Beatrix Potter show to open at High Museum in October

Beatrix Potter (British, 1866–1943), ‘Mrs. Rabbit pouring out the tea for Peter Rabbit while her children look on,’ 1907. Watercolor and pen and ink over pencil on paper, Victoria and Albert Museum, Linder Bequest, BP.468. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.
Beatrix Potter (British, 1866–1943), ‘Mrs. Rabbit pouring out the tea for Peter Rabbit while her children look on,’ 1907. Watercolor and pen and ink over pencil on paper, Victoria and Albert Museum, Linder Bequest, BP.468. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.
Beatrix Potter (British, 1866–1943), ‘Mrs. Rabbit pouring out the tea for Peter Rabbit while her children look on,’ 1907. Watercolor and pen and ink over pencil on paper, Victoria and Albert Museum, Linder bequest, BP.468. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.

ATLANTA — This fall, the High Museum of Art will present Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature, a playful, interactive exhibition that invites visitors of all ages to rediscover one of the most renowned authors of children’s fiction in the 20th century, exploring the places and animals that inspired Potter’s beloved stories including The Tale of Peter Rabbit™, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. Through more than 125 personal objects — including sketches, watercolors, rarely seen letters, coded diaries, commercial merchandise, paintings and experimental books — the exhibition will also examine Potter’s life as a strong-minded and imaginative businessperson, natural scientist, farmer and conservationist, a legacy that extends to the present. The exhibition, which is organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, is the latest in the High’s popular series celebrating children’s book art and authors. It will open on Oct. 13 and continue through Jan. 7, 2024.

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High Museum gives Ukranian American artist his first major museum show

George Voronovsky (Ukrainian-American, 1903–1982), ‘Untitled (Train),’ 1972–1982, paint on cardboard, 12 by 12in, courtesy of the Monroe family collection. © George Voronovsky. Photo courtesy of High Museum of Art.
George Voronovsky (Ukrainian-American, 1903–1982), ‘Untitled (Train),’ 1972–1982, paint on cardboard, 12 by 12in, courtesy of the Monroe Family collection. © George Voronovsky. Photo courtesy of High Museum of Art.
George Voronovsky (Ukrainian American, 1903–1982), ‘Untitled (Train),’ 1972–1982, paint on cardboard, 12 by 12in, courtesy of the Monroe family collection. © George Voronovsky. Photo courtesy of High Museum of Art.

ATLANTA — The High Museum of Art will present George Voronovsky: Memoryscapes from through August 13. It will be the first major museum presentation of work by the late Ukrainian American artist (1903-1982), who transformed his Miami Beach hotel room into a paradisiacal art environment filled with vibrant paintings and carved Styrofoam sculptures in the last decade of his life. The exhibition will feature 60 of Voronovsky’s mostly untitled and undated works, the majority of which depict his early memories of a beloved life in Ukraine that he ultimately felt compelled to leave behind.

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Samurai armor exhibition opens June 23 at High Museum

Somen (full-face mask), signed: Hoei shichi kanoetora reki hachigatsu kichinichi Buko ni oite Myochin Munenaga nijuhachisai kore saku (made by Myochin Ki no Munenaga at the age of twenty-eight on an auspicious day of the eighth month of Hoei [1710] in Edo), Edo period, 1710, iron. © The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas. Photo: Brad Flowers.
Somen (full-face mask), signed: Hoei shichi kanoetora reki hachigatsu kichinichi Buko ni oite Myochin Munenaga nijuhachisai kore saku (made by Myochin Ki no Munenaga at the age of twenty-eight on an auspicious day of the eighth month of Hoei [1710] in Edo), Edo period, 1710, iron. © The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas. Photo: Brad Flowers.
Somen (full-face mask), signed: Hoei shichi kanoetora reki hachigatsu kichinichi Buko ni oite Myochin Munenaga nijuhachisai kore saku (made by Myochin Ki no Munenaga at the age of twenty-eight on an auspicious day of the eighth month of Hoei [1710] in Edo), Edo period, 1710, iron. © The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas. Photo: Brad Flowers.

ATLANTA — This summer, the High Museum of Art will present Samurai: Armor from the Collection of Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller from June 23 through September 17, featuring one of the most important collections of its type outside of Japan. Through a dazzling array of armor, helmets, swords and other objects spanning almost nine centuries, the exhibition will illuminate the exceptionally high level of design and craft dedicated to these elaborate instruments of ceremony and combat and will reveal the culture, lifestyle and artistic legacy associated with the samurai warrior in Japanese society.

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High Museum acquires Samuel Johnson Woolf’s ‘Brown the Wheats’

Samuel Johnson Woolf (American, 1880-1948), ‘Brown the Wheats,’ 1913. Oil on canvas. Purchase through funds provided by patrons of Collectors Evening 2022, 2022.75. Image courtesy of the High Museum of Art
Samuel Johnson Woolf (American, 1880-1948), ‘Brown the Wheats,’ 1913. Oil on canvas. Purchase through funds provided by patrons of Collectors Evening 2022, 2022.75. Image courtesy of the High Museum of Art
Samuel Johnson Woolf (American, 1880-1948), ‘Brown the Wheats,’ 1913. Oil on canvas. Purchase through funds provided by patrons of Collectors Evening 2022, 2022.75. Image courtesy of the High Museum of Art

ATLANTA — Samuel Johnson Woolf’s Brown the Wheats, recently acquired by the High Museum of Art, is big on color and chock-full of concept. Painted in 1913, the charged scene is executed in a range of tones that distinguish the haves from the have-nots. As for sentimental appeal, it is neither an idealized scene nor a picturesque vision of tenement life. It is instead discomfiting in its directness and at the same time captivating for its unresolved drama — and a welcome addition to the High’s collection. The work was purchased in May 2022 with funds provided by patrons of that year’s Collectors Evening.

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Obama portraits now on view in Brooklyn, with three more stops planned

Left: Kehinde Wiley, 'Barack Obama,'  a 2018 oil on canvas from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, © 2018 Kehinde Wiley | Right: Amy Sherald, detail of 'Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama' a 2018 oil on linen from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. The National Portrait Gallery is grateful to the generous donors who made these commissions possible and proudly recognizes them at npg.si.edu/obamaportraitstour. Support for the national tour has been generously provided by Bank of America.
Left: Kehinde Wiley, ‘Barack Obama,’  a 2018 oil-on-canvas from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, © 2018 Kehinde Wiley | Right: Amy Sherald, detail of ‘Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama’ a 2018 oil-on-linen from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

WASHINGTON – From the moment of their unveiling at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in February 2018, the museum’s official portraits of President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have become iconic. Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of the former First Lady have inspired unprecedented responses from the public.

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