WCMA

	Ralph Lieberman: Photographs June 27 – November 28, 2009 Lieberman’s elegantly constructed compositions are inspired by architecture that he has encountered from Europe to the Williams College campus. His photographs focus attention on the highly individual character of these unexpected spaces, as well as a range of architectural forms and styles. Ralph Lieberman lives and works in Williamstown, Mass.
	Edward Steichen: Episodes from a Life in Photography June 6 – November 8, 2009 Featuring 90 photographs created throughout Steichen’s prolific career, Episodes includes unique hand-crafted prints, still lifes, “natural” abstractions, designs for textiles, and a rare presentation of twenty-five photographs for Thoreau’s Walden.
	Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, The Condé Nast Years, 1923-1927 May 30—September 13, 2009 Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Years, 1923–1937 presents over 180 photographs that Steichen made while working as Chief Photographer for two of Condé Nast’s best known magazines: Vogue and Vanity Fair. Steichen photographed models wearing fashion from some of the most famous designers of the period including Worth, Poiret, Chanel, and Schiaparelli. He also created portraits of the most prominent figures in literature, journalism, dance, sport, politics, theatre, and film for Vanity Fair, including Greta Garbo, Winston Churchill, Marlene Dietrich, George Gershwin, Frank Lloyd Wright, Amelia Earhart, and Walt Disney. Between the two World Wars, Steichen revolutionized fashion photography while becoming known as “the most famous portrait photographer in the world.” Organized by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis, the Musée de E’lysée, Lausanne, Switzerland, and the International Center of Photography, New York in collaboration with Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Mass.
	Lincoln to the Nth Degree March 28–June 28, 2009 Press Release Lincoln to the Nth Degre, an exhibition in honor of the two-hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Featuring 45 works of various media, this exhibition examines the extent to which Lincoln encouraged the construction and dissemination of his image throughout his political career. Drawn from the museum’s collection, as well as the Williams College Archives and the Chapin Library of Rare Books and Manuscripts, the anthology of images and texts recounts the Lincoln myth as it was during his lifetime and after his death.
	*Labeltalk 2009: Vik Muniz* January 17–May 17, 2009 (exhibition extended) Press Release Labeltalk is an innovative exhibition series that highlights the rich teaching potential of art. Each exhibition presents artwork from the museum’s collection along with a brochure that includes written responses by Williams faculty from different disciplines, illustrating multiple perspectives on art. This project is the seventh in a series originally created in 1995 with the support of a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
	The Matter of Theology: A Conversation with the Collection March 22, 2008 and ongoing Press Release The Matter of Theology, an exhibition that pairs selections from the museum's permanent collection with theological questions that aid viewers in seeing art from a different perspective. Here, art objects, originally created for various religious purposes, are placed in a new context, allowing the viewer to consider larger questions about spirituality and meaning. This long-term installation was organized by Amanda Hellman, Williams College Graduate Student in the History of Art, Class of 2008.
	Manifestos: American Dreams and Their Founding Documents January 19, 2008 and ongoing Press Release One of Williams’ greatest treasures are the founding documents of the United States of America, including the Declaration of Independence, the British Reply to the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers. Usually housed in Chapin’s Rare Book Library, these documents are on view at the museum while a new library is being built. They are displayed in the galleries devoted to American art, with works that will give context to how they have shaped over 200 years of national identity.
	Specimens of a Higher Art: Ancient Art from the Collection Ongoing Using the theme of ancient art, this exhibition demonstrates how fine art was slowly incorporated into the educational values of Williams College and acquired by the museum. It iterates the importance of firsthand study of works of fine art. This ongoing exhibition includes artworks from WCMA’s permanent collection, featuring in part: Assyrian reliefs, an Egyptian wood polychromed head, a Roman togate figure, a red-figure Greek vase, a pink sandstone sculpture of Shiva, and an African Dogon mask.