Twelfth Annual Judith M. Lenett Lecture
by Jason A. Vrooman
at the Williams College Museum of Art
Wednesday, May 3, 2006 at 4:00 pm

Williamstown, MA–On Wednesday, May 3, Jason A. Vrooman will deliver the Twelfth Annual Judith M. Lenett Lecture, “Into the Web: Beneath the Surface of Jackson Pollock's Frieze Paintings.” This lecture will take place at the Williams College Museum of Art at 4:00 pm. A reception will follow. Both events are free and open to the public.

Vrooman is the recipient of this year’s Lenett Memorial Fellowship. Lenett Fellows spend part of the year working on specific art works at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center (WACC) and present public lectures on their findings. This year, Vrooman worked on Jackson Pollock’s Number 2, 1949, a “frieze-like” painting from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Museum of Art. The Pollock, measuring approximately sixteen feet long by three feet high, came to WACC in March for treatment. Vrooman has been working with Tom Branchick, the director of WACC, to remove a consolidant varnish coating that was applied in 1959 by conservators, “with the best of intentions,” from the background of the painting. Vrooman, originally from Alexandria Bay, New York, received his undergraduate degree in studio art from Middlebury College and will receive his M.A. from the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art this June.  Next year he will be serving as an intern in the Department of French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and his future plans include museum work, either as a curator or educator.

The Judith M. Lenett Lecture, customarily hosted by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, is being presented this year at the Williams College Museum of Art where Number 2, 1949 will hang in the exhibition Jackson Pollock at Williams College: A Tribute to Kirk Varnedoe ’67. The exhibition features three of Pollock’s “frieze-like” paintings, including Number 13A: Arabesque from the Yale University Art Gallery, which was painted on the same commercially dyed red fabric as Number 2, 1949, and served as the “control” picture for Branchick and Vrooman during treatment; Number 7, 1950 from the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Number 2, 1949, the painting Vrooman treated at WACC.  

Williams College, in cooperation with the Clark, offers a two-year course of study leading to a master of arts in the history of art.  Housed at the Clark, the program provides a two-year course of study leading to a master of arts in the history of art. The program provides a thorough professional preparation for academic and museum careers and equips graduates of the program to pursue further study and research. Williams faculty members and Clark curators teach in the program and both facilities support original academic work by the students.  Many of the program's 300-plus graduates have assumed curatorial positions and directorships at the nation's leading museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), the Getty Museum, the Guggenheim, The High Museum of Art, The Williams College Museum of Art, the Clark, and other notable institutions.

The Lenett Fellowship was created in memory of the late Judith M. Lenett, who enrolled in the Graduate Program in 1981 with a particular interest in American art and art conservation. After her premature death from cancer in 1987, Lenett's family and friends established the endowment in her name. Recipients of the competitive fellowship must demonstrate an interest in American art and an aptitude for its care and conservation. The internship at WACC usually focuses on one object chosen by the student in consultation with the staff. The Fellow's work includes analysis of the object's physical makeup, assessment of its current condition, a proposal for its treatment, and the treatment itself. Art-historical study of the object allows the Fellow to gain a multifaceted understanding of it in the context of its maker, its culture, and its passage through time.

"The Lenett Fellowship exemplifies the integrated collaborative art history research that can be done here in Williamstown, where graduate students, in satisfying their academic requirements, work on original art objects, conduct innovative research, and receive training in conservation at WACC," said Charles W. Haxthausen, director of the Graduate Program.

The Williamstown Art Conservation Center (WACC) is a nonprofit organization that treats objects ranging from historic artifacts, antiques, and heirlooms to some of the most important paintings, watercolors, drawings, photographs, sculpture, and furniture in the country. WACC also serves a center for information on all aspects of collections care. Founded in 1977 to address the conservation and preservation needs of a small consortium of collecting institutions in the Northeast, the Center now serves more than 55 member museums and historical societies in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, as well as many individuals and corporations. WACC conservators also manage and staff the Atlanta Art Conservation Center in Atlanta, Georgia, in partnership with the High Museum of Art.

Jackson Pollock at Williams College: A Tribute to Kirk Varnedoe ’67 will be on view at the Williams College Museum of Art April 14 through October 1, 2006.  

The Williams College Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the museum is wheelchair accessible. Contact: Suzanne Augugliaro, Public Relations Coordinator, 413.597.3178

Related Events:

Jackson Pollock: Beneath the Surface, A Tribute to Kirk Varnedoe ’67
Saturday, May 13, 2006

11:00 am
Gallery talk at the Williams College Museum of Art
Jason Vrooman, Graduate Student in the History of Art, Class of 2006

2:00-6:00 pm
The Plonsker Family Symposium
Brooks-Rogers Auditorium, Bernhard Music Center at Williams College

Adam Gopnik, Art critic and writer for the New Yorker
Pepe Karmel, Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts, New York University
Tom Branchick, Director, Williamstown Art Conservation Center
Helen Harrison, Director, Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center
Ellen G. Landau, Professor at Case Western Reserve University
S. Lane Faison, former director of the Williams College Museum of Art, and Steve Gordon ’55, former teacher and artist

Please RSVP for the Plonsker Family Symposium to Judy Pellerin or call 413-597-2037.

The Williams College Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the museum is wheelchair accessible. Contact: Suzanne Augugliaro, Public Relations Coordinator, 413.597.3178.

Publicity Images Available

Publicity images forJackson Pollock at Williams College and other current exhibitions are available for use.

These images are for members of the press only. Click the thumbnails below for high resolution images and email Suzanne Augugliaro, Public Relations Coordinator, once you have downloaded them. Please be sure to include the correct credit information in your publication.