Lecture by Dr. Mitchell Merling

Tuesday, September 27, 7pm

Trinkle Hall, Room 204

This lecture will accompany the exhibition The French Horse from Romanticism to Surrealism: Works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on view in the Ridderhof Martin Gallery.

Mitchell Merling  is the Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art at  the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Dr. Merling has served held both Pre-and Postdoctoral fellowships at the National Gallery of Art and served as Curator at both the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts before joining VMFA.  At VMFA, he has produced exhibitions on Fabergé, British sporting prints, 19th-Century French floral still lifes, and Auguste Rodin, among others, and is currently preparing an exhibition of Rachel Lambert Mellon’s collection of Jean Schlumberger jewelry and objects. Tonight he will talk about both the contents of the French Horse exhibition, and its evolution as an inclusive museum studies student-curated project involving juniors, seniors, and graduates from five Virginia institutions of higher learning, including Mary Washington University.

Photo: Jay Paul © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Rodin Sponsor Private Tour and Reception Wednesday, November 18th 6 to 8 p.m. Rodin: Evolution of a Genius November 21, 2015 – March 13, 2016 Organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Musée Rodin in Paris, this exhibition will feature nearly 200 works by the greatest sculptor of the 19th and early 20th centuries: Auguste Rodin. Revealing the evolving output of this genius of sculpture, the exhibition examines his techniques, materials, models and assistants, and explores the extraordinary working process behind some of his best known works. Auguste Rodin completely revitalized the very language of sculpture with his passion for the creative act. Fragile plasters as well as patinated bronzes, marble figures, astonishing ceramics and never-before-exhibited photographs all attest to this creative intensity, with much of the work presented in North America for the first time. Rodin: Evolution of a Genius is organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Musée Rodin, Paris. Rodin is organized for VMFA by Dr. Mitchell Merling, Paul Mellon Curator and Head of European Art. The exhibition catalogue, with contributions on Rodin’s process by leading scholars, will be published by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Photo: Jay Paul © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

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