A special reception and exhibition preview will be held on
Friday, September 5, 2008-5:30 p.m. Members free/Non-members $15
Please wear black and white to celebrate this themed evening.

Celebrating the opening of the new Works on Paper Gallery, this exhibition features works from the Museum’s recently acquired collection of photographs that elegantly represent the history of photography in the 20th century. Iconic images by Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White and others will be on display. Many of these are vintage prints (made by the photographer very close to the time the negative was made) or late prints (made by the photographer or assistant years later).

Rachael Arauz, Ph.D., independent curator for this exhibition, said, “This carefully chosen collection features an impressive range of images from some of the most important artists in the history of the medium, and is a monumental addition to the Reading Public Museum’s significant holdings in 20th-century art.”

The Works on Paper Gallery, made possible in part through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, will showcase the Museum’s exquisite collection of fine art prints, sketches, etchings and watercolors, featuring 14,000 works spanning five centuries of American and European art history. World-class artists such as Pablo Picasso, John James Audubon, Albrecht Dürer, Edgar Degas, Rembrandt van Rijn, Salvador Dali, Andrew Wyeth, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Diego Rivera and others will be featured in the gallery through future exhibitions.

Ronald C. Roth, Director and CEO of Reading Public Museum, said, “The Museum’s collection of fine art works on paper is one of the largest public art collections in the Commonwealth. The Works on Paper Gallery will provide visitors and students alike with access to the great works in these collections, many of which have never before been exhibited.”

"New Acquisitions in Photography" - A Special Lecture
Sunday, September 7, 2008 - 2:00 p.m.

Rachael Arauz, Ph.D. and guest curator of this exhibition will give a special talk at the Museum on opening weekend. For registration and/or more info, call 610-371-5850 ext. 227. Lecture cost is $10 for Members and $20 for Non-members.

Friday Lecture Series
The Lens and the Brush: The Continuing Dialogue of
Photography and Painting - Guest Lecturer Marlisa Mizerak

Since the early days of photography, there has been an on-going exchange between that medium and painting. This series will examine key moments in the history of photography and examine how currents events and artistic trends influenced the new genre.

Friday, October 24, 6:30 p.m. - "Shadows and Light"

As the new art form of photography emerged in the 19th century, painters took notice and the paintings of the Impressionists were partly shaped by the look of photographs, while photographers' subject matter was influenced by that of the Impressionists. As modern art and modern photography matured together, this interplay continued and during the heyday of the Surrealist, it took a turn for the wonderfully weird. We will look at key works from these periods by major artists of both media.

Friday, November 7, 6:30 p.m. - "The Heartbreaking and the Sublime"

The influence of American photography in the early 20th century is still felt today. Giants like Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams codified the visual language of pictures, while Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks and Walker Evans used the medium to call attention to social issues in ways that still resonate with viewers today.  We will also discuss how the new modern language of photography affected American painters like Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, and Georgia O'Keeffe.

Friday, November 14, 6:30 p.m. - "Fool the Eye"

In the 1970's, painters became disillusioned with Abstract and Conceptual art and returned to realism. Through a movement called "Photo-Realism," artists like Chuck Close, Richard Estes, and Audrey Flack created paintings imbued with a jaw-dropping degree of seamless realism, which, at first look, appear to be photographs.  We will also follow the work of Close as he fought to adapt after a life-threatening event left him wheel-chair bound but determined to paint.

Call 610-371-5850 x227 to register. $10/Member/Lecture; $20/Non-member/Lecture. $25/Member; $48/Non-member for the series.

The Reading Public Museum is supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Images, top to bottom: Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936, photogravure, Edition #36/300, Published by Aperture under the auspices of the Dorothea Lange Collection at the Oakland Museum; Yousuf Karsh, Pablo Casals, 1954, gelatin silver print

For a PDF file of the press release, click here.