Past Exhibitions: 2001-2009

In participation with National Arts and Humanities month (October), GW's University Art Gallery exhibited Ocean of Ink, River of Fire, which embodied the spirit of creativity, culture and community practiced in the museum world.

The exhibition featured painting and calligraphy by Stephen Addiss and ceramics by Randy Edmonson, Scott Meredith, Cricket Edmonson, John Jessiman and Stephen Addiss.

Watercolors, drawings and prints by Francisco Castillo on the subject of Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, Don Quijote and featuring sketches and a model for the sculpture, Don Quijote Deconstructed by Juan Romero de Terreros. 

In celebration of 75 years of CBS broadcasting history, The George Washington University presented “America Through the CBS Eye”, a traveling exhibition of memorable images taken by CBS photographers as far back as 1928, when CBS first began broadcasting as a radio network.

About 120 photographs were displayed in the Brady Gallery and distributed among cases on the first and second floor of the Media and Public Affairs Building.  They represented a sampling of images taken by CBS photographers contained in the CBS Entertainment Archives and record entertainers and personalities that have come into our homes over the past seventy years.

“In Illo Tempore” refers to a Latin phrase from the Gospels, and is similar to the English “Once upon a time…”  This general sense of being out of the mainstream suggests something eternal, which is the essence of Vicente Pascual’s approach to geometric abstraction in his acrylic and ink paintings.  Inspired by the rugged Roman walls of his birthplace, the Aragonese city of Zaragoza, Pascual creates paintings that engage the built environment.  Architectural texture and form influence Pascual’s painted surfaces and are characterized in his color palette, which brings to mind sand, earth and soil.  Pascual’s work favors centralized arrangements of extremely simple geometric forms on generally monochromatic grounds.  His paintings represent a harmonious union between rigor and freedom.

The exhibit, Campus Icons, highlighted a selection of public sculptures that we pass on campus everyday.  It strove to offer information on the history and provenance of each sculpture and to celebrate the process of the artist and donor involvement in the enhancement of the physical environment of the campus.

The idea of an icon is central to this exhibition.  The sculptures situated on campus have become important and enduring symbols of the University and its growth. The George Washington University campus has been enlivened by plaques, memorials and monuments enhancing the physical campus environment, their permanence  adding a sense of familiarity and comfort to the area.

An exhibition of approximately 60 extraordinarily rare and beautiful antique khorjin (two-pouched saddlebags) and mafrash (box-like storage and transport bags) from Northwest Persia used for the transport of personal belongings and bedding.  These rare bags often represent the epitome of personal Near Eastern textile art in the 19^th century.  Many objects are complete with original backs, conveying information rarely seen in any exhibition of like material.  Others are the decorated faces of the bags.  The objects illustrate several structural techniques used in the region: sumak wrapping, kilim and pile, among others.       

Clarice Smith captured the essence of place, individuality of a subject and mood of the moment in her nineteen paintings in this exhibit.  She has stated, “I paint the world I live in, the things I know,” such as the dynamism of a horse in motion and the heavy atmosphere surrounding a particular road in the Scottish Highlands.  Smith infuses conventional stylistic approaches to painting and composition with touches of her own invention.  Patterning found in nature, people and objects is of paramount interest to Smith, and serves as the springboard for her compositions. 

In her career of almost 30 years of painting, the visual artist remains a passionate traveler and student of art history. Smith received her Bachelor of Arts (1976) and Master of Fine Arts (1979) degrees from GW.  She was on the faculty of the Department of Fine Arts and Art History from 1980 to 1987.  A seven-museum tour of her work Clarice Smith: Remembered Moments, included a stop at GW’s Dimock Gallery in 1986.  The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, exhibited Clarice Smith: Paintings in 1988, and her work has been included in exhibitions at The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.  

The mission of this exhibit was to increase understanding and tolerance through cultural exchange, specifically through exhibiting this internationally renowned artist who found inspiration through spiritual, written, and visual sources.

Catalogue Excerpt:

Using materials that felt familiar from use – scraps of fabric, wood, string, wire, pieces from children’s games, printed labels and other discarded items – artist Hannelore Baron constructed intimately scaled works that offer glimpses into history, the human condition and the artist’s past. Baron is known for the highly personal, intimately sized abstract collages and box constructions that she began exhibiting in the last 1960s. During her life, the ideas expressed in her work grew more complex, introspective and personal; while at the same time they communicated a universal message about nationalism, war and cruelty.

