This modest entrance to the Daphne Farago Wing (1993) on Benefit Street connects directly to the four older buildings of the RISD Museum, and includes a small cafe.
The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD Museum) is an art museum integrated with the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, Rhode Island, US. The museum was co-founded with the school in 1877. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the United States, and has seven curatorial departments.
The Waterman Building (1893) was the first home of the RISD Museum, and still houses one of its galleries. The west portal of the East Side Trolley Tunnel opens immediately downslope of the right side of the building.
The RISD Museum was an integral part of the college from the inception of both in 1877.[5] It serves as an art museum open to the public and a teaching facility for RISD students.[6]:8
After the Civil War, Rhode Island had emerged as one of the most heavily industrialized states in the country.[6]:10 Local manufacturers became interested in improving the sales of their products through better design and began to seek out employees with expertise combining artistic and practical knowledge. Earlier, in 1854, the Rhode Island Art Association had been chartered "to establish in Providence a permanent Art Museum and Gallery of the Arts and Design". However, there were insufficient funds to accomplish this goal until 1877, when the Rhode Island Women's Centennial Commission allocated $1,675 to start the school and its associated museum.[6]:10
The RISD Museum collection began with etchings and plaster casts of sculptures and architectural elements. The first public galleries were opened in 1893 in the structure now known as the Waterman Building, named after the street it resides on. In 1897, five additional galleries were constructed across the rear of the building, as a memorial to one of RISD’s founders, Helen Metcalfe. Various members of the Metcalfe family donated to the collection of plaster casts, which rapidly grew to almost 500 by the time the collection was dismantled in 1937.[6]:12 Artworks in other media gradually joined the collection, mostly from donations, since there was little funding for acquisitions.
In 1904, the museum received a major bequest from Charles Pendleton (1846–1904), a collector and dealer in English and American furniture, ceramics, and carpets. Pendleton House (1906) was constructed as a fireproof expansion of the museum, designed to appear as a residential home, and modeled on the donor's actual Federal-era home on Waterman Street. RISD became the first art museum in the country to devote an entire wing to decorative arts.[6]:13
The RISD collections expanded greatly during the 1920s, when gifts and the growing endowment could fund the purchase of major artworks, as well as physical expansion. In 1924, the Metcalfe Building was added, and in 1926 the Radeke Building was opened. Fronted by a modest-looking street level entry on Benefit Street, the latter new addition was a large 6-story structure built onto the side of the steep slope of College Hill. A central garden court, later named after Eliza Greene Metcalf Radeke, provided natural light and a view from the art galleries enclosing it on three sides.[6]:15
During a brief but intense tenure from 1938 to 1941, German refugee Alexander Dorner[de] (1893–1957) directed the museum in a transformation from a classics orientation to a more-contemporary focus. He also sought to emphasize unity and multiple cross-connections among the different nationally focused collections, along with a unified presentation of art and design across different media.[6]:16–17 An influx of European émigrés during, and after, World War II strengthened and deepened both curatorial expertise and the growth of the collections.[6]:18
In the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the collecting of contemporary 20th century art accelerated, aided by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Another symbolic landmark event was the 1970 Raid the Icebox exhibition, curated by visiting artist Andy Warhol from the museum's extensive storerooms and archives.[6]:19 A number of significant art and design collections were added to the museum collections, requiring major expansion of physical facilities, as well as visitor accommodations.
