The Hunter Museum turns 70 this year and will celebrate the milestone with a yearlong focus on collecting from the Hunter’s own history of acquiring artwork to the collections of other institutions and those of individuals.
The theme kicks off with Beyond the Frame: Celebrating 70 Years of Collecting, an exhibition that showcases a wide range of the Hunter’s American art collection, which spans the 1700s to the present.
Guests are in for a treat with Beyond the Frame as museum artworks, both historical and contemporary, come together to offer an impressive and insightful survey of the development of the Hunter and its permanent collection, including a number of longtime visitor favorites as well as new acquisitions that have never before been seen at the museum.
Additionally, guests will have the opportunity to learn about what goes into building a museum collection. The Hunter owns almost 3,000 works now, but of course it wasn’t always that way. How and when was the collection built? Learn these things and more when the exhibition opens to the public on January 28 with a member opening the evening of January 27.
Beginning in May, the Hunter turns its focus to a different kind of collection: fantasy illustration. Organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and featuring nearly 100 artworks, Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration will take visitors on a journey through centuries of fairy tales, myths, and legends as depicted by American artists.
From Greek myths to Game of Thrones, the exhibition highlights some of the most memorable and stunning characters and scenes from the realm of fantasy. It should be a magical summer (wink!) at the museum.
To round out a year of focusing on art collecting, this fall the Hunter will present a selection of works from an astonishing private collection. For the past 35 years, Atlanta-based couple Kerry and Betty Davis have been gathering a wide variety of works by African American artists; today, their collection spans nearly 100 years of art.
The exhibition, Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art, presents 62 works from this impressive collection, featuring such artists as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Sam Gilliam, Loïs Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, and Alma Thomas. Though strikingly diverse in media and styles, the artworks are unified in their use of cultural and historical narratives.
“We are so pleased to share with the community this exciting and diverse group of exhibitions on the occasion of our 70th anniversary,” noted Executive Director Virginia Anne Sharber. “The Hunter has grown and evolved just as the city has, and the artwork we’ll be featuring this year is a testament to that evolution. I can’t think of a more fitting way to celebrate the Hunter’s 70th anniversary.”
Join us at the museum this year to take in wonderful artwork and enjoy what the community has built over the last 70 years. Visit www.huntermuseum.org for details about exhibition-related programs and events.