The exhibit was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in cooperation with the Estate of Hannelore Baron and Manny Silverman Gallery in Los Angeles.

The over 40 photographic images in this show were been brought together by a professional philosopher, Peter Caws, GW University Professor of Philosophy, working hand in hand with a professional photographer, Nancy Breslin (M.F.A., University of Delaware, 2000). They were chosen with a specific idea in mind. The idea is to persuade the viewer not just to stop briefly in front of each image and then pass on, but at least in some cases if not in all to come and rest (to be “arrested”): to detach for the moment from the environment, from past and future; to confront the images in a wide-awake and questioning way free of expectations; to let them start chains of reflection and inquiry that will not end here but will persist and spill over into other aspects of life.

This collection of paintings and works on paper celebrated Tunisia’s traditions of tolerance and openness as depicted through a century of art.

Including the works of such pioneering artists as Abdelaziz Gorgi, Jallel Ben Abdallah, Jules Lellouche and Pierre Boucherle, the exhibit explored the development of a unique artistic tradition, which combined European influences with traditional indigenous elements. The situation of this Mediterranean country as a crossroads of European, North African, Islamic and Jewish cultures is reflected in the variety and richness of its art.

This exhibition was supported by the Milton and Miriam Handler Foundation.

Approximately 40 works by emerging student artists were featured in the Annual Awards Show.  The exhibition juxtaposed traditional pieces alongside more innovative works. For example, the paintings displayed a range of styles from the colorful dabs of paint in Anne Letterer’s Bench People, to the sweeping application of oil stick and collage on paper in Valentine Wolly’s Memories.  The featured photographs also demonstrated different styles through an exploration of the technical possibilities of photography. Pamela Nabholz’s images are painterly and ethereal, while Danielle DiRosario’s photographs of the human body border on abstraction.  Particularly remarkable was the variety of ceramics in the exhibition.  The works in clay are sculptural and engaging. Shelley Stevens’ work, for example, plays off the relationship between found pieces of wood and complementary ceramics.

Awards were given for work in aquarelle painting, ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. The judge was George Hemphill, owner of Hemphill Fine Arts, who also selected the works for inclusion in the exhibition.

Fritz Scholder displayed works by the notable Native American painter, printmaker and sculptor. This exhibition opened concurrently with the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall. The works on view were on loan from The Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University and the private collection of Luther W. Brady, M.D.

Normally private collectors’ works can only be seen by their friends and family. However, the upcoming exhibition at GW’s Luther W. Brady Art Gallery will enable the public to glimpse the diversity of the collections from some of the gallery’s patrons and members of the GW community. The continued operation of the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery is made possible through the generosity of its patrons, particularly the Friends of the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery. While these donors support public access to art through the efforts of the gallery, they also maintain their own art collections. 
 
The exhibition represents a small sampling of the collections of the gallery’s patrons and members of the GW community. Many collectors have a variety of interests. For example, Dr. Seymour and Ruth R. Perlin are represented not only by a print by Alberto Giacometti, but also by several embroidered Chinese collars. Other collectors, such as Richard Isaacson who collects Central Asian textiles, focus on one topic. The Uzbek saddlebag known as a “Khorjin,” lent by Isaacson, demonstrates the craftsmanship and esteem that culture devotes to its textiles. For this exhibition, Dr. and Mrs. S. Lifschutz have lent not only pieces they have collected, such as a table and chair by George Nakashima, but also works by Phyllis Lifschutz herself. These watercolors, which depict scenes of nature, evoke the works of J.M.W. Turner. 

Taken together, the selections included in The George Washington University Community Collects indicate the variety of tastes and motivations behind collecting. The patrons and GW community members have the opportunity to showcase their work, while the wider public has the rare chance to view these normally hidden treasures.

An exhibition of selected ancient Korean ceramics, private collection of Lawrence Rozanski, allows us to present a display of formidable and beautiful objects never before seen by the general public. Lawrence Rozanski collected these works after the Korean War during and after his service there.  As he lived in the country, he learned and appreciated the quality of Korean art forms.  He developed a knowledge of the bold and the distinctive designs, and the connoisseurship necessary to assemble a group of pieces with a discerning eye. 

