Williams College Museum of Art Presents Moving Pictures: American Art and Early Film, 1880–1910 July 16, 2005-December 11, 2005
George Luks (1866-1933)
The Spielers, 1905
oil on canvas
Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, Gift of anonymous donor, 1931.9
American Mutoscope & Biograph Company A Tough Dance, 1902, 250 feet (68 mm)
Producer: Wallace McCutcheon; camera: Robert K. Bonine
The Library of Congress, Paper Print Collection
“Moving Pictures” Opening Festival Saturday, July 16, 2005
4:00–8:00 pm
Celebrate the opening of the exhibition “Moving Pictures” with an all-American country fair to be held on the museum lawn. Featuring Coney Island food, street performers, period music and dancing. Fun for children of all ages!
In “Moving Pictures,” paintings are placed alongside early films to show how artists and audiences of that period grappled with the new visual technology. The moving pictures on view are drawn primarily from the Edison, Lumière, and American Mutoscope and Biograph companies while the paintings are by such artists as Thomas Eakins, George Luks, John Sloan, and George Bellows. This important exhibition, which includes over 150 paintings, posters, and photographs and 50 films, follows the 1880 experiments of Eadward Muybridge and other motion photographers through the development of moving picture technology in the 1890s and the wave of creativity the new medium generated among American artists. The exhibition catalogue, with an accompanying interactive DVD of the paintings and films, features essays by prominent scholars from the fields of art history, film studies, and American studies. Organized by Nancy Mowll Mathews, Eugénie Prendergast Senior Curator, the exhibition travels to three other venues: Reynolda House, Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, N.C., March-July 2006; Grey Art Gallery, New York University, September-December 2006; and The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., February-May 2007.
The Williams College Museum of Art is a proud participant of "American Traditions." In the Berkshires' largest-ever event of its kind, cultural, arts and historical venues countywide present an array of programming based on America's rich and varied heritage. Coordinated with the help of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, the 2005 festival features performances, dance, artwork, and exhibitions highlighting a vast range of historical and contemporary aspects of America. For additional information on countywide events, visit www.berkshiresarts.org.
