New exhibit first to display museum's American art collection

The Princeton University Art Museum will have the opportunity to demonstrate its prominence as a collector of American art with its new exhibit, opening Oct. 16.

The exhibit, "West to Wesselmann: American Drawings and Watercolors," will include 77 pieces culled from the museum's collection of more than 2,000 works, which range from colonial to contemporary works. The exhibition will run through Jan. 9, 2005.

The exhibit is intended to provide a chronological tour of the museum's collection of drawings and watercolors. Susan Taylor, director of the museum, called it "a major retrospective from the works in our collection."

The exhibit was co-organized by John Wilmerding, the Christopher B. Sarofim '86 Professor of American Art, and Laura Giles, curator of prints and drawings at the museum.

Wilmerding said the exhibit also highlights the strengths of the museum's collection, such as pieces from the Hudson River School and Ash Can School. The display also seeks to balance works by women, major masters such as Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins and less well-known artists. Sheer quality and condition were also factors in determining which works would be presented.

All of the drawings and watercolors are a part of the museum's collection. Susan Taylor said the pieces "are not continuously on display," but instead are normally circulated between storage and exhibition.

The new exhibit is the museum's first published presentation of American art. A 425-page catalog, which includes an essay by Wilmerding and full illustrations, accompanies the exhibit.

Wilmerding said the catalog represents an exciting phase for the museum, as there is now a "solid amount of work that is worth documenting."

"All museums have the obligation to eventually publish their collections," he added. The exhibition represents the museum's confidence in having a sizable enough collection for publication.

The American collection has grown dramatically in the past 15 years for two primary reasons.

One is Wilmerding, whose position of overseeing American art at the University was established 18 years ago.

Additionally, alumni donors have been very active in recent years. Along with an already worthwhile collection built up over the course of the University's history, the contributions made possible the current collection of over 2,000 American drawings and watercolors.

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Taylor said the museum has "never presented [its] collection in such a wide-ranging way," and Wilmerding said he hoped the exhibit will have a major effect on the museum's reputation.

Wilmerding said the catalog will serve as a permanent reference for the museum's collection, and that he hopes the exhibit will have a major effect on the museum's reputation.

"One of the great offerings is that a University museum can be free and open to not only the students, but also the public at large," Wilmerding said.

The exhibit is to go on tour following the Jan. 9 end of its campus run. It will travel to the Museum of American Art in Giverny, France from April 1 to July 3, 2005, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta from April 3 to June 25, 2006.