In 1993, the Daphne Farago Wing, designed by Tony Atkin and Associates (Philadelphia), added two new galleries for contemporary art, the first major expansion of exhibition space since 1926.[6]:21 Its new entrance, relocated near the historic Benefit Street entrance, continued traditional upslope access from College Hill, even as the main library, undergrad dormitories, and graduate studios of the college were relocated downslope nearer to the river or in downtown Providence.[6]:21 The new building also contains a small coffee shop/cafe.[7]
In September 2008, a substantial new addition to the RISD Museum and the college was opened to the public. Designed by architect José Rafael Moneo of Spain, the Chace Center connects to the third floor of the Radeke Building and the other three older buildings of the museum, via a short glassed-in bridge.[6]:21 A long, segmented outdoor stairway cuts a perpendicular straight line from Benefit Street to the lower campus, passing directly under the bridge.[8][9] The $34 million center was built on a former parking lot in one of the few remaining open spaces near RISD, and it was named in honor of the late Malcolm and Beatrice "Happy" Oenslager Chace, a preservationist who worked to save historic buildings on Benefit Street.[9] The Chace Center serves as the main entrance to the museum, facing a revitalized riverfront and downtown.[6]:21
The building initially included a retail shop, as well as an auditorium and exhibition and classroom spaces.[10] The retail shop was later converted into a staff lounge; the RISD Store is now located on the first floor of the Design Center at 30 North Main Street, just north of the museum entrance. The second floor of the Chace Center contains temporary galleries dedicated to exhibiting artworks by RISD students.[7]
Many of RISD Museum's traditional exhibition spaces are still threaded on a linear axis though the four older buildings, and are reportedly confusing to navigate.[11][9] Window openings have been bricked over, to better control lighting and increase display space.[11] There are six levels of exhibition spaces, but no single building has more than four levels open to the public.[7] A simplified schematic map is available for visitors to help them with orientation.[7][11] There are multiple changes of floor level between buildings,[11] but ramps and elevators have been installed to improve accessibility. Both museum entrances and galleries are wheelchair-accessible.[7]
Collections
General overview
The RISD Museum's collection of about 100,000 objects contains a broad range of works from around the world, including ancient Egypt, Asia, Africa, ancient Greece and Rome, Europe, and the Americas.[12] Over 2,000 of these artworks are typically on display at any time.[3] The RISD Museum has a comprehensive online catalog of almost all of its collection, and offers free access to digital images of its public domain materials.[13] The collection is managed by seven curatorial departments.[2]
Roman sarcophagus (3rd century), with a rare bronze statue of Aphrodite in the distance
The department of Ancient Art includes bronze figural sculpture and vessels, a notable collection of Greek coins (grown out of the collection donated by Henry A. Greene), stone sculpture, Greek vases, paintings, and mosaics, a fine collection of Roman jewelry and glass, and teaching examples of terracottas. A number of objects are excellent examples in their categories. Among these virtually unique works of art are an Etruscan bronze situla (pail), a fifth-century BCE Greek female head in marble, and a rare Hellenistic bronze Aphrodite. Among the Greek vases are works by some of the major Attic painters, including Nikosthenes; the Brygos Painter; the Providence Painter; and the Pan, Lewis, and Reed Painters.
The cornerstone of the museum's Egyptian collection is the Ptolemaic period coffin and mummy of the priest Nesmin. Among other highlights of the Egyptian collection are a rare New Kingdom ceramic paint box, a relief fragment from the temple complex at Karnak, and a first-class collection of faience.
Asian art
Buddha Mahavairocana is the largest wooden Japanese sculpture in the United States.
The RISD Museum's Asian Art collection contains ceramics, costume, prints, painting, sculpture, and textiles. One of the highlights of the collection is the peerless group of more than 700 19th-century Japanese prints which were collected by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, considered among the finest assemblages of such work held outside Japan. The Japanese prints are shown, in rotation, in a gallery dedicated to their exhibition. A major attraction is the important 12th-century wooden Buddha Dainich Nyorai, the largest (over 9 feet (2.7m) tall) historic Japanese wooden sculpture in the United States. The Buddha is on permanent exhibition in its own gallery.[15]
The Japanese textiles are the core and glory of the Asian textile collection. The kesa, or Buddhist priests' robes, are the most numerous, with 104 examples. The 47 Japanese Noh robes, meticulously documented, form a comprehensive collection of nearly every type of costume in use in the Noh drama of 18th- and 19th-century Japan. Their vivid colors and patterns, embellished with gold and silver, express perfectly the splendor of the traditional and highly stylized Noh theater. The museum also has a collection of Indian saris and Chinese ceremonial robes. The Islamic and Indian collections include works of art in all media that celebrate the artistic heritage of the Arab, Indian, Persian, and Turkish cultures.[16]
Contemporary art
Created in 2000, the Department of Contemporary Art oversees a collection of painting, sculpture, video, mixed media, and interdisciplinary work, dating from 1960 to the present. It is also responsible for the development of solo artist exhibitions and projects as well as thematic group presentations exploring key issues and trends in recent art, culture, and history. Represented in the collection are significant paintings by Emma Amos, Peter Doig, Carroll Dunham, Nicole Eisenman, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Karen Kilimnik, Agnes Martin, Joan Mitchell, Marina Perez Simão, Salman Toor, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol and Karl Wirsum, among others. The collection also includes important sculptural work by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Nick Cave, Jeffrey Gibson, David Hammons, Simone Leigh, Rose B. Simpson, Sarah Sze, Robert Wilson, and Chen Zhen. The museum's video collection features works by such pioneers in the field as Vito Acconci, Lynda Benglis, Xavier Cha, Tony Cokes, Arthur Jafa, Bruce Nauman, Martha Rosler, Richard Serra, and William Wegman.
