The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) will commemorate 40 years of activity with a new exhibition of rarely seen works that will open on Saturday, October 16.
“40 years, 40 stories: treasures and new discoveries from the SAMA collection” presents a selection of 40 works taken from storage. Much of the exhibit has not been shown for many years, and some pieces are being shown for the first time.
The exhibition is curated by Jessica Powers, Acting Chief Curator of SAMA and Gilbert M. Denman Jr. Curator of Art of the Ancient Mediterranean World. The museum’s curatorial team selected the pieces “as works of particular personal interest, inspiration and fascination”.
Two recently restored pieces will be on display.
The first, the 1767 painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds Marie, Dame Arundell of Wardour, was sent to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston in 2016 for a lengthy curatorial project that was completed this year. The other, the Chinese scroll from the 17th to the beginning of the 18th century Spring in bloom of peach tree was repaired and reassembled so that it could be safely unrolled for viewing.
Another highlight of the exhibition is a portrait of Pola Negri, the Polish Hollywood star who retired to San Antonio and bequeathed the painting to the museum. In connection with the exhibition, SAMA will screen Negri’s film Imperial Hotel Friday October 22.
âAll of the works featured in the exhibit have a story to tell about culture, community and history,â Powers said in a statement. “The exhibition offers an exciting range of creative and technical innovations across time and captures the ways in which material culture has always been and continues to be essential for both constructing and understanding the world in which we live.”
Powers added: âAt the same time, re-examining our collection seemed like the perfect way to celebrate the Museum’s 40th anniversary. This is an opportunity to explore the evolution of the collection and is also informative as we continue to incorporate works into our collections that capture the diversity of artistic production across time, geography and media. ”
$ 10 to $ 20, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 16-Jan. 2, 2022, San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 978-8100, samuseum.org.
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