Types and Shadows: Intimations of Divinity

Warren & Alice Jones and Paul & Betty Boshard galleries (lower level)

Opens Friday, September 18, 2009

Those who read sacred religious texts are familiar with interpreting the literary devices —metaphors, parables and allegories — employed to communicate deeper spiritual meaning. A new exhibition at the Museum of Art seeks to help visitors become more familiar with interpreting the visual symbols that artists employ to communicate profound truths about the life and mission of Jesus Christ.

“Types and Shadows: Intimations of Divinity” will encourage viewers to participate in the process of seeking out and finding meaning in the symbols, metaphors and veiled visual references that “point to” the divine mission of Jesus Christ. The 44 works in this exhibition, which include paintings, prints and sculpture, have been selected to guide the viewer through a process of seeing beyond obvious and familiar narratives. By carefully examining the visual elements within the works of art in this exhibition, visitors will find fresh meanings that resonate with their personal spiritual experiences and increase their knowledge and understanding.

“Religious art is often inspired by the artist’s most personal expressions of faith and belief,” says Dawn Pheysey, curator of religious art at the Museum of Art. “These images often have the power to articulate sacred truths that resonate with our own spiritual feelings. And just as determined searching of the scriptures expands our understanding, the careful study of sensitive religious depictions can lead to new insight and comprehension about profound gospel doctrines.”

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Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London

Marian Adelaide Morris Cannon Gallery (Main level)

closes October 24, 2009

Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London illustrates some of the highest achievements in figurative and landscape art of the nineteenth century.

Perhaps the most deeply moving of all Victorian paintings depicting the plight of the poor, this monumental work established its thirty-year-old artist as a major new talent. Shabbily dressed
people stand in a line against a wall on a freezing evening, hoping to receive a ticket from the police that will admit them for the night to a "casual ward"–a homeless shelter attached to a workhouse. The characters suggest different varieties of misery and distress: a young widow
dressed in black with a baby and little girl, a drunken man in a worn-out top hat, an unemployed
workman with a weeping wife and three shivering children, and an injured soldier in his red
jacket. The bulletin board behind them contains its own social comments: a missing dog
commands a £20 reward while a missing child merits only £2. A reward of £50 is offered for a
murderer, but twice the amount is promised for an "absconded" person–probably a runaway
servant.

Although some critics found the subject of this painting excessively shocking when it was first
displayed at the Royal Academy, the public loved it. They voted it “Painting of the Year,” and
stanchions and a policeman were placed in front of it to restrain the enthusiastic crowds. The
painting was based on an 1869 magazine illustration by the artist that attracted the admiration of
Charles Dickens who commissioned Fildes to illustrate his last novel, Edwin Drood, which was
never finished.

more about Paintings from the Reign of Victoria | listen to the audio tour stop for this painting

Victorian Art Master Class

Museum of Art Auditorium

Friday, September 25 from 1 to 5 p.m.

Learn from some of the world's leading scholars and collectors of Victorian art at a master class held in conjunction with the Victorian art exhibitions on view at the BYU MOA and the Springville Museum of Art.

This Victorian art master class will bring together Victorian art experts Angus Trumble, curator of paintings and sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art; Peter Trippi, author of J.W. Waterhouse and J.W. Waterhouse: the Modern Pre-Raphaelite and editor of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine; and Vern Swanson, author of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema: The Painter of the Victorian Vision of the Ancient World and John William Godward: The Eclipse of Classicism and director of the Springville Museum of Art. Additionally, John H. Schaeffer, an Australian businessman and Victorian art collector, will talk about his experiences collecting Victorian art.

"Having these two exhibitions on view at the same time and in such close proximity is a wonderful convergence of two of the top private collections of Victorian art," says Rita Wright, Museum of Art educator. "Those who attend this master class will gain a deeper level of understanding and insight into the works of art produced in this period, as well as the art of collecting these works today."

Admission to the Victorian Art Master Class is free; however, seating is limited. Contact the museum for more information: (801) 422-8251.

more about Paintings from the Reign of Victoria | more about the Springville exhibition

Types and Shadows Lecture

Museum Auditorium (Lower level)

Thursday, October 1 at 7 p.m.

Dr. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, a professor in the School of Religious Education at BYU, will present a lecture on the Types and Shadows exhibition in the Museum Auditorium.

Dr. Holzapfel attended BYU, Hebrew Union College, and the University of California, Irvine (BA, MA, and PhD), emphasizing ancient history, and American history. He married Jeni Broberg in 1978 and they are parents of five children and one grandson. Dr. Holzapfel came to BYU as an assistant professor in 1993, teaching in the Honors, Church History, Ancient Scripture, and History departments. He taught at the BYU Jerusalem Center from 1997 through 1998.

Admission to the lecture is free; however, seating is limited. Contact the museum for more information: (801) 422-8251.

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Victorian Art Conversations

Marian Adelaide Morris Cannon Gallery (Main level)

Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m.

Do you have an interesting personal insight about a work of art in the "Paintings from the Reign of Victoria" exhibition you are dying to share? Or are you simply interested in discovering more about Victorian art? Come join the conversation.

On Thursday, October 8, museum educators will introduce a new educational approach that helps visitors learn about art by facilitating conversations in the gallery space. Small discussion groups lead by a Victorian art expert will focus on a particular work of art. After this infinitival conversation has ended, visitors will join a conversation group in front of a different painting. Discussion leaders will be selected from the Museum of Art professional staff and the BYU Art History department. The conversations will last until 8 p.m., leaving time for visitors to participate in a few different groups.

"We are excited to give people the opportunity to learn about this exhibition in the gallery space," says Rita Wright, Museum of Art educator. "Not only will this conversation-based approach put visitors in close proximity to the paintings in the exhibition, but it will also give them the chance to participate and have more interaction with our Victorian art experts than they would have in a traditional lecture."

Admission to the Victorian Art Conversations is free; however, seating is limited. Contact the museum for more information: (801) 422-8251.

more about Paintings from the Reign of Victoria

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September 2009

Yellow Valley

V. Douglas Snow

According to artist Douglas Snow, who has a studio near Utah's Capitol Reef National Park,his life has become one with the landscape. This abstracted vision of the desert evokes a harmony between the artist and the land.

We can identify certain landscape forms in the painting, such as the lengthening shadows of trees, but we are also aware of the hand of the artist in the thick application of paint. Snow wrote, "My mind and my emotions move freely between painting essentially what I see and intensifying what I feel."

The painting is currently on view in the exhibition American Dreams: Selected Works from the Museum's Permanent Collection of American Art.

view more works by Snow in the museum's collection | read more about Snow in 15 bytes