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Art is Pride: A Look At the Lives of Maud Hunt Squire and Ethel Mars

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Maud Hunt Squire: Illustrator, Painter, Printmaker The daughter of a musician, Maud Hunt Squire was born in Ohio in 1873. She was second in her class at the Art Academy…
A Black man plays guitar while a Black woman sews.

Collection Spotlight: Robert Gwathmey

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September is National Sewing Month, so our collection spotlight shines on "Singing and Mending" by Robert Gwathmey. The artist, a white male, depicted rural life in the South in order…
A detail of a group walking in the woods from a color lithograph.

Collection Spotlight: Faith Ringgold

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To contrast the color lithographs on view in our exhibition of French posters, we're highlighting lithographs from the museum collection in August for our collection spotlight. This vibrant work-on-paper is…
A photograph of a woman lying in the grass.

Aug. 19 is World Photography Day

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Shutterbugs rejoice! World Photography Day celebrates the science, history art and craft of photography. Explore a sampling of works from our impressive collection of prints, which also includes works by…
A woman sitting on a stoop gestures in this black and white photograph.

Collection Spotlight: Lisette Model

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Can a photograph capture a personality? Lisette Model’s "Lower East Side (woman), New York"  is on her stoop in mid-sentence, gesturing to the passersby below. Model found inspiration on the…
A construction worker sits on unfinished stairs.

Collection Spotlight: Chad States

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In June 2020, our collection spotlight explores permanent collection photography. As June is Pride Month, our first selection is a work by American photographer Chad States. What do you first…
A ruby-throated hummingbird approaches a cluster of blossoms, with other hummingbirds trapped in the blooms.

Collection Spotlight: Walton Ford

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Things are not as they seem in the charming print, "Limed Blossoms." Contemporary artist Walton Ford pays homage to John James Audubon’s artistic style, but he also makes a critical…
A young girl leans out of a window, looking sad.

Collection Spotlight: Marion Greenwood

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Marion Greenwood, a social realist artist who worked in various mediums, is best known for her murals and work in Mexico. Ever breaking barriers, she was the first woman to…
Warm light and shadows move across a book, opened to a picture of a heron.

Collection Spotlight: Jane E. Goldman

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Observe the passing months and seasons in the work of Jane E. Goldman. Cut flowers in glass vases and native plants frame each setting of her intricate prints. Patterned shadows…
A melon baller and bottle opener posed as people; a glove with two fingers walking

Collection Spotlight: Janet Nolan

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Everything from squashed aluminum cans to plastic packaging finds its way into the work of Janet Nolan (B.V.A., 1968). As a young girl in Montgomery, Alabama she absorbed the aesthetic…
Installation of Apollo the Healer

Collection Spotlight: Nancy Grossman

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Nancy Grossman, a New York City native, created this life-size etching, "Apollo the Healer," in 1995. The Olympian god is associated with medicine and healing, and in this piece, the…

Collection Spotlight: Loren MacIver

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Native New Yorker Loren MacIver took Saturday painting classes at the Art Students League as a youth. After that, the then 10-year old refused to take any further training. Fast…
An abstract drawing of a seated woman

Collection Spotlight: Grace Hartigan

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Grace Hartigan is known as a “Second-Generation Abstract Expressionist,” but she did not exclusively tether herself to the movement. Her close friendship with Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de…
Three girls sit on a bed in a silver gelatin print.

Collection Spotlight: Diane Arbus

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By Leslie Schuneman, curatorial intern Diane Arbus is known for her psychologically compelling portraits of socialites and outliers alike. Arbus began her photography career in fashion and advertising and was…
Joshua Shaw (American, 1776-1860) Stoney Creek, North Carolina, No. 3, n.d. Oil on paper laid down on panel Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; Gift of Jane and Mike McLain 2011.19.1

Collection Spotlight: Joshua Shaw

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Advanced art history students in assistant professor Emily Burns' classes will get a hands-on look at the world of art curation and have a unique experience for their portfolios using…
Edmund Petitjean (French 1844-1925) Les Côte du Nords, Bretagne (The Shell Gatherers), n.d. Oil on Canvas Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; Gift of Noel and Katheryn Dickinson Wadsworth

Collection Spotlight: Edmund Petitjean

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Advanced art history students in assistant professor Emily Burns' classes will get a hands-on look at the world of art curation and have a unique experience for their portfolios using…
Gregorio Prestopino (American, 1907–1984) Donkey Engine, 1948 Gouache on paper Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; Advancing American Art Collection 1948.1.29

Collection Spotlight: Gregorio Prestopino

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In this collection spotlight, advanced art history students in Dr. Emily Burn’s class Art of the United States have prepared two practicum exhibitions opening this fall.Pieces selected for the exhibitions…

Collection Spotlight: Dale Kennington

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JCSM fondly remembers artist, patron and friend, Dale Kennington, at her passing in this special edition of Collection Spotlight. Funeral Services will be at: First Methodist Church, 1380 West Main…
Installation of Poppy Bouquet by Tenneson

Collection Spotlight: Joyce Tenneson

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Joyce Tenneson (American, b. 1945) Poppy Bouquet, 2003 Edition: 5/25 Archival pigment print, printed in 2014 Museum purchase Joyce Tenneson is an award-winning photographer who has authored more than a…
Pen and ink drawing depicting Bacchus with a faun and satyr.