The Age of Enlightenment represents a critical time in American history when the country was established and the culture was formed. During the century that followed, the early days of our nation were glorified and romanticized. This exhibition examined how these interpretations continue to shape our understanding of the past. The works include pieces on loan from the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum as well as works from the GW Permanent Collection.

A ballerina’s toe shoes are envisioned tapping inside an impossibly small box, Lego blocks are assembled to create an image of the dollar bill, and Barbie doll parts are arranged inside a red tableaux. These are among the 30 works by emerging student artists featured in the Annual Awards Show at GW’s Luther W. Brady Art Gallery. The exhibition juxtaposes traditional pieces alongside more innovative works. For example, there are a number of technically precise, realistic drawings including a riveting life-like self portrait by Christopher Locke, along with abstract paintings, evidenced by the swirls of color on Valentine Wolly’s large diptych and the hints of brilliant color through the stark black background on Nicholas Moses’ works. The featured photographs also demonstrate different styles through an exploration of the technical possibilities of photography. Pamela Nabholz’s images are painterly and ethereal, while the focus and resolution in Diana Rodrigues’ photographs make the subjects appear three-dimensional. The show also features a number of works incorporating new media, including flash animation and a video installation.

Awards have been given for work in aquarelle painting, ceramics, design, drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture. David Furchgott, president and CEO of International Arts and Artists, served as this year’s judge and selected the works for inclusion in the exhibition.

This year’s biennial exhibition, the 18th from the collections of members of the Washington Print Club, presents small works of art on paper that are visually arresting and technically adept at evoking a universal theme within a small format. The approximately 60 prints on display will include works by old masters and contemporary artists. The exhibition features prints by John Sloan, Rockwell Kent, and James Abbott McNeil Whistler, along with prints by lesser known artists such as Hans Sebald Beham, Clinton Adams, and Elizabeth Catlett. Often the joy of collecting prints is in the “hunt.” There is a pristine Whistler print in the show that had an unusual provenance…it was discovered at a flea market amidst a box of frames. 

            All of these works are drawings or original prints that the artist was involved in making, as opposed to photographic and mechanical reproductions.  While most of the works in the show are by major American and European artists, a few of the gems are by artists who resided in Washington, such as Prentiss Taylor, Jacob Kainen, Lou Stovall, and Charles Ritchie.

a collection of 24 expressionistic landscapes, including both large prints and smaller sketches. Walker’s characteristically broad, painterly brushstrokes and bold color palette emphasize the great force of nature behind his chosen subject matter, the wooded mountains of Colorado and the coastal area of Maine, where he has owned a home for many years. Many of these works were executed out of doors, which contributes to the feeling of immediacy in the brushwork and the constant flux of shapes, lines and colors.

Merging the arts and sciences in an innovative and collaborative approach, GW has sponsored exhibitions and events throughout the year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of three of Albert Einstein’s most important papers. These papers showed how to demonstrate the atomistic property of matter, launched the quantum theory of light and matter, and gave us a revolutionary new picture of space and time.

The Luther W. Brady Art Gallery will feature 14 photographs of Albert Einstein on loan from the photography collection of President and Mrs. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg and Mrs. Francine Zorn Trachtenberg.  Among photographers represented in the collection are Yousuef Karsh, Lotte Jacobi, Lucien Aigner, and Alfred Eisentaedt.  Einstein’s never before publicly exhibited furniture (3 pieces), on loan from the Institute for Advanced Study Historical Society of Princeton, also will also be on display throughout the exhibit.  Mrs. Trachtenberg provides a narrative for the photographs on display.  Finally, William Parke, GW professor of physics, assists the gallery by creatinges graphics to givethat express expression to the exhibition by combining quotations from Einstein’s and a timeline of his scientific and humanistic contributions.

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of the publication of the iconic work El Ingenioso Hildalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery is pleased to present a collection of publications and artworks based on Miguel de Cervantes’ memorable character.  By combining books, sculpture, paintings and drawings, the exhibit covers the many facets of Don Quijote that have emerged from 1605 until present day.  We are honored to acknowledge the co-sponsorship of the event by the Spanish Mission to the OAS (Mision Observadora Permanente de España ante la OEA) and we are grateful to the Embassy of Spain, Washington, Cultural Office for their cooperation on this exhibition.   We are indebted to Professors Ellen Echeverria and Ines Azar from the Department of Romance, German, and Slavic Languages and Literatures. 

