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The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens Presents Discoveries in Detail: Jacques Le Moyne and Theodor de Bry
September 28, 2009
Jacksonville, Fla. - The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens presents Discoveries in Detail: Jacques Le Moyne and Theodor de Bry on October 16, 2009. The exhibition, on view through January 10, 2010, features four exhibits showcasing work by Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, engravings by Flemish publisher Theodor de Bry, and works by local artists and students at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts who use Le Moyne’s botanical watercolors as inspiration.
“The Cummer is so pleased to be able to share Le Moyne’s work with our community,” said Holly Keris, Cummer Curator. “It is incredible to think that Le Moyne, the first European artist to set foot in the new world, spent a year in what would become Jacksonville, on the banks of our St. Johns River, documenting the native people of our area and chronicling an important chapter in our area's history.”
Le Moyne was the official cartographer and artist of the French expedition to establish a Huguenot colony at Fort Caroline in 1564. After the settlement failed, Le Moyne became a botanical artist, painting flowers and leaves with butterflies and other insects, and fruits and nuts. Botanical Watercolors by Jacques Le Moyne, features 61 watercolor and gouache botanical paintings by Le Moyne, on loan from the Arader Gallery in New York.
“Le Moyne is considered to be one of the pre-eminent botanical artists of his time,” said Keris. “The manuscript from which these works were removed is considered to be his finest and most lavish achievement.”
Le Moyne’s original watercolors of the Fort Caroline settlement and the Timucua were destroyed during a Spanish attack on the fort. Later in his life, he recreated these scenes in drawings, which became the inspiration for Theodor de Bry’s engravings published in A Brief History of Those Things Which Befell the French in Florida. These engravings, from the collection of Mr. Michael and Dr. Linda Fisher, are part of the exhibition Voyages to the New World: Jacques Le Moyne and Theodor de Bry.
Another exhibition, Artist Response: Botanicals, explores the relationship between Le Moyne’s works and contemporary art. Jacksonville artists Linda Broadfoot, Emily Arthur Douglass and Susan Ober each reinterpret botanical artwork and present photographs, prints and drawings inspired by Le Moyne’s watercolors. Broadfoot earned a BA degree from UNF in art history, Ober earned a BFA with an emphasis on drawing from UNF, and Douglass is currently an Assistant Professor of Printmaking in the Department of Art and Design at UNF.
The botanical theme continues with the exhibition New View: Botanicals. The exhibitionfeatures work by students from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts who used their newly xeriscaped garden to create drawings inspired by the tradition of Le Moyne’s botanical watercolors. The New View program is a partnership with the Visual Arts department at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. This partnership, which began in 2005, allows students to study in-depth one work of art at The Cummer and reinterpret it through a variety of media.
“The Cummer truly is the perfect fit for an exhibition of both facets of Le Moyne's work,” said Keris. “The published versions of his drawings from the Fort Caroline settlement and his work as a botanical artist, and the exhibitions by contemporary artists and the students at Douglas Anderson show that Le Moyne's work still is relevant today.”
A special media tour is scheduled for Thursday, October 15 at 2 p.m. with Cummer Director Hope McMath and Curator Holly Keris. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Amy Chamberlin at (904) 899-6034.
The exhibition is sponsored by Elkins Constructors, Inc., Laura and Billy Howell, Mrs. Barbara H. Arnold, Mr. and Mrs. Willis M. Ball III, Mr. and Mrs. William B. Barnett, Mr. Bill Gardner, Mrs. Edward W. Lane Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Steven M. Rosenbloom, Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Shircliff, City of Jacksonville, Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, Inc., State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is committed to engage and inspire through the arts, gardens and education. A permanent collection of more than 5,500 works of art on a riverfront campus offers more than 95,000 annual visitors a truly unique experience on the First Coast. Nationally recognized education programs serve adults and children of all abilities.
Contact:
Amy Chamberlin
Associate Director of Marketing
Phone: 904-899-6034
achamberlin@cummer.org
Cell: 904-859-8121
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