Collection Spotlight: Jean-Jacques François Le Barbier

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Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier, called Le Barbier l’aîné (French, 1738–1826) L’Offrande à Pan (The Offering to Pan), ca. 1770 Pen and ink with various shades of brown washes Museum purchase with…
Modernist print with fracturing natural forms and space into mosaic-like patterns.

Collection Spotlight: Maltby Sykes

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Maltby Sykes (American, 1911–1992) At Market, 1949 Edition: 36 Lithograph Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; Gift of Barbara Pritchard Maltby Sykes traveled to Mexico City in…
Installation of Robert Cottingham's alphabet letters JCSM in JCSM at 10 exhibition.

Collection Spotlight: Robert Cottingham

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Robert Cottingham (American, born 1935) Four prints from An American Alphabet J, 2003 C, 2010 S, 2007 M, 2002 Edition: 7/40 Edition: 7/40 Edition: 7/50 Edition: 10/40 Color lithographs Museum…
Profile of rabbit sculpture with a bird on its head.

Collection Spotlight: Frank Fleming

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Frank Fleming (American, b. 1940) Serenade, 2013 Bronze, unique cast Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; museum purchase with funds provided by Montgomery Auburn alumni and friends,…
Oversized-print of reproductions of moments in art history

Collection Spotlight: Sangbin IM

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Sangbin IM (South Korean, born 1976; active in New York) Metropolitan Museum Project (Modern Art), 2009 Edition: 4/5 Lambda print on Diasec Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072…
Portrait of Hank Williams, Sr. in the style of record labels and carnival banners

Collections Spotlight: Roger Brown

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Roger Brown (American, 1941–1997) Hank Williams, Honky Tonk Man, 1990 Oil on canvas Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; museum purchase Alabama native Roger Brown frequently returned…
Lithograph of Mexican street vendors selling flowers

Collections Spotlight: Diego Rivera

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Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886–1957) Mercado de Flores, 1930 Edition: 26/49 Lithograph Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; gift to the Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. Collection in memory…
Landscape of New Mexico hills and sky

Collection Spotlight: Georgia O’Keeffe

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Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986) 80 Small Hills Near Alcalde, 1930 Oil on canvas Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; Advancing American Art Collection Georgia O’Keeffe first visited…
A buzzard descends upon a hare.

Collection Spotlight: John James Audubon

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John James Audubon (American, 1785–1851) Common Buzzard, Plate CCCLXXVII The Birds of America, first edition, Vol. IV, 1838 Hand-colored aquatint, etching, and line engraving Published by R. Havell and Son,…
Cubist-inflected oil painting of a landscape

Collection Spotlight: Frank Applebee

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Frank Applebee (American, 1902–1988) Untitled (landscape), 1949 Oil on board Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University; museum purchase This Cubist-inflected landscape by Frank Applebee, founder of the…
Print of New York City during a storm.

Collection Spotlight: Martin Lewis

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Martin Lewis (American, born in Australia, 1881–1962) Passing Storm, 1919 Mezzotint Edition: 55 Museum purchase in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Maltby Sykes Born in Castlemaine,…

Collection Spotlight: William Zorach

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William Zorach (American, born in Lithuania, 1887–1966) Torso with Head (the artist’s daughter, Dahlov, at age ten), 1927 Marble Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072 Society, 2012, in…
Two photographs side-by-side of puppies camouflaged by rocks.

Collection Spotlight: William Wegman

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William Wegman (American, born 1943) Rocks and Stones (puppies on rocks), 1992 C-print, diptych Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072 Society, 2011Upon first glance these large-scale, horizon-less photographs…

Collection Spotlight: Frederick William MacMonnies

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Frederick William MacMonnies (American 1863–1937) Pan of Rohallion, 1894 Bronze with dark brown patina 29 ½ 8 ½ x 10 inches Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072 Society,…
Landscape depicting Massachusetts

Collection Spotlight: Victor de Grailly

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Victor de Grailly French View from Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts (and the Oxbow, Connecticut River) Oil on canvas Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072 Society, 2013 and the Susan…
An etching of hand tools

Collection Spotlight: Jim Dine

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Jim Dine (American, born 1935) Dartmouth Still Life, 1974–76 Edition: 30; artist’s proof Etching with hand coloring in crayon Museum purchase A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Jim Dine took classes…
Landscape of a fishing village

