Two Exhibitions Premiere at the Gibbes on January 20
January 4, 2012
The Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston and Jill Hooper: Contemporary Realist
CHARLESTON, SC – January 20, 2012 – The Gibbes Museum of Art has organized two newexhibitions that will run from January 20, 2012 through April 22, 2012. The Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston, on view in the MainGallery, offers a career retrospective of the 20th century Americanartist Alfred Hutty, the master painter and printmaker who is considered one ofthe principal artists of the Charleston Renaissance. Jill Hooper: Contemporary Realist, on viewin the Rotunda Galleries, features recent work by Charleston artist Jill Hooper, aclassically-trained, realist painter whose extraordinary portraits have earnedinternational recognition.
“Theseexceptional exhibitions are firsts for the Gibbes and we are thrilled to be ableto present them through the generosity of our many donors. The Alfred Huttyexhibition is the first of its kind with an accompanying book and catalograisonné of his prints. And while Jill Hooper’s work has been a part of theGibbes collection for some time, this is her first solo exhibition at ourinstitution,” stated Angela D. Mack, ExecutiveDirector.
The Art of AlfredHutty: Woodstock to Charleston
Image credit:
MeetingStreet, ca.1925
By Alfred Hutty (American, 1877 –1954)
Oil on canvas, 23 1/2 x 29 1/2inches
The Art of AlfredHutty: Woodstock to Charleston features evocative landscapesand realistic studies of the human condition created by Alfred Hutty (1877–1954)in Woodstock, NewYork and Charleston. The exhibition includes sixty worksin oil, watercolor, pastel, and most importantly, etchings, drypoints, andlithographs. Following the premiere at the Gibbes, the exhibition will travel tothe Greenville County (S.C.) Museum ofArt and the Morris Museumof Art in Augusta,Georgia.
Amongthe first artists to settle in the Art Students League colony at Woodstock, NewYork, in the early 1900s, Hutty established himself as aleading painter of the town’s natural environs. For more than a decade, he honedhis skills in oil and watercolor, producing intimate portrayals of Woodstock’s mountains, lakes, and streams before his careertook him to SouthCarolina. Hutty first visited Charleston in 1920 and according to one of the main legendsof the Charleston Renaissance he excitedly wired his wife back in Woodstock: “Come quickly,have found heaven.” Hutty began dividing his time seasonally between homes andstudios in Charleston and Woodstock, teaching art classes for the Carolina ArtAssociation at what is now the Gibbes Museum of Art—a relationship thateventually led to the Gibbes’ status as the largest public repository of Hutty’swork. In Charleston, Hutty was inspired to try his handat printmaking for the first time, and it is this artistic medium for which heis best known. His skillful prints depicting the city’s surviving colonial andantebellum architecture, its rural environs, and its African American populationdrew unprecedented national attention to both Hutty and to Charleston.
Theexhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalog titled The Life and Art of Alfred Hutty. Thisillustrated survey of Hutty’s career offers the first comprehensive examinationof his impact on American art in the South and beyond. The text and catalog ofprints offer authoritative documentation of more than 250 of Hutty’s works.Published in cooperation with the University of South CarolinaPress, the book is edited by Gibbes Curator ofCollections Sara C. Arnold and Stephen G. Hoffius and features essays by Arnold,Alexis L. Boylan, Harlan Greene, Edith Howle, and a catalog of known prints byHutty.
Theexhibition and accompanying catalog are sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of SC, Gibbes, etc., The HumanitiesCouncilSC, South Carolina Arts Commission,Howle-Throckmorton Foundation, Jane Smith Turner Foundation, Price R. and FloraA. Reid Foundation, Brunk Auctions, and Legends magazine.