The Nancy Sayles Day Collection of Latin American Art includes works by such important artists as Luís Cruz Azaceta, Fernando Botero, José Bedia, Jesús Rafael Soto, Joaquín Torres-García, and Roberto Matta Echuarren. The Richard Brown Baker Collection of Contemporary British Art features paintings, sculptures, and installations by Martin Boyce, Karla Black, Liam Gillick, Lucy McKenzie, Susan Philipsz, Yinka Shonibare, and Cathy Wilkes, among others.
The department has a natural and strong connection with Providence's contemporary art community, and numerous RISD faculty and alumni and local artists are represented in the collection. Among them are Howard Ben Tré, Jonathan Bonner, Bob Dilworth, Jim Drain, Richard Fleischner, Ruth Dealy, Richard Merkin, Jordan Seaberry and Duane Slick.
The RISD Museum has a large collection of historical textiles and items of dress, with a range that spans centuries from at least 1500 BCE to the present, and includes representative cloth and clothing from many geographic areas. Starting with items such a pair of Native American moccasins and a Hawaiian barkcloth acquired in the museum's early history, the collection has grown to include more than 26,000 objects. The earliest piece in the collection is a fragment from an ancient Egyptian tomb, but a major focus of the department's collecting agenda is the acquisition of contemporary fashion and textiles from all over the world.
The Costume and Textiles collections extends from examples of Elizabethanneedlework, Italian Renaissance textiles, French printed toile de Jouey, Navajo chief's blankets, and fashions from famous European and American designers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Lucy Truman Aldrich is RISD's greatest single donor to the textile collection. Some of her donations include a Japanese Noh theater robes and Buddhist priest robes.[17]
Decorative arts
The Decorative Arts collection encompasses European and American decorative arts (furniture, silver and other metalwork, wallpaper, ceramics, and glass) from the Medieval period to the present. A major highlight of the department is the Charles L. Pendleton Collection of furniture made by 18th-century Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Newport cabinetmakers. Pendleton House, the "wing" of the museum devoted to the exhibition of decorative arts, exhibits at least six pieces of furniture from the Goddard and Townsend circle of Newport cabinetmakers, including two of the renowned block-front, carved-shell desks-and-bookcases. Also on view in Pendleton House's period rooms are fine examples of English pottery, Chinese export porcelain, and a comprehensive survey of Rhode Island silver.
The Harold Brown Collection of French Empire furniture and objects with Napoleonic associations is another highlight of the department's holdings, as is the Lucy Truman Aldrich collection of rare 18th-century European porcelain figures. Some 360 examples of 18th- and early 19th-century French wallpaper from the M. and Mme. Charles Huard collection constitute the backbone of the museum's wallpaper collection, which is among the finest in the world. Many antique examples of wallpaper are now known to contain the poisonous and carcinogenic element arsenic, and the RISD Museum has published an article on its hazards and how to handle them.[18]
The museum's collection is particularly strong in the area of 19th-century decorative arts. Important highlights include furniture by the American companies of Vose and Coates, Herter Brothers, and Alexander Roux; the Englishman Edward William Godwin (E.W. Godwin); and the French makers Guillaume Beneman and Hugnet Frères. Other highlights of the 19th century are works of art in glass by Lalique, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Hector Guimard; ceramics by Wedgwood, Sèvres, and Royal Doulton; and silver by Christopher Dresser and Charles Robert Ashbee. Approximately 2,000 pieces produced by Providence's Gorham Manufacturing Company from the mid-19th through the mid-20th century are the foundation of a collection of American silverware, which also includes work by colonial silversmiths such as John Coney, Paul Revere, and Samuel Casey.
The history of the art of the book is represented, in one of its earliest forms, by the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499), a masterpiece of Renaissance illumination. In later centuries, work by masters of printing and illustration provides a link between the earliest books and 20th-century "artists books" that push limits and challenge traditional interpretations of the form. Contemporary works on paper in all media are the fastest growing segment of the collection.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
The Rhode Island School of Design is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the accessibility of design education to women. Today, RISD offers bachelor's and master's degree programs across 19 majors and enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate and 500 graduate students. The Rhode Island School of Design Museum—which houses the school's art and design collections—is one of the largest college art museums in the United States.
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of modern art, as well as one of the nation's finest holdings of prints, drawings, and photographs. The galleries currently showcase collections of art from Africa; works by established and emerging contemporary artists; European and American paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts; ancient Antioch mosaics; art from Asia, and textiles from around the world.
