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http://www.maryhillmuseum.org

NEWS RELEASE Media contact:

Colleen Schafroth, Executive Director

(509) 773-3733

colleen@maryhillmuseum.org

 

 Maryhill Museum of Art Announces 2009 Exhibition Schedule

Highlights lnclude Painters of the Famed Hudson River School

and Photographs by Ansel Adams

 

(GOLDENDALE, Wash., November 5, 2008) -- Maryhill Museum of Art, a glorious Beaux Arts mansion in a park-like setting high on the banks of the Columbia River, is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most enchanting cultural destinations.  It is home to a world-class permanent collection and rotating exhibitions of the highest caliber.

 

During the 2009 season, which runs March 15 – November 15, 2009, Maryhill Museum of Art will mount a full program of special exhibitions, including: Hudson River School Sojourn (March 15, 2009 – July 8, 2009), Ansel Adams: Masterworks (July 18, 2009 – September 13, 2009), The Good Life (September 26, 2009 – November 15, 2009) and the 14th annual Outdoor Sculpture Invitational (May 16, 2009 – October 4, 2009). The season will also include a new rotation of Théâtre de la Mode sets.

 

2009 SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS:

 

Hudson River School Sojourn (March 15 – July 8, 2009)

The Hudson River School, comprising two generations of artists inspired and influenced by the awesome beauty of America’s unspoiled wild areas, came to prominence during the 19th and early 20th century. Working between 1825 and 1915, primarily in the Hudson River Valley, as well as in the Catskill, Berkshire and White Mountains, and the newly opened West, the Hudson River School firmly established the first American landscape painting tradition. Their beautifully composed pastoral paintings are filled with dramatically lit mountains, waterfalls and old growth forests, which evoke an idealized and romantic landscape where humans and nature co-existed peacefully.

 

Drawn from the collection of Dr. Michel Hersen and Mrs. Victoria Hersen, Hudson River School Sojourn showcases 34 works by Hudson River School artists Jasper Francis Cropsey, Asher Brown Durand, William McDougal Hart, David Johnson, and Jervis McEntee, among others.

 

Outdoor Sculpture Invitational (May 16 – October 4, 2009)

First conceived to complement the museum’s extensive collection of Rodin sculptures, Maryhill’s Outdoor Sculpture Invitational has become one of the premier venues for Northwest artists who create and exhibit large-scale works.  The dramatic and rugged setting, with majestic views of the Columbia River Gorge, provides a unique environment for visitors to experience the diverse works created in the exhibition.

 

In 2009 the Outdoor Sculpture Invitational will feature works by Northwest sculptors Lance Carleton (Everett, WA), Matt Cartwright (Portland, OR), Gregory Glynn (Bainbridge Island, WA), Tom Herrera (Mosier, OR), Ed Humpherys (Walla Walla, WA), Jay Moody (Portland, OR), Francisco Salgado (Portland, OR), Julie Speidel (Vashon, WA), Mike Suri (Portland, OR), Jeff Tangen (Shoreline, WA), and David Wagner (Portland, OR).

 

Ansel Adams: Masterworks (July 18 – September 13, 2009)

Ansel Adams is one of the few American artists to become a household name. Certainly he is the only photographer to have reached such heights of popular recognition. And for good reason. His breathtaking black and white images of pristine landscapes and natural vignettes strike a primeval chord, highlighting the essential connection between human beings and the natural world.

 

The 47 photographs featured in Ansel Adams: Masterworks are part of a larger group called “The Museum Set,” which Adams personally selected to serve as a succinct representation of his life’s work. The exhibition presents a special opportunity for the public to see photographs that the artist viewed as his best. Included are images of Yosemite, where Adams spent many seasons living and working as a youth, National Parks throughout the American West, as well as photographs captured in New Mexico, the Great Smokey Mountains, New York City, Hawaii and on Cape Cod.

 

Ansel Adams: Masterworks was organized by the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, California. Exhibition tour management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, California.

 

The Good Life: From the Collections of Maryhill Museum of Art 
(September 26 – November 15, 2009)

During Pacific Northwest summers, winter rain becomes a distant memory, fading away as we take time to enjoy friends, family and the outdoors. It’s this sentiment that is at the heart of the exhibition The Good Life, which features approximately 30 paintings, drawings and prints drawn from Maryhill’s permanent collections.

