University Collections
https://dspace.wlu.edu/handle/11021/32499
The University Museums advances learning through direct engagement with collections, stimulates appreciation of global cultures, and inspires leadership in the arts and sciences.2024-03-28T16:06:15ZArt Around Campus: A work by Evelyn Dawson Wynn
https://dspace.wlu.edu/handle/11021/32509
Art Around Campus: A work by Evelyn Dawson Wynn
Claire Moryan is a member of the Class of 2012 of Washington and Lee University.; This video was created by students during the summer of 2011. It appeared on the University's website during the 2011-2012 academic year.; The following statement, by Claire Moryan, accompanied the video on the University's website:
Located in the Information Technology Services Department in Tucker Hall, this piece really intrigues me because it is acrylic on plexiglas. While the colors play and move together well across the plexiglas in an all-over composition, what is most interesting to me is the technique Wynn used. For this piece and her other plexiglas pieces, Wynn painted on both sides. On one side is the brightly colored abstract image. On the other side, she traces around that abstract image and paints white paint in the negative spaces, rather than painting over the whole side. By doing this, the painting can be seen from both sides and light can shine through the tiny transparent lines that were left over from Wynn's tracing. This technique has inspired me to try something similar for a part of my art thesis.
Evelyn Dawson Wynn was originally a fashion designer in the 1950s and 1960s. During the day, she designed women's high fashion at affordable prices under the label "Suzy Perette." At night, she danced for the Denishawn Dancers. Starting in 1963, she painted "Inscapes," scenes she did not see through her eyes, but through her mind instinctively. According to her husband, Larry Wynn, she had no formal training in designing, dancing or painting.
Many pieces painted by Evelyn Dawson Wynn can be seen on campus, all of which were a gift from her husband, composer Larry Wynn '34. More of her acrylic-on-plexiglas pieces are in the Information Technology Services Department and the Career Services office. Oil on canvas pieces are in Leyburn Library and the Tucker Multimedia Center.
2011-01-01T00:00:00ZArt Around Campus: The Landsdowne Portrait
https://dspace.wlu.edu/handle/11021/32508
Art Around Campus: The Landsdowne Portrait
Andrew Seredinski is a member of the Class of 2014 of Washington and Lee University.; This video was created by students during the summer of 2011.
2011-01-01T00:00:00ZArt Around Campus: Two Paintings in the Kamen Gallery
https://dspace.wlu.edu/handle/11021/32507
Art Around Campus: Two Paintings in the Kamen Gallery
This video was created by students during the summer of 2011. It appeared on the University's website during the 2011-2012 academic year.; John Davies is a member of the Class of 2014 of Washington and Lee University.; The following statement, by John Davies, accompanied the video on the University's website:
Some of my favorite art on campus is located in the Kamen Gallery, which is dedicated to art depicting the "Old West." It features paintings and sculptures of Native Americans, cowboys, horses and western wildlife. I have chosen these two pieces because they go together nicely and capture different aspects of the West.
"The Golden Mist" by Frank McCarthy
This painting shows a cowboy on horseback, followed by two other horses, walking through a golden water or mist. To me, it perfectly captures the allure of the West. The golden mist represents the beauty and opportunities waiting there. I feel it shows the false dreams of so many men and women, who believed that the West was a magical place where anyone could succeed. The painting highlights those dreams, while ignoring the potential hardships. I feel this painting glorifies Western expansion.
I found it interesting that McCarthy was born and studied in New York, and was known for his realistic work of the West. In this piece, although the man and horses are realistic in nature, the golden mist is a creation of McCarthy's mind.
The Kamen Collection of Western Art was bequeathed to W&L in 1986 by Stan Kamen '49L. Additional paintings and prints in the collection are on display in Newcomb Hall, Leyburn Library, the Alumni House and Elrod Commons.
"The Death Watch" by ADM Cooper
At first glance this painting is simply a group of bison surrounding a dead Native American. I feel this piece allows the viewer to explore a lot of questions such as how this man died, why he was left to become a part of nature and how the bison fit into the whole piece. While no one can correctly answer any of these questions, it makes it difficult to look away from this painting. After doing some research, I discovered that Cooper painted various renditions of this piece, sometimes referred to as "Inquest on the Plains."
Cooper was born in 1856 in St. Louis but lived much of his life in the West. George Catlin, a family friend, inspired Cooper at a young age with stories of his interactions with Native Americans. Cooper was known not only for his talent at Western paintings, but also for his colorful personality and love of night life. I like this piece because it incorporates many elements of Western life into one, from the dangers faced, to the wildlife and the indigenous peoples.
These are in the Kamen gallery, Lenfest Center
2011-01-01T00:00:00ZArt Around Campus: A work by Lowell Nesbitt
https://dspace.wlu.edu/handle/11021/32506
Art Around Campus: A work by Lowell Nesbitt
Andrew Seredinski is a member of the Class of 2014 of Washington and Lee University.; This video was created by students during the summer of 2011. It appeared on the University's website during the 2011-2012 academic year.; The following statement, by Andrew Seredinski, accompanied the video on the University's website:
If you enter Wilson Hall on the ground level and steal a look below the ascending staircase you will see "Oldenburg's Studio," a muted 1974 serigraph by Lowell Nesbitt. The print depicts what seems to be a rather mundane interior, but a closer inspection reveals a few absurdities. On the right is a massive trowel. Compare its size to that of the ladder on the left to get a good sense of its proportion. Nesbitt's piece also includes a number of strange, misshapen sacks hanging throughout the room.
These features make the space seem both comic and foreboding, but from here a little knowledge goes a long way. The Oldenburg referred to in Nesbitt's title is the Swedish sculptor Claes Oldenburg, best known for his larger-than-life models of everyday objects, and his set of soft versions of rigid items. In this piece, two soft electrical plugs can be seen hanging from the ceiling at the center, with another such sculpture hanging on the left wall.
Generally working from photographs, Nesbitt created a number of pieces that focused on the studios of his contemporaries. With this piece, Nesbitt, who had an exhibition in duPont Hall in 1983, creates a space that is strange not by its design but by its use. It is a case of a man influencing his environment in a very personal and unexpected manner.
The not-quite sepia color scheme and the rather alien features of the piece are what initially attracted me. It is not just a study of a space, but of a mind. In some ways, it is simply a rendering of a place, but the nature of the place makes it feel to me more like an interpretation than an explanation.
Another interior piece, an oil painting on canvas, by Nesbitt entitled "Studio Wall Scene II" is on the second floor of Wilson Hall.
Nesbitt also donated "The Decade Portfolio" by Robert Indiana to Washington and Lee University and these ten prints are currently on display in Rooms 103 and 311 of Leyburn Library and in the Audio/Visual Room of Wilson Hall. All of these works, including "Oldenburg's Studio," are part of the University's Weinstein Collection of Contemporary Art, which was donated over a period of 30 years by Dr. Jacob Joseph and Bernice Fox Weinstein, as well as their family and friends, including Lowell Nesbitt.
2011-01-01T00:00:00Z