The Davis Museum at Wellesley College presents three exhibitions this spring that explore color, light and line in mid-20th century art; highlighted by a rare viewing of large-scale paintings by major figures in the “Color Field” movement, complemented by smaller exhibitions of works by Louise Nevelson and Josef Albers.  On Wednesday, April 10 from 5-8pm, the Davis hosts "Spring Fling!," an evening of gallery talks, festive treats and fun for all, celebrating all the exciting exhibitions and programs at the Davis this spring!  Admission is free and open to the public.

    Josef Albers: Geometries

    Through June 30, 2013

    Robert and Claire Freedman Lober Viewing Alcove

This small selection of works by Josef Albers (1888 –1976) from the Davis collections invites close consideration of the geometric line in relation to color—or its absence—through prints and drawings, spanning 1944 to 1976.

Albers—teacher, writer, painter, and color theorist—was an influential member of the Bauhaus before immigrating with his artist wife, Anni, to the United States in 1933. His work continued at Black Mountain College and the Yale University School of Art; in 1971, he was the first living artist celebrated with a solo retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. 

Curated by Lisa Fischman, Ruth Gordon Shapiro ‘37 Director of the Davis, Josef Albers: Geometries is supported by Claire Freedman Lober ’44 Endowment Fund. 

    Louise Nevelson: Black

    Through June 9, 2013

    Joan Levine Freedman ’57 and Richard I. Freedman Gallery

Installed in the Davis’s “black-box” gallery, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to consider the work of Louise Nevelson (1900 – 1988) in the lighting she preferred. For Nevelson, whose complex strategies in monochrome assemblage—in black, white, and gold—became legendary, black was particularly significant: it “symbolized harmony and continuity.” Moreover, her long-time representative, Arne Glimcher of Pace Gallery, notes that the artist “used to install all of her works in very dark spaces. For her first shows of environments in the fifties…she painted the entire place black and she had almost no light in there. So your perception had to become hyper-active because of the light-deprivation.”

Recapturing something of the mood of Nevelson’s early installations, this presentation includes work ranging in date from 1953 to 1973. According to curator Lisa Fischman, Ruth Gordon Shapiro ‘37 Director of the Davis, “The selection contrasts the materiality and structural formality of Nevelson’s sculptures with the gestural concentration of her prints, and suggests a persistent interest in the body as architectural form and inspiration. The sculptures feature familiar elements: reclaimed wood scraps assembled to evoke at once the hand-tooled and the machine-made. All of the works play in the realm of shadows, articulating jutting surfaces and crevassed interiors with light, variably reflected and absorbed.

Fischman continues, “The squint, the sharpened focus, and the subtle forward lean that perceiving Nevelson’s black works requires of us is exacerbated in the low light, engendering perceptual shifts that engage the senses differently. The act of viewing becomes intensely, unusually embodied.”

Louise Nevelson: Black is generously supported by the Davis Museum Program Endowed Fund.

    April Brief: Notes from the Color Field

    April 3 – May 5, 2012

    Joanne Larson Jobson Gallery
    Harold and Estelle Newman Tanner Gallery

The soaring light-filled galleries that crown Rafael Moneo’s architecturally stunning Davis Museum building are the setting for large-scale paintings by major figures associated with the “Color Field” movement —Jules Olitski, Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, Friedel Dzubas, Jack Bush, and Larry Poons.  Playing on the variable definitions of “brief,” this exhibition of striking but little-seen works from the Davis permanent collections is both short-lived and instructive. 

 The presentation explores tensions between the aesthetic pleasures and curatorial initiatives that align in display, on one hand, and the conservation concerns and stewardship priorities regarding preservation, on the other. And so, the bold and bright shapes of these large-scale paintings will command the gallery space for just one month, a duration determined by standards of safe exposure to high levels of natural light.” 

Curated by Lisa Fischman, Ruth Gordon Shapiro ‘37 Director of the Davis, April Brief is supported by the Davis Museum Program Endowed Fund.  

Davis Museum GENERAL Information

Location: Wellesley College, 106 Central St., Wellesley, Mass. 

Museum Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 11:00 am–5:00 pm, Wednesday until 8:00 pm, and Sunday, noon–4:00 pm.  Closed Mondays, holidays, and Wellesley College recesses.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Telephone: 781-283-2051

Website: www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu

Parking: Free and available in the lot behind the museum. Additional parking is available in the Davis Parking Facility. 

Tours: Led by student tour guides and curators. Free. Call 781-283-3382

Accessible: The Davis, Collins Café and Collins Cinema are wheelchair accessible and wheelchairs are available for use in the Museum without charge. Special needs may be accommodated by contacting Director of Disability Services Jim Wice at 781-283-2434 or jwice@wellesley.edu.