A show of Sam Gilliam’s rarely seen prints will be exhibited in Sam Gilliam: Prints from the Artist’s Collection at the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery.  In this first retrospective treatment of Gilliam’s printed works, the experimental quality seen throughout his painting career also is true of his prints. Sam Gilliam: Prints from the Artist’s Collection presents a selected, yet comprehensive, range of his printmaking oeuvre.  While some of his prints exhibit the irregular shapes and bold colors so characteristic of his paintings, others are cool and minimally austere.

The exhibition of 15 works of art was organized by GW’s Luther W. Brady Art Gallery along with the Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, D.C., as a complement to Gilliam’s recent retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  In a Wall Street Journal review of the retrospective Tom Freudenheim writes, “Throughout his career, Mr. Gilliam has investigated how colors interact, in the tradition of Hans Hofmann, to whom he often seems to be paying homage.”

The accompanying catalogue to Sam Gilliam: Prints from the Artist’s Collection features an essay by Ruth Fine, curator of Special Projects in Modern Art at the National Gallery of Art.  

An ethereal figure shifts in front of a black background.  Insect forms curl on top of ceramic cylinders, and painted teabags cover the canvas symbolizing the transience of life. These are among the 26 works by emerging student artists featured in the Annual Awards Show at GW’s Luther W. Brady Art Gallery.  With a diverse group of media and styles, this year’s exhibition places contemporary work in drawing and sculpture such as a sewn fabric, burlap and yarn piece, Reliquary, by Carolyne King alongside traditional ceramic work like Hilary Sloate’s mosaic panels, Fruit of the Vine.

Awards have been given for work in ceramics, design, drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture. This year’s judge is Phyllis Rosenzweig, Former Curator of Works on Paper at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden who also selected the works for inclusion in the exhibition.

Though known for his painting, Olitski’s monotypes exhibit his enormous artistic talent in a new medium. A celebrated artist, Olitski’s many honors include representing the United States in the 1966 Venice Biennale, a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969, election to the National Academy in 1993, induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters on May 17, 2006 in New York City.  His work is in the collections of such institutions as the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Tate. Celebrated by Clement Greenberg as a great “Color Field” painter, Olitski continues undiminished with experimental use of color in his works.

In a catalogue produced by GW’s Luther W. Brady gallery, Andrew Hudson, former art critic for the Washington Post, writes “Olitski helps us recapture a child’s excited involvement, wonder, joy, delight.  Instantly, eagerly, we recognize these moments of truth: his art renews us, makes us more alive.” The catalogue features a great variety of original materials, including an appreciation by Hudson, entitled “A Landscape We Already Know But Never Saw This Way Before,” and an essay by Lenore D. Miller, GW’s director of university art galleries. Jules Olitski: Works on Paper is presented in conjunction with the city-wide celebration, “Washington D.C. Celebrates American Originals” and a national campaign, where Congress has designated 2006 “The Year of the Museum.”

Part of the educational mission of the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery is to collect, preserve, and display works of art for the University and surrounding community. As part of this effort, the gallery mounts exhibitions of art of historical and educational importance throughout the year, maintains a loan program throughout the University so more of the collection may be seen, and works to expand and improve the permanent collection. GW has collected artwork since 1821 and now owns works by such renowned artists as Rembrandt Peale, Gilbert Stuart, Marc Chagall, William Hogarth, and Sam Gilliam.  With more than 3,600 works of art, the GW Permanent Collection constantly is growing through gifts and purchases.

Presented in the second floor display cases in GW’s Media and Public Affairs Building, this recent gift of wood art from the collection of Jane and Arthur Mason demonstrates great craftsmanship and inspired design from a variety of artists. The artists represented in the exhibition are: Trent Bosch, Phil Brown, Dan Cunningham, Dan DeLuz, Joe Dickey, David Ellsworth, Michael Hosaluk, Bill Johnson, John Jordan, Dan Kvitka, Stoney Lamar, Bruce Mitchell, Gene Pozzesi, Allen Ritzman, Jack R. Slentz, Tim Stokes, and Jack Straka.  After Dec. 23, the works will be permanently displayed on the first floor of GW’s Gelman Library. 

