When she was Romania’s crown princess (1893–1914), Marie of Edinburgh (later Queen Marie of Romania) began wearing peasant-inspired clothing from the country’s eastern provinces — a fashion trend long promoted by Elisabeth of Wied, Queen of Romania, and her court. A Particular Beauty draws from Maryhill’s collection of more than 450 items of Romanian clothing and textiles. The display will include about 20 fully dressed mannequins, and numerous individual garments such as coats, vests, shirts and blouses.The exhibition will showcase a remarkable variety of Romanian embroidery techniques, mediums, and styles that have evolved through the influences of adjacent ethnic populations, resident invaders, other outsiders, and—in recent decades–urbanization. Contextual labels and photographs will tie the objects to specific villages, counties, geographical regions, and artisan workshops.

A Particular Beauty: Romanian Folk Clothing will be accompanied by a 32-page color publication (available in Summer 2020) as well as numerous education programs throughout the season.

Major sponsors of the exhibition are Bill and Cathy Dickson with support from the Romanian American Society (Portland) and the American Romanian Cultural Society (Seattle).  Partners include Atlianta, Washington D.C., the American Romanian Cultural Society (ARCS) Seattle; the Romanian American Society (RAS) Portland; and, the Romanian Cultural Institute (CRCI) New York.   

Two- and three-dimensional works by prominent women artists including Gene Kloss, Katja Oxman, Betty LaDuke, Frances Senska, and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller among them. While the exhibition celebrates the passage of the 19th amendment and women’s right to vote, it’s important to note that African-American women such as Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller and Native American women were not universally free to vote until after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Image: Sarah Horowitz (American, b. 1977), Blue Magnolia Blooms, 2008, gouache on iron gall ink-dyed paper, 20” x 14”; Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art

In 1926, when Queen Marie of Romania traveled to the Pacific Northwest to dedicate Maryhill Museum of Art for her friend Samuel Hill, she carried with her a variety of art objects that became the nucleus of the museum’s permanent collection. Included in this material were some fine Russian icons. The icon collection has since grown, through donation and purchases, and now includes more than 25 items. This selection of Maryhill’s Orthodox icons features images of St. Nicholas, St. John the Baptist, the Mother of God, and other subjects.

Image: Unknown Russian artists, Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign (Platytera) with beaded riza, c. 1800–1850, tempera on wood panel and glass beads, 9” x 8”; Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art

Maryhill Museum of Art, working in partnership with the Washington Art Education Association, showcases teacher talent by inviting educators to participate in Teachers as Artists, an annual juried exhibition in the museum’s MJ Murdock Charitable Trust Education Center.

In 2021 we invited regional arts educators to submit work around the theme Connections. The theme brings a focus to people, places, or things that have connected our lives during the past year, inviting arts educators to explore their vision of “connections” through multiple media. Presented in partnership with Washington Art Education Association and Tacoma Museum of Art.

You can view Connections — Teachers as Artists online here, and also see the show in person at Maryhill Museum of Art from March 15 – April 25, 2021.

Image:  Mary Rowland, Generations, connecting through FaceTime, Casein on wood, 24.5” x 16.5”. 

Slow Art Day is a global event with a simple mission: to help more people discover for themselves the joy of looking at and loving art.

Join us online for a free-flowing conversation centered on finished works and fragments by sculptor Auguste Rodin, which are part of the museum’s collection. We’ll not only focus on what we see, but what meaning we derive from looking. The goal is to focus on the art…and the art of seeing!

This experience will be led by Maryhill Museum of Art’s Curator of Education, Louise Palermo.

This is a FREE, ONLINE event. Advance registration required.

Slow Art Day is a global event with a simple mission: to help more people discover for themselves the joy of looking at and loving art.

Join us online for a free-flowing conversation centered on finished works and fragments by sculptor Auguste Rodin, which are part of the museum’s collection. We’ll not only focus on what we see, but what meaning we derive from looking. The goal is to focus on the art…and the art of seeing!

This experience will be led by Maryhill Museum of Art’s Curator of Education, Louise Palermo.

This is a FREE, ONLINE event. Advance registration required.