RelatedProgramming:
Rebirth, Refinement, and Rivalry: ACharlestonRenaissance Symposium
Moderated by AngelaMack, featuring the contributors to The Life and Art of Alfred Hutty
Friday, January 20
Lectures scheduled between 9:15am and 2:45pm, booksigning to follow
$65 for morning or afternoon sessions, $120 forboth sessions
Curator-Led Tour
Conducted by SaraArnold, Gibbes Curator ofCollections
Thursdays, February 2 and March 1 at2:30pm
Free with museum admission
For tickets to the January 20 symposium, visit gibbesmuseum.org/events or call
Jill Hooper:Contemporary Realist
Image Credit:
Jacob (2009)
By Jill Hooper (American, b. 1970)
Oil on linen and panel
20 ½ X 13 ¾ inches
Image courtesy of Ann Long FineArt
Jill Hooper:Contemporary Realist features recent work by Charleston artist JillHooper, a classically-trained, realist painter whose extraordinary portraitshave earned international recognition. The exhibition includes a number ofHooper’s acclaimed portraits, along with large-scale landscapes and exquisitestill-life paintings that demonstrate her mastery of technique. Through theinclusion of both paintings and drawings, the exhibition offers insight intoHooper’s working process while showing her development as an artist over thepast decade.
Throughout her career, Hooper hastrained with a number of renowned realist painters, including D. Jeffrey Mims,Charles Cecil, and Ben Long. Her training is grounded in the techniquesof the Old Masters, and she mixes her own pigments and paints from life withnatural, northern light. Engagement with her subject matter is essential toHooper’s working process and carries through in her finished work. Her portraitsconvey powerful emotion, with many of the works in the Gibbes exhibitionrevolving around themes of personal struggle and resilience. Hooper’s talentgained notice at an early age and in 2000, at the age of 30, she became theyoungest living artist included in the Gibbes collection. In 2006, she earned aprestigious BP Portrait Award, presented annually by the National PortraitGallery in London, for her 2006 self-portrait Pugnis et Calcibus, which is included inthe exhibition.
Jill Hooper:Contemporary Realist is sponsored by Gibbes, etc. and Charleston magazine.
RelatedProgramming:
Society 1858Presents
Luce e Colore—LaBella Notte Italiana
Society 1858’s winter party celebrates the classicaltraditions of the great masters and spotlights the exhibition Jill Hooper: Contemporary Realist.Featuring Italian aperitivo and vino provided by Oak Steakhouse,live music from the Juleps and the Ron Wiltrout Trio, and studio artistvignettes.
Friday, February 10, 8 –11pm
$40 Society 1858 Members, $70Non-Members
$100 includes event ticket, and an annual membership toSociety 1858 & the Gibbes Museum
$45 for 7 – 8pm VIP Party with Jill Hooper and CharlesWadsworth
Chamber Music with theCharlestonSymphony Orchestra
In response to the exhibition Jill Hooper: ContemporaryRealist
Sunday, February 26, 2012, 4pm
$15 Members,$25 Non-Members
Curator-Led Tour
Conducted by PamWall, Gibbes Curator of Exhibitions
Thursdays, February 16 and March 15 at2:30pm
Free with museum admission
For tickets to the February 10 th party or February 26th concert, visit gibbesmuseum.org/events or call 843-722-2706 x22.
Gibbes Museum of Art
Established as the Carolina ArtAssociation in 1858, the Gibbes Museum of Art opened its doors to the public in1905. Located in Charleston’s historicdistrict, the Gibbes houses a premier collection of over 10,000 works,principally American with a Charleston or Southern connection, and presents special exhibitions throughoutthe year. In addition, the museum offers an extensive complement of publicprogramming and educational outreach initiatives that serve the community bystimulating creative expression and improving the region’s superb quality oflife.
MUSEUMHOURS:
TUESDAY – SATURDAY: 10 AM -5 PM, SUNDAY: 1 PM – 5 PM
ADMISSION:
ADULTS: $9.00 · SENIORS,STUDENTS & MILITARY: $7.00 · CHILDREN (6-12):$5.00
·MEMBERS AND CHILDREN UNDER6: FREE
135 MeetingStreet 
Charleston, SC29401 www.gibbesmuseum.org
