Brookgreen Gardens Displays Two New Exhibitions
January 21, 2013
PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC – On Saturday, January 26 through April 21,Brookgreen Gardens will display two new exhibitions in the RaineySculpture Pavilion.
Willard Hirsch: Charleston’s Sculptor, travels from the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC and RecentAcquisitions showcases art and history objects that are new to theBrookgreen collection. The exhibitions are open daily and free withgarden admission.Willard Hirsch: Charleston’s Sculptor – a native ofCharleston, Willard Hirsch (1905–1982) trained at the National Academyof Design and the Beaux Arts Institute in New York during the 1930s. He studied under notable architectural sculptors Robert Aitkin (1878–1947) and Adolph Alexander Weinman (1870–1952), and learned superb modelingtechniques under Edward McCartan (1879–1947) and Gaetano Cecere(1894–1985). He worked as a sculptor in New York for nearly a decadeand under the auspices of the New York Federal Art Project hecontributed sculptural pieces to a number of that city’s public building projects.
After serving in the military during WWII, Hirschreturned to Charleston where he felt his work could make a greaterimpact. Though the artistic community of Charleston had thrived in thedecades between the two World Wars, it was dominated by painters andprintmakers. Hirsch reentered his hometown bringing with him a passionto infuse the community with three dimensional works of art. Trained to work in a variety of media, ranging from terra-cotta and plaster, towood and metal, he established a studio on Exchange Street andsuccessfully welcomed sculptural commissions from private collectors and public institutions.
Over the course of his career, Hirschexhibited his work at the National Academy of Design, National Sculpture Society, Whitney Museum of American Art, Pennsylvania Academy of theFine Arts, and in numerous galleries and museums in the Southeast. Someof Hirsch’s best known work is on permanent exhibition in Charleston’spublic parks and buildings, including bronze sculptures in WashingtonPark, White Point Garden, the Gibbes Museum of Art garden, and CharlesTowne Landing State Park. As Charleston’s premier sculptor of thetwentieth century, this exhibition examines the body of work WillardHirsch developed over his fifty-year career.
Recent Acquisitions – in the last three years, Brookgreen Gardens has received more than 85gifts of art and historical objects. Its art collection has expanded in breadth and depth, adding to the roster several new artists, differentmaterials such as basswood and spalted holly, and innovative techniquesincluding tinted resins and multi-colored patination of metal.
The generosity of donors, both artists and collectors, has been vital tothe expansion of Brookgreen’s unparalleled collection of Americanfigurative sculpture and its growing collection of objects pertaining to the history of its land and people. In the same spirit as that ofBrookgreen Gardens’ founders, Archer and Anna Huntington, manyindividuals have helped to build on their legacy through significantdonations of funds, single objects, personal collections, and archivalmaterial. This exhibition showcases selected works acquired since 2010and celebrates each of the generous donors.
Brookgreen Gardens, aNational Historic Landmark and non-profit organization, is located onU.S. 17 between Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island, South Carolina, andis open to the public daily. For more information, visit our web site at www.brookgreen.org or call 843-235-6000.
Pictured: Bittern by Elliot Offner is in the Recent Acquisitions Exhibit.
