This afternoon, Feedback and C-VILLE Editor Cathy Harding had a lovely lunch with Matthew Affron, the curator of modern art at the UVA Art Museum and co-curator of the current exhibit, "Matisse, Picasso and Modern Art in Paris." After the meal, Affron gave us a tour of the exhibit and a little insight into the changing face of the museum. (Or, rather, changing guts; the face will remain the same.) So take note, visual art fans, because the current show and future plans for the museum have a few things in common.
The day after the "Modern Art in Paris" show closes on April 24, the UVA Art Museum will shuts its doors until September for renovation. A press release from UVA details the changes—improved lighting, controlled climates and an emphasis on large exhibition spaces. Bigger rooms, more vavoom, which should (among other things) place more emphasis on UVA’s substantial permanent collection.VMFA.jpg)
And as Affron showed us today, the "Modern Art in Paris" show plays to the same strength. The exhibit fits pieces from the collection of UVA alum T. Catesby Jones (See Matisse’s "Lorette," right) around the occasional piece from the permanent collection. At the exhibit’s entrance, we immediately confronted Picasso’s "Woman with Kerchief," a piece from Jones’ collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, next to an earlier Picasso from the UVA Art Museum, "The Frugal Repast"—a one-two that emphasized the considerable strength of UVA’s collection as well as Jones’ keen eye.
Throw in a strong, career-spanning group of work from Jean Lurçat—especially the dark undercurrent of "Wind and Blue Sky"—and it’s a show that does UVA proud while flaunting Jones’ prizes. And Affron meticulously arranged the second floor gallery and segmented the exhibit to heighten the power of both collections. Let’s hope the summer renovations do the same.