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JCSM: Modern flatware brings something new to the table

AUBURN, Ala – The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University has on view in the Grand Gallery select examples from the wide-ranging collection of modern and contemporary flatware of Dr. William P. Hood, Jr.  A retired cardiologist in Dothan, AL, Dr. Hood has amassed a significant collection of silver and stainless flatware by prominent American and international designers. The installation at JCSM includes patterns by Zaha Hadid, Josef Hoffmann, Georg Jensen, Raymond Loewy, Gio Ponti, and Russel Wright among many others. From Viennese art-nouveau styling, through American streamlined modern, to contemporary designs inspired by both biomorphic and industrial shapes, the exhibition demonstrates the diversity of form and experimentation in materials that exemplify twentieth- and twenty-first century design.

Dr. Hood has written extensively on American and European flatware for publications such as The Magazine Antiques, Silver Magazine, The New York Silver Society Newsletter, and the Silver Society of Canada Journal. His extensive collection of antique Tiffany and Co. flatware has been exhibited in several museums across the South, and in New York. The present installation will be on view through Winter 2010 before joining a larger exhibition of Dr. Hood’s collection of modern flatware scheduled for upcoming display at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Open since 2003, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University is Alabama’s only university art museum.  Serving as the gateway into Auburn University, the museum has a diverse permanent collection, which includes more than 100 Audubon prints, Tibetan bronzes dating from as early as the 15th century and works by important American modern artists, such as Arthur Dove, Georgia O’Keeffe and Lyonel Feininger. The museum rotunda features a three-tiered, hand-blown glass chandelier created especially for the space by internationally renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly.  The museum experience continues onto the grounds with fifteen acres of gardens, walking paths and water features complete with outdoor sculpture, including Spinoff, created by Auburn alumna Jean Woodham.

Contacts:
Andy Tennant, Assistant Director
(334) 844 – 3081
tennawa@auburn.edu

Stacey Moore, Marketing
(344) 844 – 3488
moore23@auburn.edu

Dennis Harper, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections
(334) 844-1419
dharper@auburn.edu