The Indian and the Lily to be Displayed at the National Gallery of Art as Part of Exhibition on Artist George de Forest Brush
September 4, 2008 – 10:59 am
The Indian and the Lily to be Displayed at the National Gallery of Art as Part of Exhibition on Artist George de Forest Brush
Painting will be on loan from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Photography by Dwight Primiano
BENTONVILLE, Ark., Sept. 4, 2008 – A painting in the permanent collection of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will be displayed as part of a new exhibition opening at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The Indian and the Lily, painted by American artist George de Forest Brush (1854/1855–1941), will be featured in an exhibition titled George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings. Curators from the Crystal Bridges Museum officially announced today that the painting is part of the collection.
This exhibition marks the first time that Brush’s American Indian paintings will be displayed together, an event that was inspired by the recent rediscovery of An Aztec Sculptor, a painting missing for more than a century.The Indian and the Lily is one of the most renowned paintings in this series, which reflects the combination of Brush’s classical training and his first-hand knowledge of the American West.
“Working alongside the National Gallery of Art so that The Indian and the Lily may be seen in the context of similar works by George de Forest Brush symbolizes the essence of our emerging institution,” said Bob Workman, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art executive director. “We see this collaboration as another tremendous opportunity in connecting people with art.”
Brush began the series in the 1880s and gathered sketches and artifacts during the course of a trip west to Wyoming and Montana where he lived among tribes of Arapahoe, Shoshone and Crow Indians. The Indian and the Lily was painted toward the end of this period, when his subjects tended to be individuals set in natural, isolated settings. These works communicate his concern with the rapid modernization and industrialization that gripped the country at the time.
Anderson is the curator of American and British paintings at the National Gallery of Art, and Junker is a curator of American art at the Seattle Art Museum.
The Indian and the Lily is one of many signature works of art that are part of the growing collection for Crystal Bridges, which has made a number of significant works available to other museums as long-term loans during the museum’s construction.
The exhibition, organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, in association with the Seattle Art Museum, will be at the National Gallery of Art, in the East Building on the ground floor, from Sept. 24, 2008, through Jan.4, 2009. It will then be seen at the Seattle Art Museum from Feb. 26 through May 24, 2009.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Crystal Bridges is envisioned as a premier national art institution dedicated to American art and artists. Under construction in Bentonville, Ark., the museum complex will encompass approximately 100,000 square feet of gallery, library, meeting, and office space, a 250-seat indoor auditorium, areas for outdoor concerts and public events, as well as sculpture gardens and walking trails.
Crystal Bridges will house a permanent collection of signature works from American artists. The growing permanent collection is composed of paintings and sculptures from the Colonial period through the modern era. Some announced works in the permanent collection are: the Hudson River School masterwork Kindred Spirits by Asher B. Durand, which is currently on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; Gilbert Stuart’s George Washington (The Constable-Hamilton Portrait), which is currently on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand, currently on loan to the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and the most extensive surviving group of Colonial American portraiture, the Levy-Franks family paintings, currently on loan to The Jewish Museum in New York City.
Crystal Bridges takes its name from a natural spring on the museum’s wooded site as well as the unique glass-and-wood building design created by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. The 100-acre site of the museum complex and cultural center is located within walking distance of the Bentonville town square. For more information about Crystal Bridges, visit www.crystalbridges.org.
The National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Gallery is closed on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery’s Web site at www.nga.gov.
For media interested in receiving further exhibition information, please contact:
Deborah Ziska, National Gallery of Art, 202-842-6353, ds-ziska@nga.gov, or
Anabeth Guthrie, National Gallery of Art, 202-842-6804, a-guthrie@nga.gov.
