RUSTIC
RAPTURE:
A Century of America's Byways
January
23,1999 through March 28, 1999
As
we delve deeper into the winter months,
the Reading Public Museum is providing warmth
of an artistic variety with its new exhibition
Rustic Rapture: a Century of America's
Byways opening January 23, 1999. Consisting
of four exhibitions in one, Rustic Rapture
includes: Twentieth Century Visionary
African American Folk Art Masterworks; From
Outside the Gate: Pennsylvania Homestead
Photographs; Warm, Soft and Fuzzy: American
Paintings; and Wetlands, photographs by
Anne Heimann.
In
celebration of black history month, Museum
director Robert P. Metzger is proud to present
20th Century Visionary African American
Folk Art Masterworks. Consisting of
45 pieces from the George and Sue Viener
Collection, ...Masterworks is small in number
but expansive in its delivery. Culled from
a much more extensive collection of Folk
Art, the works in the exhibition show noted
African American folk artists Arthur Dial,
Chuckbee, Mr. Imagination, and more.
From
Outside the Gate: Pennsylvania Homestead
Photographs are assembled from the collection
of Raymond E. Holland. The collection consists
of photographs taken throughout the Lehigh
Valley during the late 19th century. During
that time there existed several photography
businesses whose goal it was to photograph
homes and homesteads then frame the picture
and sell it to the owner for a profit. One
such business was The Keystone View Company.
A century later, these photographs when
viewed as a collection tell the rustic tale
of life before the machine age of the 20th
century.
The
Faultless Starch / Bon Ami Company is making
their important art collection available
for its premeire public view at the Reading
Public Museum. Warm, Soft and Fuzzy:
Selections from the Faultless Starch / Bon
Ami Collection comprise paintings by
artists such as Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait,
Mary Smith and Ben Austrian (whose works
were on exhibition at the Museum earlier
this year). Barnyard and homestead scenes
of animals and fowl make up an exhibition
that expresses the uniqueness of America
when our country was young and growing.
In
Wetlands, artist-photographer Anne Heimann
explores the beauty, diversity and ecological
importance of wetland ecosystems and some
of the plants and animals that inhabit them.
The artist plays the part of conservator
and activist using the photos to show the
delicate balance existing in wetlands and
the need to preserve them. Heimann's photographs
have been widely published in natural history
books, magazines, National Parks publications,
and calendars.
Robert
P. Metzger, Ph.D.
Director, CEO, Chief Curator Reading Public
Museum
EXHIBIT
SPONSORS:
This exhibition is supported in part by
a grant from the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on
the Arts and the Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commision. |
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Robert Howell, Alligator
Keystone View Co., photograph
Ben Austrian, Puppy and Chick
Anne Heimann, Sunset, Merritt
Island Lagoon, Fl.
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