Albert Bierstadt in New York & New England

Stitches in Time and Space: Gail Rothschild and Daina Taimina

The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, CT announces the opening of two exciting and diverse exhibitions on Sunday, November 24, 2013 with a reception from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Organized by the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and curated by former director of the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts Dr. Annette Blaugrund, Albert Bierstadt in New York & New England focuses on the artist’s east coast paintings. While Bierstadt is best known for his iconic images of the American West, this exhibition will offer a rare chance to see the artist’s faithful depictions of botanical and geological details in the unspoiled wilderness, mountains, and meadows in the White Mountains, Hudson Valley, and throughout New England and New York. Both large and small scale paintings were composed between the late 1850s and 1880s, often while the artist was selecting aesthetic sites for his brothers Charles and Edward to photograph for their stereographs. Dr. Blaugrund also ties in Bierstadt’s studios in New York City, Westchester, and Oneida County as they relate to his work. This exhibition is supported in part by The David T. Langrock Foundation.

Annette Blaugrund has published and lectured widely on diverse subjects in American art and culture. As a curator, she has worked at the Brooklyn Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the New-York Historical Society. She wrote seven books about American art, and contributed seven chapters and 29 articles to other books. Dr. Blaugrund holds a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University (1987) where for six years she taught American art and culture (1996-2001). Dr. Blaugrund will preview the exhibition and give a lecture on Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. The lecture will focus on Bierstadt’s role in the Hudson River School and its influence on his work.

Stitches in Time and Space: Gail Rothschild and Daina Taimina, joins textiles, math and history. Artist Gail Rothschild charts the craftsmanship of each woven artifact in her Ancient Linen series, while simultaneously conveying their deterioration in the face of time. Cornell mathematician Daina Taimina marries art and science with crocheted sculptures of hyperbolic planes. Her work explores the 3-D world from a fourth dimension vantage point. Seen together these works demonstrate the ability of art to reveal variations found in the scientific experience of time and space.

Visit www.MattatuckMuseum.org or call (203) 753-0381 for more information on all of the museum’s adult and children’s programs, events and exhibits. The Mattatuck Museum is operated with support from the Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development, CT Office of the Arts which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and is a member of the Connecticut Art Trail, a group of 16 world-class museums and historic sites (www.arttrail.org). Located at 144 West Main Street, on the green in Waterbury, CT the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Free parking is located behind the building on Park Place.