The Sight Of Music: Prints From The Collection Of Reba And Dave Williams

GREENWICH — The Bruce Museum of Arts and Science will celebrate the opening of a new exhibition, “The Sight of Music: Prints from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams,” on Saturday, May 7. The show will remain on view through September 25.

The show brings together a delightful medley of visual interpretations of the wide-ranging world of music. “Diversity abounds in style, technique, and image, but the artists’ shared muse brings true harmony to the exhibition,” explains Mr and Mrs Williams.

The museum will showcase a selection of 31 fine art prints from the collection of Reba and Dave Williams’s Print Research Foundation in the museum’s Bantle Lecture Gallery. The exhibition features artworks encompassing numerous interpretations of, and variations on, the theme of music.

An additional 48 works will be on view concurrently at the Print Research Foundation located at 258 Atlantic Street in Stamford. For information on visiting the Print Research Foundation, call 203-869-0376. Admission is by appointment only.

Reba and Dave Williamses’ collection emphasizes prints made by American artists between the World Wars, with particular concentration on work by artists employed by the US Federal Government work relief programs of the 1930s-40s, such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The collection also includes a large number of works by contemporary artists, for example, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella and Robert Rauschenberg. Prints from the 19th Century are also represented, by artists such as Winslow Homer and members of clubs associated with the 1880s-90s “etching revival.”

Special segments of the collection include a large group of color screenprints, a print-making technique that originated in the United States in the 1930s. A selection of screenprints from the Williams’ collections toured museums throughout the world from 1987 to 1993.

The Williamses did extensive research into the origins and development of screenprinting. They authored two articles on this topic for Print Quarterly, the scholarly magazine of print study; these articles were the source for the catalogue they authored accompanying their “American Screenprints” exhibition.

The most distinguishing characteristic of the collection is its emphasis on breadth. All styles and movements of American art are reflected: Realism, Impressionism, “American Scene” – both the optimistic Regionalists of the Midwest and the socially-concerned and generally pessimistic urban artists – Surrealism, Expressionism, Abstraction, Abstract Expressionism (including prints by Jackson Pollock, which was another feature for the couple when they published their research on Pollock in Print Quarterly: “The Prints of Jackson Pollock”), and the variety of styles pursued by today’s artist printmakers.

The collection is also an over 100-year visual American social history. It begins with the Civil War, reflects Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, early urbanization, the first World War, the Jazz Age and 1920s boom, the Depression, World War II – and the 1940s-50s change in American art that reflected more of the artist’s own emotions and less of the outside world.

The styles and subjects on view at the Bruce Museum are as distinct as the artists who created them. Lithographs, engravings, drypoint, etchings, and silk-screen and woodblock prints are included, with works ranging from Red Grooms’ “Chuck Berry” and Andy Warhol’s “Beethoven” to a print by minimalist composer John Cage.

Included in the exhibition are portraits of musicians and composers such as film and stage star Paul Robeson, Arturo Toscanini, and David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Some prints illustrate specific music or songs like Thomas Hart Benton’s lithograph of the American folk song “I Got a Gal on Sourwood Mountain,” depicting a Native American scene from the 1930s.

Some artists attempt to portray the actual music in their works or translate visually the music that they hear. Bernard Kohn’s mélange of straight and curved lines in “Contrapuntal” suggest musical instruments as well as sound. In Alfred Rudolph’s “Symphonie Asfiguratique,” the artist emphasizes the power and depth of a full orchestra, with stark contrasts and swinging lines of movement in the composition.

The styles in which the artists work are as varied as the artists’ interests in music and the imagery they choose to represent it. Fred Becker’s “Home Cooking,” with its misshapen musicians and the tentacle-like fingers of the piano player, is surrealistic. Impressionism infuses Bela Petheo’s “Marian Anderson,” and Jeannette Maxfield Lewis’s “Fourth of July” reflects futurism.

The exhibition at the Bruce Museum will be held in the Bantle Lecture Gallery, which may be closed for viewing due to public programs taking place. Call ahead at 203-869-0376 or check the museum’s website for viewing hours.

The Bruce Museum of Arts and Science is at 1 Museum Drive in Greenwich. It is situated near Interstate 95, Exit 3, and a short walk from the Greenwich rail station.

Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; and Sunday, 1 to 5 pm. Last entry is 4:30 pm.

General admission through June 30 is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students. After July 1, admission fees will increase to $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, and free for children under five and members. Admission is free to all on Tuesdays. Groups of 12 or more required advance reservations.

Museum exhibition tours are held Fridays at 12:30 pm. Free, on-site parking is available.

The Bruce Museum is accessible to the handicapped.

For information, call the Bruce Museum at 203-869-0376 or visit www.BruceMuseum.org.

Special Programs

Two programs have been scheduled during the opening week of “The Sight of Music: Prints from the Collection of Dave and Reba Williams.”

On Saturday, May 7, students ages 9-14 are invited to visit the museum and explore the prints in the exhibition. They will then learn about printmaking techniques and create their own linoleum-block prints.

Reservations are requested; call 203-869-0376. Cost is $10 per student, which includes all materials.

On Tuesday, May 10, a Teachers’ Preview will be offered from 3:30 to 5 pm.

The preview includes staff-led tours of “Messenger Rocks from Space: Meteorites and Comets” and “The Sight of Music,” followed by the presentation of school program and teachers’ materials. Curriculum connections to art, science and music will be highlighted.

Student docent information will also be available.

The program is open to schoolteachers only; educators can earn 0.1 CEU for participating.

Call 203-869-6786 extension 338 for details and reservations.