Myths and Metamorphosis

November 3, 2009 - January 17, 2010

TEACHING GALLERY

Curated by Kerill O'Neill, Julian D. Taylor Associate Professor of Classics

This exhibition is part of the Metamorphoses Project, a series of programs and courses engaging the Colby and Waterville communities around the theme of myth and its ongoing importance in contemporary life. Works in the exhibition are drawn from the museum collections of Colby and Bowdoin colleges.

Art at Colby: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Colby College Museum of Art

July 11, 2009 - February 21, 2010

ALL GALLERIES

The Colby College Museum of Art celebrates its 50th anniversary with a museum-wide exhibition of its collection. Art at Colby: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Colby College Museum of Art features artworks from the museum’s collections of American, European, Asian, and contemporary art, and is accompanied by an audio tour and a richly illustrated book of collection highlights, with essays by a wide range of scholars and artists.

Permanent Collection and Highlights from the Lunder Collection

Reopening Spring 2010

LUNDER WING

On an ongoing basis, the Colby Museum presents selections from the full range of its holdings in American art alongside highlights from the Lunder Collection. Concentrated in the gracious galleries of the Lunder Wing are early American portraits, 19th century master works in landscape, still life, and sculpture, as well as superb examples of genre scenes and folk art, and exemplary paintings and sculptures from early twentieth century American modernism. Arranged chronologically and by subject, the Colby Museum’s permanent collection galleries offer a comprehensive introduction to American art with an emphasis on regional themes characteristic of Maine and New England. Prominently featured is the James McNeill Whistler Collection, part of the Lunder gift. Permanent collection and Lunder Collection works from the mid-20th century to the present, many of which are large in scale, appear in the Jetté Galleries. The Colville Collection of Early Chinese Art, another component of the Lunder gift, is also on view.

Alex Katz Collection

Ongoing

PAUL J. SCHUPF WING

The Paul J. Schupf Wing for the Works of Alex Katz presents rotating selections from the Colby Museum’s comprehensive holdings of paintings, painted sculptures, and works on paper by this renowned American artist. On view are numerous examples of Katz’s iconic figurative works, including the monumental painting Pas de Deux from 1983, a gift from Paul J. Schupf in honor of Hugh J. Gourley III, director emeritus of the museum. Also featured are Katz’s expansive landscapes and cityscapes, paintings that capture qualities of light and aspects of the seasons with astounding economy and assuredness. Other highlights of the Katz Collection on view include the artist’s cut-out metal portraits and standing figures, painted front and back for a playful display of flatness in three dimensions.

John Marin Collection

Ongoing

OSHER GALLERY,SOUTHEAST GALLERY

The John Marin Collection at the Colby College Museum of Art displays a retrospective collection of paintings, watercolors, drawings, etchings, and photographs by this important American modernist. Twenty-four works spanning the artist’s career from 1888 to 1953 were given to the museum in 1973 by John Marin Jr. and Norma B. Marin. An additional work was given in 1992, and in 1998 Norma Marin made a promised gift of 29 etchings by Marin and seven vintage photographs of Marin, including a platinum print by Alfred Stieglitz. The complete collection of Marin works is presented on an ongoing basis in two dedicated galleries of the Lunder Wing.