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Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist

Featuring over fifty drawings, prints and photographs from a private collection by the great French artist, Edgar Degas (1834-1917), the exhibition is a delightful exploration into the art and personality of one of the world’s most skilled and complex artists. In addition, the exhibition includes a selection of more than forty works on paper by well-known artists, many of whom were close friends of Degas, including Mary Cassatt, Paul Cezanne, and Pierre-George Jeanniot.

Edgar Degas is regarded as one of the keenest artistic observers of human nature and the exhibition strives to illuminate the background and personality of this remarkable artist. Although often aloof to strangers, he shared warmth and loyalty with his family and his circle of friends, many of whom were some of the great writers and artists during his time.

Highlights of the exhibition include three rare self-portraits of the Degas and several portraits of those he was closest to: his father, brother Archille, his loyal housekeeper, Sabine Neyt, as well as friends such as Edouard Manet and Mary Cassatt. In addition, there are two rare Pierre-Georges Jeanniot portraits of Degas, who was famous for his reluctance to pose.

The exhibition is co-curated by Robert Flynn Johnson, Curator Emeritus of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Louise Siddons PhD, Assistant Professor and Curator of Collections at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA, in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA organized the show. The exhibition is supported locally by the Marlene & Spencer Hays Foundation.

Featured Image: Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), Before the Race, 1895, Colored lithograph on tan wove paper. Photo courtesy of Landau Traveling Exhibitions.

The Private Impressionist exhibition is organized by

Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA

in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA.

Support for this exhibition is generously provided by the

Marlene and Spencer Hays Foundation

Thank you to our exhibition patrons

Collector Patrons

Clay Blevins

Dr. and Mrs. Howard S. Kirshner

Curator Patrons

Anonymous

Mr. Seth Perry Bernstein and Toni Schachter Bernstein

Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Eskind

Artist Patrons

Christopher Cardwell and Mary Taylor Gallagher

Drs. Rowena and Michael Cuffe

Helen Cummings

Sandra S. Frank

Kaye and Steve George

Drs. Lauren and Edmund Jackson

Leiyan and Larry Keele

Deborah and Keith Pitts

Harriet and Bob Sewell

Sheila Shields

Steve Sirls and Allen DeCuyper

Phyllis Fox Vaughn

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2023 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Sarah Nguyen

Mixed media artist Sarah Nguyen is Cheekwood’s 2023 Artist-in-Residence. Working primarily with paper, Nguyen carves both recognizable and abstract forms out of paper fiber panels which evoke memory, play, and ritual. Her technique is reminiscent of Jewish paper cutting, a sacred tradition that Nguyen participated in as a child. Nguyen’s intricate designs often incorporate flora and fauna, bringing together new stories as well as those reminiscent of the past. The residency will culminate with an exhibition within the museum’s temporary exhibition space on view from November 18, 2023, through January 7, 2024.

It is not unusual for paper to act as a steward for information. We utilize paper in our everyday lives to jot down notes or write letters. Nguyen re-examines the function of paper by emphasizing the three-dimensional qualities of the material itself as opposed to its typical, more passive function of text vessel. Nguyen’s artworks retain a storytelling trait through visual motifs and symbolism. It is easy to become fully immersed in her elegant cut fiber panels, just as one might be wholly consumed with the narrative of a good story.

About the artist
Sarah Nguyen is a mixed media artist based in Columbia, MO, where she has worked as an art instructor at the University of Central Missouri for over ten years. She earned her BFA in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA in Painting from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Nguyen has exhibited her work internationally from Missouri to Japan. In addition to teaching and exhibiting, Nguyen works as the Book Designer for Pleiades Press and Magazine and as Freelance Illustrator where you can find her work on book covers and children’s books. She is also the Art Installations Curator for the True/False Film Fest.

Featured Image: Sarah Nguyen. Install of Devorah Bee and Deborah- Songs of Judgement 76” H x 49” W Hand-cut Tyvek and wooden rod, spray painted paper. Photo courtesy of Sarah Nguyen.

Image Right: Sarah Nguyen. Deborah- Songs of Judgement 78” H x 25” W (3 scrolls), Hand-cut Tyvek, spray paint, and plastic rod. Photo courtesy of the Artist.

Sarah Nguyen. Devorah- Songs of Judgement 78” H x 25” W (3 scrolls), Hand-cut Tyvek, spray paint, and plastic rod. Photo courtesy of the Artist.