The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. Its collection includes more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing various cultures, including Asian, European, American, African, Pre-Columbian, and Native American. The museum is also home to some Renaissance and Baroque paintings, sculptures,and decorative arts from the late 13th century to c. 1750.
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art, design, and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds. It is located on 45 acres (18 ha) near Lake Champlain.
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was an American artist of African-American and Native American ancestry, known for her sculpture. She was the first African-American graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1918 and later studied at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris during the early 1920s. She became noted for her work in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1934, Prophet began teaching at Spelman College, expanding the curriculum to include modeling and history of art and architecture. Prophet died in 1960 at the age of 70.
Andrea Valentini is an American designer based in San Francisco CA who is known for her bags.
Jungil Hong, also known as Jung-li Hong, is an American artist based in Providence, Rhode Island. She is best known for her psychedelic, cartoon-inspired silkscreen poster art and paintings. More recently she has expanded into textiles.
The Dishman Art Museum is an art museum on the campus of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Admission to the museum is completely free; the gallery is open from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday. The museum also serves as a teaching facility in the Art Department at Lamar University. Exhibitions change monthly. The gallery features one-person exhibition of contemporary artists, group exhibitions of contemporary artists, Art Department faculty shows, graduating senior shows, a national competition, artist-in-residency, Grand Bal, and High School Scholarship exhibitions. There are three gallery spaces - Upper Gallery, Lower Gallery, and the Heinz and Ruth Eisenstadt Collection which consists of 150 19th-century paintings and 250 porcelains and objets d'art. The exhibition space totals 6,000 square feet (560 m2).
Rosanne Somerson is an American-born woodworker, furniture designer/maker, educator, and former President of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). An artist connected with the early years of the Studio Furniture, her work and career have been influential to the field.
The Fleming Museum of Art is a museum of art and anthropology at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. The museum's collection includes around 24,000 objects from a wide variety of eras and places.
Daniel J. Robbins was an American art historian, art critic, and curator, who specialized in avant-garde 20th-century art and helped encourage the study of it. Robbins' area of scholarship was on the theoretical and philosophical origins of Cubism. His writings centered on the importance of artists such as Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Henri Le Fauconnier and Jacques Villon. He was a specialist in early Modernism, writing on Salon Cubists and championed contemporaries such as Louise Bourgeois and the Color Field painters. Art historian Peter Brooke referred to Robbins as "the great pioneer of the broader history of Cubism".
The Providence Art Club, Thomas Street, Providence, Rhode Island, was founded in 1880. An art club is an organization for artists and the community to engage and collaborate with each other in a shared space dedicated to art and culture. The Providence Art Club has studios, galleries, eateries, and a clubhouse in a "picturesque procession of historic houses," which are across the street from the First Baptist Church in America.[1] The buildings occupied by the Providence Art Club include Brick House, the two Seril Dodge Houses at 10 and 11 Thomas Street, Deacon Taylor House, and Fleur De Lys Studio.
David Wiseman is an American artist and designer whose work is known for its detailed craftsmanship and dialogue with traditional filigree decorative arts. His work spans from bronze filigree patterned screens and gates to bronze and terrazzo furniture, and from animal sculptures to porcelain vases.
Faig Ahmed is an Azerbaijani contemporary visual artist who is best known for his surrealist weavings which integrate visual distortions into traditional oriental rugs.
Jessi Reaves lives and works in New York. Known for her multifaceted sculptural practice which blurs the lines between the functional and the aesthetic, she has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions including the Arts Club of Chicago; the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT. Her work is in the collections of the Brandhorst Museum, Munich; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; among others.
Beth Katleman is an American artist known for porcelain assemblage sculpture cast from found objects. Her allegorical installations fall within the genre of pop surrealism, combining decorative elements, such as Rococo embellishments and 19th century Toile de Jouy wallpaper scenery, with satirical references to consumer culture, fairy tales and classic literature. Katleman's work is in private and institutional collections and is exhibited internationally, including an installation commissioned by architect Peter Marino for Christian Dior, in the Hong Kong and London flagship boutiques. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and is the recipient of the 2011 Moët Hennessey Prize, a Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation grant, the Watershed Generation X Award, a Kohler Arts/Industry Fellowship and a residency in Cortona, Italy sponsored by the University of Georgia, Athens. Katleman holds a BA in English from Stanford University, an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and an MBA in Arts Management from UCLA.
Daphne Farago was an art collector and philanthropist.
Faye Toogood is a British designer based in London. She started her career working as an editor and stylist at The World of Interiors before founding her own studio in 2008. Her work spans furniture, interiors, and fashion.
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