Collection Spotlight: Sol Wilson

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Sol Wilson (American, born in Polish Russia, 1896–1974) Untitled (fishing village) Gouache or casein on paper Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072 Society, 2012, in memory of Mrs.…

Collection Spotlight: Blanche Lazzell

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Blanche Lazzell American Landscape, Woodstock Ca. 1917 Oil on canvas Museum purchase with funds provided by Gerald and Emily LeischuckBlanche Lazzell is a truly remarkable American modernist. Born in rural…

Collection Spotlight: Albert Fitch Bellows

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Albert Fitch Bellows (American, 1829–1883) Down to the Brook, 1862 13 x 21 ¼ inches Oil on canvas Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072 Society, 2010 In 1863,…
Etching and aquatint of people walking on a cold day

Collection Spotlight: Eugen Kirchner

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Eugen Kirchner (German, 1865–1938) November, 1896 Etching and aquatint on wove paper Published in Pan, volume II, no. 3 12 1/8 x 7 ½ inches Museum purchase with funds provided…

Collection Spotlight: Judy Pfaff

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Judy Pfaff (American, born in England, 1946) Untitled (target, garden, lily pad), 2000 Photogravure, etching, lithograph, chine collé, hand-applied dye, applied leaves Edition: 30 Museum purchase with funds provided by…
Angle of Curvae in Curvae sculpture detail

Collection Spotlight: Beverly Pepper

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Beverly Pepper Curvae in Curvae, 2011–12 Cor-Ten steel Edition: 4/6 15 ¾ x 17 3/8 x 11 inches Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072 Society, 2014 With a…
A group of men bring more tree sections to a large landing.

Collection Spotlight: Clare Leighton

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Clare Leighton (American, born in England, 1898–1989) Canadian Lumber Camp Series: Cutting, Limbing, Loading, Landing, Resting, Breaking Camp, 1931 Edition: 100 Wood engraving Museum purchase with funds provided by the…
Print of Time Square at Night

Collection Spotlight: Yvonne Jacquette

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Yvonne Jacquette (American, born 1934) Motion Picture (Times Square), 1989–90 Edition: 60 Lithograph and screenprint Museum purchase with funds provided by the 1072 Society, 2011 Whether seated in a Cessna…
Print depicting a scene of a revolt

Collection Spotlight: Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz

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Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz (German, 1867–1945) Losbruch (Uprising, also known as Outbreak), 1902–03 Etching on copperplate paper Plate 5 from the cycle Bauernkrieg (Peasant War) State XII published by von der…
Artwork depicting life in a Mexican village.

Collection Spotlight: Mabel Hewit

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Mabel A. Hewit (American, 1903–1987) Village Well, 1955 Color woodcut with corresponding woodcut block Museum purchase Mabel Hewit’s Cubist-inspired depiction of life in a Mexican village was created through a…

Collection Spotlight: William Christenberry (1936 – 2016)

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In this collection spotlight, JCSM remembers artist William Christenberry (1936 - 2016). William Christenberry was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1936—coincidentally, the same year that photographer Walker Evans and writer…

Spotlight: Matt Moulthrop, Auburn Oak Bowl

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JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGNm1WbmZkbjJWQzglMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4lM0UlM0MlMkZpZnJhbWUlM0U=    Auburn Oak Bowl Matt Moulthrop represents his family’s third generation to excel in the art of fine woodturning. Benefitting from the experience of both his father Philip and…
A sculpture made of shoes that resembles a woman's form

Spotlight: Willie Cole, Downtown Goddess

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JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGZC16NjdFRTNUMzQlMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4lM0UlM0MlMkZpZnJhbWUlM0U=    Downtown Goddess Willie Cole has achieved international recognition for his multimedia sculptural assemblages, paintings and drawings created with iron scorch marks, and a large body of prints. Cole…

Spotlight: Roger Shimomura, American Guardian

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Focus on the Permanent Collection By Dennis Harper, curator of collections and exhibitionsA third-generation Japanese American, Roger Shimomura was born in Seattle, Washington and has resided in Kansas since 1969 where…

2016 Recent Acquisitions

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Roger Brown (American, 1941–1997) Galvanized Temple, 1985 Galvanized steel 40 ¼ x 38 ¼ x 53 ½ inches Gift of Greg Brown 2015.22 John Himmelfarb (American, b. 1946) Modern Burden,…

Last Flag #4

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Wednesday, Governor Robert Bentley had the Confederate flags in Montgomery taken down. The removal, and similar debates in other states comes in the wake of a horrific act in Charleston…
Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863–1944), The Dead Mother and Her Child, 1901, Etching and drypoint, 12 ¼ x 19 inches

Spotlight: Edvard Munch, The Dead Mother and Her Child, 1901

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Edvard Munch, who lived from 1863–1944, is renowned for his haunting imagery that speaks to universal emotions   and experiences. Love, jealousy, separation, and death are among the motifs he…