C'est la Vie: Robert Gring's France

Opening: November 19, 2010

C’est la Vie is a light-hearted exhibition of 34 gouache paintings by the French illustrator Robert Gring. These paintings from the Dow bequest have never been exhibited to the public. Gring painted satirical, simplified figures in a style that incorporated strong colors and an exaggerated sense of space.  The “Cartoon modern” style is now recognized as an important offshoot of modernism that strongly influenced animation art, such as the animated titles in the original Pink Panther films of the 1960s. The droll, ironic sense of humor so typical of the French can be found throughout Gring’s elegantly painted illustrations. His humorous views of conventional everyday people frequently place them in situations that contrast with their expected social roles. 

 

Pirates: Adventure!

Opening: December 17, 2010

This exciting and interactive exhibition tells tales of the guts and glory of the daring men who sailed the seas seeking fame and fortune in the golden age of Colonial expansion and beyond. 

The exhibition will include harrowing tales of stolen loot that include the capturing of grain ships that almost starved out Rome, and of  bronze statues snatched en route to the Italian shores. Bearded cutlass-bearing Privateers seeking the fortunes of enemy overlords, Corsairs of the wild Barbary Coast and those 17th century West Indian Buccaneers, who fought, triumphed, stole and died in the rolling waves of the Atlantic will return to life through reenactments.  While exploring an interactive pirate ship, visitors will relive the richly evocative and exciting lives of Blackbeard, Jose Gaspar, Sir Francis Drake, and Henry Morgan.

Experience life on the Spanish Main and explore tales of the Opium Wars, marveling at ancient pieces of eight, silver bars, costume, weaponry, pirate flags, ships and banners.  There will be hogshead barrels and a cannon to examine; sextants and an original compass will teach naval navigation.  Swords, a cutlass, and a fearsome blunderbuss will highlight a dramatic interactive pirate video.

This is an exhibition and experience for the whole family.

 

Audubon!
Selections from John James Audubon’s Birds of America

Opening: March 4, 2011

John James Audubon painted nearly three-quarters of the North American species of birds, of which the museum holds more than thirty superb examples. Audubon set a standard by which all other naturalist-artists can be judged, observing birds in the wild and drawing them from life whenever possible. His understanding of American birds reflected his years of traveling and living in the wilderness, cheerfully accepting constant discomfort and danger. When faced with the question of whether his career might have been better served by painting human subjects, he wrote: “I have lost nothing in exchanging the pleasures of studying men for that of admiring the feathered race.” The beauty of his Birds of America is equaled by its scientific value, as a part of our nation’s natural heritage.

 

Gale Bennett Paintings

Opening:  April 22, 2011

A native of Southwest Florida, artist Gale Bennett (1939 – 2008) painted human figures, portraits, landscapes and still lifes in a style that combined the color of Impressionism with the emotional energy of Expressionism. His poetic blending of these divergent modernist styles resulted in a body of work that was at once appealing and challenging. His works of art can be found in collections throughout the United States, as well as Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia.

Bennett was founder and director of ArtStudy Giverny in Giverny, France, the small town outside Paris where the world’s most well-regarded Impressionist painter, Claude Monet, lived and worked after 1886. Until his death in 2008, the artist and his wife, Cello, divided their time between Giverny, France and Southwest Florida.