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Positioning the Body: Explorations in American Figural Studies

Positioning the Body

Explorations in American Figural Studies

This exhibition examines the development of figural studies in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the “rise of athleticism” – which dawned with the first modern Olympics in 1896 – brought about a renewed interest in the physique of both the male and female body. This period was one of many that revived Classical ideals following the synthesis of aesthetic values and anatomical studies by Renaissance art academies, which firmly establishing the tradition of figure drawing as it is known today. Comprised of 17 works on paper, drawings as well as newer media such as photography are represented, and aspects of movement, gender, and history are considered.

Featured Image: Everett Shinn (American, 1876-1953), Girl Sleeping, c. 1905-1920, Conte crayon on paper, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Caldwell, Jr., 1976.4.45.

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2021 Middle Tennessee Scholastic Art Awards

The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, a national nonprofit organization, was established in 1994 to provide guidance and support for the next generation. The Alliance fosters the creative development of youth across the country through The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the most prestigious recognition initiative for creative teens, and the largest source of scholarships for young artists. Alumni of the Scholastic Art Awards include artists Andy Warhol, Philip Pearlstein, Cy Twombly, Robert Indiana, Kay WalkingStick, Mozelle Thompson, Hughie Lee-Smith, and John Baldessari.

For the 30^th year, Cheekwood is proud to present the The Middle Tennessee Scholastic Art Awards. The exhibition displays the Gold Key and Silver Key award recipient pieces, honoring the artistic talent and innovation of area students.

VIEW 2021 SCHOLASTIC AWARD WINNERS

Presented by

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Orchids in the Mansion

The orchid show activates a third season at Cheekwood and celebrates the beauty of nature at a time when the gardens are otherwise dormant. The exhibition builds on the historic backdrop to create the same juxtaposition employed by other awe-inspiring exhibitions within the space and even much of the permanent sculpture on display throughout the gardens – exuberant, modern artworks presented in contrast to the classical venue. The floral display will celebrate the artistic bravado of one of the most dramatically beautiful rooms in Nashville.

Three nine-foot chandeliers will hang along the room’s length, each consisting of a series of wire globes articulated around a central axis. The globes, themselves, will be covered in orchids, ferns and other decorative foliage, hanging not too far off the Loggia floor. Directly beneath the hanging trio is a twenty-eight-foot-long mirrored panel, reflecting the light and the image of the orchids above.

The color palette is primarily pink and yellow with accents of light green, expressed in a combination of Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium and Cymbidium. The crisp, modern orchid display will be framed by a hedge of English Laurel and balanced by a rich tropical ensemble flanking the historic fountain at the west side of the magnificent room.

Presented By

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Women to Watch: Celebrating the Centennial of Women’s Suffrage

In light of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States, Women to Watch: Celebrating the Centennial of Women’s Suffrage presents works from Cheekwood’s works on paper collection by female artists. With objects by Ruth Chaney, Helen Frankenthaler, Laura Grosch, Lee Krasner, Clare Leighton, Liliane Lijn, Barbara Morgan, and Beverly Pepper, the exhibition allows the viewer to recognize the strength in the points of view of the female artist, seeing where those voices resonate, and their impact on the canon of art history. Many of the artists in the show were often viewed as secondary to their more famous male counterparts, whether that was their husbands, or their contemporaries. This show allows the work to be seen on its own, without that relational identity. The artists in this show, much like the suffragists, were fighting to have their voices be heard. This exhibition invites the viewer to consider and embrace a different focus within art’s history, to see the unseen and value the undervalued.

Clare Leighton (American, b. England, 1898-1989). Firewood in Georgia, 1936. Wood engraving on paper. Anonymous gift. 1982.6.11.

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MINIMALISM

One of the most important and influential art styles of the 1960s, Minimalism identifies works of art most often comprised of geometric shapes in simple arrangements and lacking any decorative or dynamic flourishes. This style represented the culmination of modern art’s progression toward the most simplified form of abstract art. Featuring the work of Frank Stella, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, and others, MINIMALISM welcomes visitors to explore how the artists from in 1960s America learned how to paint in the wake of Abstract Expressionism.

Larry Poons (American, b. 1937), Untitled, from X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters), 1964. Screenprint. Anonymous Gift. 1965.3.7.