While northern and southern Europe were becoming closer due to improved communications, so was Europe becoming more engaged with the outside world. The Dutch nation became heavily involved in trade and exploration, and her merchants superseded their Italian brethren in international importance. Foreign imports increased, and their influence affected artistic production in Europe. Chinese porcelains were introduced and their simple patterns altered the course of ceramic production in the West. The Delft jar in this gallery is an example of tin-glazed earthenware produced in Holland during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Its blue and white simplicity was very attractive to the simple, straightforward Dutch merchant class for whom it was intended.

Map of Historic Venice, Italy

In 1879 Whistler was suffering from a lack of new patrons resulting from adverse publicity, in part due to critical reviews, as well as financial insolvency due to a lawsuit in which he sued John Ruskin for a public insult of his work. Under these circumstances Whistler readily accepted a commission in September 1879 from the Fine Arts Society in London to produce a set of 12 Venetian etchings over a period of three months. Whistler was to fall in love with the city – the long vistas and back alleys, the quiet canals and the isolated squares. He stayed on for 14 months producing over 50 etchings and subsequently achieved a high reputation as an etcher. On returning to England, these etchings and pastels re-established Whistler’s artistic reputation and marked a turning point in his career. Although critics remained divided due to Whistler’s modernist approach, contemporary artists embraced the freshness of his vision.

While in Venice, Whistler worked in a variety of media, including etching, oil and pastel. Whistler worked incredibly quickly and his etchings, while mirror images, are simple and direct thereby eliminating all extraneous details. For example, Whistler’s print, The Piazzetta relies on broad outlines to define the Venetian scene without including unnecessary details such as the upper part of the column of St. Mark.

Whistler and His Circle in Venice features 50 intimate etchings – 20 by Whistler – and also includes the work of Whistler’s circle: Otto Bacher, Charles Holloway, Mortimer Menpes, James McBey, Frank Duveneck, Joseph Pennell, Ernest Roth and John Marin. In addition, the exhibition features six etchings by Canaletto from 18 th century Venice.

Canals of Venice in 1880

“Whistler’s Venetian work is remarkable not only for its extraordinary aesthetic appeal but also for its impact on generations of later artists who represented Venice,” notes exhibition curator Eric Denker, Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. “For instance, Whistler was the first artist to paint monumental non-tourist sites in Venice; John Singer Sargent also adopted that practice. Whistler also chose not to reverse his prints because he wished them to be viewed as works of art, not tourist souvenirs. Likewise, Joseph Pennell, John Marin, Ernest Roth and others did not reverse their images.”

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834 – 1903) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, but lived in Russia during his youth and in Europe for all of his adult life. Whistler often courted controversy, most notably with his early patrons Frederick Leyland, John Ruskin and Oscar Wilde. The work Whistler produced while in Venice rehabilitated his reputation and career and re-established Whistler as a leading artist. The 15 months he spent in Venice marked the first time Whistler developed a circle of followers.

Glass painting

Seattle artist Ginny Ruffner’s works of art have graced the covers of art publications and have been included in major exhibitions in galleries and art museums in America, Europe and Japan. The exhibition includes the artist’s finest lamp-worked glass objects and bronze sculptures. These pieces are drawn from Ruffner’s private collection and provide a retrospective of her career.

Ruffner uses glass and sculpture to communicate her dreams, desires, frustrations, and fantasies. Frames incorporating sculptural elements such as chains, flowers, bear traps, hearts and arrows, along with the focal point – a large tornado with wings – relate to a different facet of the creative process. The tornado with wings may refer to the wellspring of creative thought, while the frame bound in chains cautions the viewer to remain aware of the picture.

Ruffner graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in painting and drawing in 1975. By 1985 she had moved to Seattle and was teaching at the Pilchuck School of Glass. By 1991, at age 39, Ruffner was on the board of the Seattle Arts Commission and Pilchuck School and was president of the Glass Art Society. In December 1991, Ruffner was involved in a life-altering traffic accident, which left her in a coma for five weeks. When she awoke her identity had been erased, and she had to re-learn everything from her favorite color to who she was as an artist. Amazingly, she returned to her art only seven months after the accident that nearly killed her. With the aid of her team she continued to create her painted flamework sculptures but with themes that reflect the unexpected turn that her life has taken. Continuing to see her sculptures as canvases for her thoughts, her work has a joyous, narrative quality that continues to capture the attention of art critics and collectors alike. Her work is an unabashed celebration of life that invites viewers to celebrate with her.

Image on an Dutch Colmus inside a modern art museum

Italian Architecture from historic Venice, a Museum exhibit

Views From a Floating Island presents several fine Japanese works of art from the Columbia Museum of Art’s collection, many of which have never been on display in the Museum. Highlights include the decorative ivory Ball of Mice that seems to writhe with energy, as well as the only Japanese example in the museum’s collection of 50 snuff bottles. There are also two-dimensional pieces including mid-20th century woodblock prints by father-and-son masters, Hiroshi and Toshi Yoshida, contrasted with a selection of black and white photographs from contemporary Japanese photographer, Hiroshi Sugimoto. This focus gallery installation and its related programming are organized in conjunction with the University of South Carolina’s Center for Asian Studies Asia Week, an annual event to be held during the last week of March.