ARTISTS’ SKETCHBOOKS AND ILLUSTRATED DIARIES: EXPLORING THE IN/VISIBLE AT NMWA April 18, 2007–July 15, 2007
For Immediate Release Media Contact: Michelle Cragle
202-783-7373 mcragle@nmwa.org
WASHINGTON— The National Museum of Women in the Arts presents the private side of artists’ creative lives in Artists’ Sketchbooks and Illustrated Diaries: Exploring the In/Visible, Apr. 18, 2007 through Jul. 15, 2007. Curated by Krystyna Wasserman, NMWA’s curator of book arts, the exhibition includes 21 works by 14 artists from the United States, France, Spain and Argentina.
Spanning the 18th-century to present day, the exhibition includes works by well-known artists, such as Elisabeth Vigee-Le Brun, Renée Stout and Irene Rice Pereira, as well as lesser-known artists, such as Nan Haid, Sally Agee and Constance Pierce. There is even a sketchbook by royalty. The private journal of Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, offers insight into the life of a princess during the early 20th century.
The title of the exhibition Artists’ Sketchbooks and Illustrated Diaries: Exploring the In/Visible speaks to the subject matter artists use for their sketchbooks.
“The majority of the artists in this exhibition explore the visible world that surrounds them, documenting their travels and daily experiences, but some delve into the invisible realms of emotion and imagination like Elizabeth Ockwell’s sketchbook Anxiety,” said Wasserman.
While most artists use traditional sketchbooks that are bound, one artist, Natalia Blanch, recorded her experiences on individual 3” x 5” index cards. Her completed sketchbook, Journal 2003, is contained in an aluminum card catalog.
“Blanch’s sketchbook is fascinating to me, not only because of its usual form but because of what it contains. She kept this sketchbook in 2003 when she was a resident artist Center for Contemporary Art in Prague,” explained Wasserman. “While listening to stories about the war in Iraq on the radio, Blanch illustrated the scenes that she envisioned from the reports and interviews. You can see and feel how the news was impacting her.”
Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun’s Sejour en Russie, 1795–1801, depicts a very different point in time. A royalist and court painter to Marie Antoinette, Vigée-Le Brun fled to Russia during the French Revolution. There she was courted by princesses and ambassadors who competed to have her paint their portraits. Her sketchbook documents the fashion and lifestyle of Russian aristocracy.
A trip to India inspired enough material for Susan Abott to fill two sketchbooks. Three Weeks in Rajasthan, India is a prime example of an artist chronicling her impressions and observations while traveling. Using black and sepia ink, Abbott documents the religious and civic architecture she saw while riding on a bus. She observed women in bright saris working in the fields and men toasting chapati bread.
The 21 works in Artists’ Sketchbooks and Illustrated Diaries: Exploring the In/Visible represent a variety of artistic personalities, methods of work, and ways of living. Although the circumstances and time period when these sketchbooks were created changed, one things remains the same: an artist’s need to capture the moment using a trusted pencil or brush. CATALOGUE
A full-color, illustrated catalogue is available for purchase with an essay by Krystyna Wasserman NMWA curator of book arts. The softcover catalogue retails for $12.95 and includes statements by the artists. EXHIBITION SPONSORSHIP
The exhibition and catalogue Artists’ Sketchbooks and Illustrated Diaries: Exploring the In/Visible is made possible through the generous support of Lorraine Grace, The Honorable Mary V. Mochary, and the Library Fellows of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Image on front page:
PRINCESS BEATRICE OF SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA (British, 1884–1966) Untitled sketchbook, 1901–07
Ink and watercolor
9 ½ x 13 in.
On loan from Princess Beatriz de Orleans-Borbon
NMWA at 20
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), founded in 1981 and opened in April 1987, is the only museum dedicated solely to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing, and literary arts. The museum contains works by more than 900 artists in its permanent collection, maintains a Library and Research Center, and conducts multidisciplinary programs for diverse audiences. In the past 20 years since its’ opening the museum has presented more than 200 exhibitions, expanded its permanent collection to include over 3,600 pieces, and has a membership ranking it in the top ten museums nationally with more than 30,000 members. In celebration of the museum’s 20th anniversary three ground-breaking exhibits will be presented: The Book as Art: Twenty Years of Artists ’ Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Italian Women Artists from Renaissance to Baroque, and WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, 1965-1980. The museum will also inaugurate CLARA: Database of Women Artists, a Web-accessible, authoritative resource for students, scholars, and the general public. NMWA is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., in a landmark building near the White House. It is open Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday, noon–5 p.m. For information, call 202-783-5000 or visit the museum’s Web site at www.nmwa.org.
