Special Collections - Art Sources: ARTH-214: Methods in Art History

Artists, perhaps to emphasize their own dedication to the intellectual and manual skills required for making art, have long been drawn to the theme of labor, both in their depictions of workers and scenes of making. This exhibition ART/WORK: Labor, Identity, and Society considers these art-historical precedents to explore the issues of labor in art. More specifically, the student curators investigate the dynamic interplay between labor, gender, and race in the process of industrialization and social transition across various cultures in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. ART/WORK highlights thirteen works of art from Gettysburg College’s Fine Art Collection and Special Collections. Posters, prints, and photographs in this exhibition are not simply documents of people and tasks performed within their own particular histories and societies, but are presented as works of art by a diverse group of accomplished makers.

From the Yellow Springs to the Land of Immortality is an exhibition that highlights sixteen carefully selected artworks from Gettysburg College’s Special Collections; each object embodies the perceptions and ritual practices of the rich funerary culture in the historical period in China, ranging from the late second millennium BCE to the beginning of the early twentieth century. These artifacts represent various artistic traditions and fabrication techniques — including jade carving, bronze casting, glazed pottery making — and most importantly, offer a glimpse of how art and artifacts are employed as a means to connect the living with the soul of the departed one in the Yellow Springs.

Luxurious Surfaces: Chinese Decorative Arts from the Fifteenth to the Early Twentieth Century is a highly anticipated exhibition that highlights student learning in the art history program. The curators, William Caterham ’20, Ashley Jeffords ’20, Merlyn Maldonado Lopez ’22, Sarah Paul ’22, James Raphaelson ’21, Megan Reimer ’22, Shannon Zeltmann ’21 and Tianrun Zhao ’20, are students enrolled in the Art History Method class in Fall 2019. The exhibition examines the quintessential characteristics and the meaning of Chinese decorative arts embedded in the luxurious surfaces of sixteen carefully selected works from Gettysburg College’s Asian Art Collection.

Flora and Fauna in East Asian Art is the fourth annual exhibition curated by students enrolled in the Art History Methods course. This exhibition highlights the academic achievements of six student curators: Samantha Frisoli ’18, Daniella Snyder ’18, Gabriella Bucci ’19, Melissa Casale ’19, Keira Koch ’19, and Paige Deschapelles ’20. The selection of artworks in this exhibition considers how East Asian artists portrayed similar subjects of flora and fauna in different media including painting, prints, embroidery, jade, and porcelain. This exhibition intends to reveal the hidden meanings behind various representations of flora and fauna in East Asian art by examining the iconography, cultural context, aesthetic and function of each object.

The City: Art and the Urban Environment is the fifth annual exhibition curated by students enrolled in the Art History Methods class. This exhibition draws on the students’ newly developed expertise in art-historical methodologies and provides an opportunity for sustained research and an engaged curatorial experience. Working with a selection of paintings, prints, and photographs, students Angelique Acevedo ’19, Sidney Caccioppoli ’21, Abigail Coakley ’20, Chris Condon ’18, Alyssa DiMaria ’19, Carolyn Hauk ’21, Lucas Kiesel ’20, Noa Leibson ’20, Erin O’Brien ’19, Elise Quick ’21, Sara Rinehart ’19, and Emily Roush ’21 carefully consider depictions of the urban environment in relation to significant social, economic, artistic, and aesthetic developments.

Methods of Nature: Landscapes from the Gettysburg College Collection is the third annual exhibition curated by students enrolled in the Art History Methods course. The five student curators are Molly Chason ’17, Leah Falk ’18, Shannon Gross ’17, Bailey Harper ’19 and Laura Waters ’19. The selection of artworks in this exhibition includes the depiction of landscape in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century French, American and East Asian cultural traditions in various art forms from traditional media of paintings and prints to utilitarian artifacts of porcelain and a paper folding fan. Landscape paintings in this exhibition are inspired by nature, specific locales and literature. Each object carries a distinctive characteristic, a mood, and an ambience. Collectively, they present a multifaceted view of the landscape in the heart and mind of the artists and intended viewers

The Figure in Art: Selections from the Gettysburg College Collection is the second annual exhibition curated by students enrolled in the Art History Methods class. This exhibition is an exciting academic endeavor and provides an incredible opportunity for engaged learning, research, and curatorial experience. The eleven student curators are Diane Brennan, Rebecca Duffy, Kristy Garcia, Megan Haugh, Dakota Homsey, Molly Lindberg, Kathya Lopez, Kelly Maguire, Kylie McBride, Carolyn McBrady and Erica Schaumberg. Their research presents a multifaceted view of the representation of figures in various art forms from different periods and cultures.

What is art historical study and how it should be carried out are fundamental questions the exhibition Method and Meaning: Selections from the Gettysburg College Collection intends to answer. This student-curated exhibition is an exciting academic endeavor of seven students of art history majors and minors in the Art History Methods course. The seven student curators are Shannon Callahan, Ashlie Cantele, Maura D’Amico, Xiyang Duan, Devin Garnick, Allison Gross and Emily Zbehlik. As part of the class assignment, this exhibition allows the students to explore various art history methods on individual case studies. The selection of the works in the exhibition reflects a wide array of student research interests including an example of 18th century Chinese jade chime stone, jade and bronze replicas of ancient Chinese bronze vessels, a piece of early 20th century Chinese porcelain, oil paintings by Pennsylvania Impressionist painter Fern Coppedge, prints by Salvador Dalí and by German artist Käthe Kollwitz, and an early 20th century wood block print by Japanese artist Kawase Hasui.