2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001
2004
The Blanton joins Cinematexas in presenting Roz (2004) a work by prominent video artist Burt Barr. Compelling and emotionally fraught, Roz depicts a beautiful young woman (the performer Roz LeBlanc) standing in the shower, water pouring over her head and shoulders. The woman opens her mouth and begins to sing. Instead of her own voice, however, we hear the deep, resonant voice of veteran soul singer Otis Clay. Over the course of the next several minutes, the woman lip-synchs the lyrics to Clay's recording of the tragic ballad “The Banks of the Ohio,” which tells the tale of a man who murdered the woman he loved. "Roz is a mesmerizing video," Blanton Assistant Curator Kelly Baum explains. "Like the camera itself, we remain riveted, our attention never wavering from the woman's face." In a recent review in the New York Times (July 9, 2004), Ken Johnson called Roz, which is currently being shown at the Brent Sikkema Gallery, “moving” and described it as the only work in the exhibition that "gives you something to feel as well as to think about." Roz is part of Cinematexas' ninth international film festival to be held in Austin September 22–26, 2004. The video will run at the Blanton from August 20 to through December 2004.
500 Years of Prints and Drawings
August 20 – December 23, 2004
The Portable Museum: Renaissance Prints after Ancient Roman Sculpture
Titianus Invenit: Reproductive Prints after Titian
Gericault: First Master Lithographer
William Kentridge: Thinking in Water
This final installment of 500 Years of Prints and Drawings includes 16th-century reproductions of ancient sculpture; interpretations of Titian, one of the great Renaissance painters masterpieces; the debut of the Blanton's full of collection of the early modern lithographs of Theodore Gericault; and contemporary artist William Kentridge's compelling, sculptural “drawing” in paper, and represents the unique breadth and quality of the Blanton's collection.
The Blanton Builds: Your New Museum
August 20 – December 23, 2004
Showcasing the new Blanton museum complex and plaza currently under construction on the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and Congress Avenue, this exhibition features architectural plans, computer renderings, and a pictorial timeline of the building project. The new Blanton Museum will for the first time in the museum's history unite its collections, and exhibitions under one roof. Come by to get a preview of the next big thing for Austin and the University of Texas to open in early spring 2006.
Twister: Moving Through Color, 1965–1977
August 20 – December 23, 2004
Be swept up in a world where paintings seem to spin, shimmer and twist. This exhibition will captivate viewers with vibrant, colorful paintings from the Blanton's American and Latin American collections. Created in the 1960s and 1970s, when many claimed that painting was “dead,” the artists represented in Twister embraced the medium with conviction, confident that painting was just as relevant as video, sculpture, and performance.
Five Hundred Years of Prints and Drawings
January 30 – July 18, 2004
With more than 15,000 works, the Blanton's collection of prints and drawings is the largest and most historically balanced of its kind in the southern and southwestern United States and one of the most significant in the country. The museum's ongoing series 500 Years of Prints and Drawings reveals the distinctive depth and quality of the Blanton's collection through groups of small exhibitions that examine critical moments and situations in the history of works on paper. Representing the 16th through 20th centuries, the exhibitions are divided by broad historical period, each exploring a different technique, subject, individual master, or other theme.
Heroines, Harlots, and Hussies: Old Testament Women in Renaissance and Baroque Prints
Eighteen Renaissance and Baroque prints portray the stories of Eve, Lot's daughters, Susanna, Potiphar's wife, and Judith. Among the prints are fine works by Jan Saenredam, Jacques Callot, Agostino Carraci, and Rembrandt.
Italian Drawings Since Suida–Manning
The acquisition of the Suida–Manning Collection in 1998 included 200 Italian Renaissance and Baroque drawings. This exhibition features eighteen Genoese, Lombard, Florentine, and Roman drawings acquired since the collection's arrival. These recent acquisitions both complement and fill gaps in the Suida–Manning Collection's distinguished holdings.
Court Life in the Age of the Sun King
In 1650, the Royal Edict of Saint Jean-de-Luz proclaimed engraving a “liberal” art, transforming printmakers from artisans into artists. Court patronage, innovative artists, and a public demand for images made the 17th century a high point in the history of French printmaking. This exhibition focuses on the patronage of the court of Louis XIV, from Israel Silvestre's views of Versailles to Robert Nanteuil's portraits of court luminaries.
“The Spiritual and the Technical”: Etchings by John Taylor Arms
For the first time in Austin, twenty newly donated etchings by John Taylor Arms will be featured, along with the Blanton's already representative collection of the artist's work. Probably the most distinctive exponent of the Etching Revival in this country, Arms was unrivalled in technical refinement and unique in his correlation of printmaking and transcendental values.
Fishing in International Waters
January 30 – July 18, 2004
The past year has seen a remarkable growth in the Blanton's Latin American collection, aided by the generous donations of Fran Magee and Gallery 106, Cecilia Buzio de Torres, Robert Michael, and numerous others. Fishing in International Waters reaffirms the Blanton's commitment to expanding the Latin American collection by acquiring key historical works, commissioning new ones, and supporting emerging Latin American artists. The exhibition presents 30 recent commissions, purchases, and gifts in a range of media, including paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, and video. Artists include Jose A. Toirac (Cuba), Cesar Paternosto (Argentina), Julio Alpuy (Uruguay), Victor Grippo (Argentina), Yoshua Okon (Mexico), Jorge Macchi (Argentina), and Raul Quintinilla (Nicaragua), among others. The exhibition also features the photographic documentation of Brazilian artist Katie van Scherpenberg's ephemeral, outdoor installations commissioned by the Blanton in November 2003 and Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuna's reconstruction of Precarious, displayed at the Blanton in 1987 in the seminal exhibition Latin American Artists in New York since 1970.
Masterpieces of European Painting
Permanent installation
This selection of more than 40 paintings from the 15th through 18h centuries includes works by Jacopo da Empoli, Sebastiano del Piombo, Luca Cambiaso, Veronese, Guercino, Claude Lorrain, Peter Paul Rubens, Sebastiano Ricci, and many others. It features works from the Suida–Manning Collection, which, acquired by the Blanton in 1998, is widely recognized as one of the greatest privately assembled collections of Renaissance and Baroque art in the world.
