Calendar
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Virtual Programming, Artwork Spotlights |
Conversation with the Curator: Central to Their Lives: Southern Women Artists in the Johnson Collection |
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 |
5:30pm - 6:00pm
Join Chief Curator Dr. Karl Willers for a virtual guided tour and exhibition spotlight of Central to Their Lives: Southern Women Artists in the Johnson Collection, which explores the art, careers, and lives of a variety of women artists working in the American South from the end of the nineteenth century to the early 1960s. Featuring works by forty-two artists from all the Southern states, the exhibition includes names such as Loïs Mailou Jones, Augusta Savage, Helen Turner, Anne Goldthwaite, and Ida Kohlmeyer, alongside lesser-known practitioners such as Dusti Bongé, Minnie Evans, Hattie Saussy, Dixie Selden, and Catherine Wiley. Central to Their Lives examines the complex challenges female artists confronted in a traditionally conservative region during a decades-long timeframe when women’s social, cultural, and political roles were being redefined and reinterpreted. The range of artists also encourages an examination of the different obstacles presented by class and race. Whether working from studios, spare rooms in the home, or on the world stage, the artists made significant contributions to the art world while mentoring future generations through teaching, promoting new aesthetics, and challenging the status quo. Located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Johnson Collection contains an extensive survey of artistic activity from the late eighteenth century to the present day, and has been hailed for its work illuminating the history and cultures of the South. Central to Their Lives: Southern Women Artists in the Johnson Collection will be on view in the Medical Facilities of America Gallery and the Temporary Gallery from February 6 to June 13, 2021. with additional support provided by
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Above image: Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891–1978), Still Life with Mandolin (detail), c. 1955, Oil on masonite, 19⅞ x 35¼ in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Images (left to right, top to bottom) Loïs Maillou Jones (American 1905-1998), Africa (detail), 1935, Oil on canvas board, 24 x 20 in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina Theresa Pollak (1899–2002), Art Studio (detail), 1931, Oil on canvas, 40¼ x 27 in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina Clementine Reuben Hunter (1886–1988), Cane River Baptism (detail), c. 1950–1956, Oil on paper board, 19 x 23⅞ in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina Wenonah Day Bell (1890–1981), Peach Packing, Spartanburg County (detail), 1938, Oil on canvas, 38⅛ x 48⅛ in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina Mary Alice Leath Thomas (1905–1959), Red, Gold and Black (detail), 1957, Lacquer, gold leaf, and palladium leaf on masonite, 48 x 40 in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina Corrie Parker McCallum (1914–2009), Demolition of . . . Hotel (detail), c. 1957, Casein and ink on board, 23½ x 29⅜ in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina Elisabeth Augusta Chant (1865–1947), Spring Landscape (detail), c. 1927, Oil on canvas, 18 x 21 in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina Augusta Christine Fells Savage (1892–1962), Gamin (detail), c. 1930, Painted plaster, 9½ x 6 x 4¼ in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina Sarah Mabel Pugh (1891–1986), The Champion (detail), Undated, Oil on canvas, 32⅛ x 26⅛ in., The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina
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