 

Created between 1850 and 1950 by American and European artists, these works celebrate life in all of its impulsive, joyful and nostalgia-infused glory. The Good Life is divided into three sections: gatherings where family and friends are depicted dancing, playing music together, sewing, socializing and enjoying each other’s company; still life paintings, created not only for the sake of painting, but to celebrate abundance; and, people in the landscape, relishing nature and relaxing out of doors.

 

Théâtre de la Mode (March 15 - November 15, 2009)

Maryhill’s Théâtre de la Mode, which features small-scale mannequins attired in designer fashions of post-World War II France, will feature a new rotation for the 2009 season.  On view will be Jean Cocteau’s Ma Femme est une Sorcière (My Wife is a Witch), A Tribute to Renè Clair and Jean Saint-Martin’s Croquis de Paris (Paris Sketch), both originally created in 1945 and re-created in 1990 by Anne Surgers. Also on view is Scène du Rue (Street Scene) created by Anne Surgers in 1990 as a replacement for Georges Wakhevitch’s set The Port of Nowhere, 1945.

 

For a full schedule of exhibition-related programs and special events during the 2009 season, click here.

 

ABOUT MARYHILL MUSEUM OF ART:

This award-winning museum, founded by Northwest entrepreneur and visionary Sam Hill, opened to the public in 1940. Maryhill’s collections include more than 80 works by Auguste Rodin, including a pedestal-sized plaster version of The Thinker, as well as European and American paintings, magnificent objects d'art from the palace of the Queen of Romania, Orthodox icons, a collection of unique chess sets, and the renowned Théâtre de la Mode, which features small-scale mannequins attired in designer fashions of post-World War II France. Art and artifacts of the indigenous people of North America were a collecting interest of Sam Hill, and today the museum’s collection has grown to represent nearly every basket making tradition and style in North America, with works of art from prehistoric through contemporary.

 

The museum’s Outdoor Sculpture Garden features work by artists such as Tom Herrera, Mel Katz, Heath Krieger, Alisa Looney, Jill Torberson, Julian Voss-Andreae, Jeff Weitzel and Leon White. The Maryhill Overlook, a site-specific sculpture by noted Portland architect Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, provides a unique interpretation of the Columbia River Gorge through a series of cutouts and windows that isolate smaller views within the larger landscape. Also on site are Lewis and Clark interpretive panels. Four miles east of Maryhill is a life-sized replica of Stonehenge, which Sam Hill built to memorialize local men who perished in World War I.

 

The museum and its surrounding 5,300 acres were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In 2001 the museum was listed as an official site of the National Historic Lewis and Clark Trail and in 2002 was accredited by the American Association of Museums.

 

VISITOR INFORMATION:

Maryhill Museum of Art is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 15 to November 15. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and $2 for children age 6-16.

 

Refreshments are available at Café Maryhill, which offers a great selection of sandwiches, salads, espresso drinks, cold beverages, and freshly baked desserts and pastries. Picnic lunches are also available. The Museum Store features art and history books, jewelry, Native American crafts and other mementos.

 

Four miles east of the museum is Sam Hill’s replica of England’s Stonehenge, which he built as a tribute to the soldiers of Klickitat County who lost their lives in World War I. Admission to the Stonehenge Memorial is free; it is open from 7:00 a.m. to dusk daily. Nearby The Klickitat County War Memorial was erected in 1995 to honor those who have died in the service of their country since World War I.

 

Maryhill Museum of Art is located off Highway 97, 12 miles south of Goldendale, Washington. Drive times to the museum are 2 hours from Portland/Vancouver, 3.5 hours from Bend, 4 hours from Seattle, and 1.5 hours from Yakima. 

 

For further information about Maryhill Museum of Art, visit www.maryhillmuseum.org.

 

Image above: Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823–1900), Misty Afternoon, 1873, oil on canvas. Collection of Dr. Michel Hersen and Mrs. Victoria Hersen.

300 dpi images are available for use by press - click here.

Maryhill Museum of Art | 35 Maryhill Museum Drive | Goldendale, WA 98620 | 509-773-3733
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