all illustrate the intricate creative process used by Parrish that enabled him to produce fantastical works of American art.
Through a prolific career that spanned from the 1890’s through the 1960’s, Parrish became one of America’s first truly “public” artists. The mass reproduction of his paintings—originally intended as book and magazine illustrations, advertisements, calendars, and murals—ensured his reputation as one of the most widely known figures in the history of art. Today, his magical artwork continues to capture the imagination and to inspire artists, musicians, and filmmakers alike.
Readers will recall the previous presentation at the Cazenovia Public Library by Anna D’Ambrosio: Shadow of the Sphinx: Ancient Egypt and Its Influence. Since 2006, Paul D’Ambrosio has presented insightful commentary on several occasions on such noted artists as Winslow Homer, Grandma Moses, Frederick Remington, and others.
All events at the Cazenovia Public Library are free and open to the public.
For more information on the June 30 presentations or other events at the Library, call 655-9322 or visit www.cazenoviapubliclibrary.org.