October 6 - December 31, 2017
Ackland Art Museum
26 January 2018 - 8 April 2018
Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Seated Lady in a Garden
n.d. Oil on canvas, 39 3/8 x 35 7/16 in. The Horvitz Collection.
This exhibition, by turns charming and challenging, shows for the first time how art and artists explored all sides of this debate, from stunningly refined portrayals of beautiful young women to depictions of idyllic family life, from mythological scenes of ideal or despicable female behavior to evocations of women’s creative prowess, and from touching images of romance and marriage to respectful presentations of maturity and old age.
With over 100 paintings, sculptures, and especially drawings, selected from one of the world’s best private collections of French art, Becoming a Woman includes works by not only some of the era’s most famous names—such as Francois Boucher, Jean-Honore Fragonard, and Jacques-Louis David—as well as a full spectrum of lesser-known talents, represented by works of the highest aesthetic quality. A number of women artists are represented, including Anne Vallayer-Coster, Adelaide Labille-Guiard, and Pauline Azou.
Becoming a Woman is curated by Melissa Hyde, Professor of Art History, University of Florida Research Foundation Professor, University of Florida, and the late Mary D. Sheriff, W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Art History, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is organized by Alvin L. Clark, Jr, Curator, The Horvitz Collection and The J.E. Horvitz Research Curator, Harvard Art Museums/Fogg.
An illustrated catalog with an essay by the curator will accompany the exhibition.