American Master Prints from the Collection of Dr. Dorrance Kelly
The Mattatuck Museum welcomes Robert K. Newman, gallerist and print expert at The Old Print Shop, New York for a gallery tour and demonstration on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.
In conjunction with American Master Prints from the Collection of Dr. Dorrance Kelly, on display in the museum through May 19, 2013, Mr. Newman, will discuss the prints in the exhibition, his working relationship with Dr. Kelly and give some insight into how Kelly chose certain works and how the collection was formed.
Mr. Newman worked summers at The Old Print Shop during the 1970’s and joined the staff after graduating from college in 1979. He received a BFA in photography but spent most of his time learning printmaking and art history. He brought with him a keen interest in early twentieth-century artists and printmakers and set out to add this material to the Shop’s collection. Today the Shop is one of the leading galleries featuring early twentieth-century Americana fine art prints.
American Master Prints examines the work of six artists who rejected genteel and fashionable subject matter for scenes that reflected modern life including George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Edward Hopper, Martin Lewis, Reginald Marsh and John Sloan. Cultural history comes alive in their visual first-hand accounts of topics as far-ranging as boxing, church-going, storms and floods, subways and country fairs. Important historical figures in art, literature, politics and sports are portrayed and states of mind, emotions and records of urban alienation are evidenced.
Among the 110 works in the exhibition are iconic images such as George Bellows, Stag at Sharkey’s (1909), Edward Hopper’s Night Shadows (1921), and Reginald Marsh’s Bread Line (1929). As first-hand accounts of popular culture, these prints bring history alive.
Admission to this gallery tour and demonstration is $7 for museum members and $12 for non-members. Join the museum to immediately qualify for member benefits. Please register in advance at www.MattatuckMuseum.org or by calling (203) 753-0381 ext. 110.
Visit www.MattatuckMuseum.org or call (203) 753-0381 for more information on all of the museum’s adult and children’s programs, events and exhibits. The Mattatuck Museum is operated with support from the Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development, CT Office of the Arts which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and is a member of the Connecticut Art Trail, a group of 16 world-class museums and historic sites (www.arttrail.org). Located at 144 West Main Street, Waterbury, the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Free parking is located behind the building on Park Place.