Since 2002, the Franz and Virginia Bader Fund has distributed $185,000 to 10 grantees. For many of the artists the grant came at a critical juncture in their careers, enabling them to sustain a dream of self-realization through their art.  The funds enabled the artists to take time off from other jobs, cover traveling expenses for exhibitions, construct new studio space, and experiment in other media. The Luther W. Brady Art Gallery exhibits the work of the first seven recipients of this unique grant. The artists in the exhibition are Alex Kanevsky, Steven Kenny, the late Kevin MacDonald (GW B.F.A. ’69), Susan Moore, Scott Noel, Charles Ritchie, and GW Visiting Assistant Professor Yuriko Yamaguchi.  The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Kevin MacDonald (1946 – 2006).

The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund was established in 2001 in accordance to the will of the late Virginia Bader to provide grants to visual artists who have reached the age of 40 and reside within 150 miles of Washington, D.C.   

The George Washington University is filled with familiar landmarks - the tempietto in Kogan Plaza, the Jack Morton Auditorium in GW’s Media and Public Affairs Building, and the unforgettable city view atop 1957 E Street- which leave an indelible “GW” mark on visitors. Without such landmarks marking the campus, it would be difficult to discern between the University and the rest of Washington. It is therefore difficult to believe that none of these important pieces of the GW landscape existed prior to President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg’s arrival in 1988.

In its newest exhibit “Envisioning the GW Campus: The Trachtenberg Years,” the GW Luther W. Brady Art Gallery has provided a way to allow the visitor to chronicle the transformation of the GW campus into a cohesive urban environment with works of public art, green spaces, and state-of-the-art buildings.

In the exhibit opening, Trachtenberg argued that the transformation of the GW campus is a “bricks and mortar articulation of what has been going on in our classrooms and labs; a symbol of the great work our professors have done for 20 years.” He also noted that the roots GW has sunk into Foggy Bottom, pointing to the GW busts, flags, and benches scattered throughout campus give visitors a definitive GW feel.

The Luther W. Brady Art Gallery is participating in the city-wide event, ColorField.remix.  In  honor of the fifth anniversary of its dedication and in tribute of GW’s long tradition of supporting the artists and works of the Washington Color School, the Brady Art Gallery is borrowing Blue Column II, an acrylic on canvas from 1960 by Morris Louis who, along with Kenneth Noland, is credited with the founding of the Washington Color School.  Drawing from its history of both exhibiting and collecting the works of artists such as Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Howard Mehring, Alma Thomas, and Willem de Looper, the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery will build on the 1984 exhibition Generations of the Washington Color School, held at the Dimock Gallery. New additions to the GW Permanent Collection by de Looper and local artist Amy Lin will be shown along with a never before seen work by New York artist Rosette Bakish, who studied with Robert Motherwell. 

New Yorkers Lucy and Robert Reitzfeld are unusual in that they are collectors who also make art.  Exploring the many storefront galleries to be found in New York’s East Village and SoHo during the 1980s and 90s, they came in contact with artists and art dealers, became their friends, and while producing works themselves, collected works by an eclectic group of artists active in this vibrant moment in the art world. With an aesthetic that grew out of a love for the streetscape of New York, pop culture, and the inspiration of comic art, together they sought out divergent but compatible works to collect.

The collection of seventeen paintings includes a piece by prominent DC artist Robin Rose as well as works by David Carrino, Charles Clough, David Diao, Stephen Ellis, and Melissa Meyer.  Three of the paintings on view are by Lucy and Robert Reitzfeld.

“Inherent in the process of printmaking is the element of suspense,” wrote Judith Stein in the exhibition’s catalog.  The more than forty prints by renowned Color Field artist Jules Olitski parallel his painting styles during his long career.  Olitski began making etchings in 1956, working in both abstract and figurative modes.  This retrospective of prints was organized by Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont in collaboration with Knoedler and Company, New York, NY, and the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery is the third stop on a multi-city tour.  Many of the works display the amazing awareness and command over color that Olitski also demonstrated in his paintings.  The prints range from early self-portraits, to diaphanous screenprints from the 1970s, to intensely brilliant monotypes that were created during the last years of his life.