Exhibition Images
Photography by Dwight Primiano
Martin Johnson Heade, Amethyst Woodstar, ca. 1863 – 1864, Oil on canvas. 12 1/4 x 10 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.84. Photography by Dwight Primiano
Isabel Charlotte “Downie” Church (1871-1935). Botanical Study of False Solomon’s Seal, September 26, 1890. Watercolor on paper. 10 ½ x 7 in. Olana State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation;
OL.1985.303
Patrick Jacobs (b. 1971) Pink Forest with Stump, 2016. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, hair, polyurethane foam, ash, talc, starch, acrylite, vinyl film, copper, wood, steel, lighting, and BK7 glass diorama window: 7 3/8 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2016.22. Photography by Edward C. Robison III
Thomas Cole (1801-1848) Thomas Cole’s Box of Minerals and Artifacts, c. 1830-1848 . Various minerals, artifacts, and specimens. 18 x 20 x 3 in. Thomas Cole National Historic Site; Gift of Edith Cole Silberstein and the Greene County Historical Society, TC.64.11.2
This interdisciplinary project takes inspiration from the influential series of paintings The Gems of Brazil (1863-64) by Martin Johnson Heade, but expands outward to explore pollination in nature and ecology, cultural and artistic influence and exchange, and the interconnection between art and science from 19th into the 21st century. Paintings, sketches, and natural history specimens from the collections of Thomas Cole National Historical Site, The Olana Partnership, and Crystal Bridges form the core of the checklist.
Heade’s The Gems of Brazil will be shown in conversation with artworks by Thomas Cole and Frederic Church, along with their natural specimen collections. Additionally, the exhibition will highlight artworks by Cole’s daughter Emily Cole, Church’s daughter Isabel Charlotte Church, and works by contemporary artists, including Vik Muniz, Roxy Paine, Maya Lin, and Paula Hayes, among others.
Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment was co-curated by The Olana Partnership at Olana State Historic Site, Thomas Cole National Historical Site, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Its tour is organized by Crystal Bridges.
