Crystal Bridges Museum to feature Picasso painting, Black Unity exhibit

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announced Pablo Picasso’s “Seated Woman in Chemise” (1923), is part of a new art display on loan from the Tate Modern in London that will be featured beginning April 29.

Philip Haas’s “The Four Seasons” (2011), on loan from Sonnabend Gallery is also featured this month. Beginning May 4 the museum will also display a new exhibition, Black Unity, featuring five new acquisitions. Black Unity will run through Sept. 2.

“In an effort to increase access to art, we are honored to collaborate with Tate Modern to share works that expand our understanding of American art,” said Rod Bigelow, executive director for Crystal Bridges. “Exhibiting artwork from other cultures broadens our appreciation of the loaned works and enriches the visitor experience, revealing new insights and connections within our own collection.“

The museum said the Picasso work will be on view from April 29 through July 2017. In addition to the Picasso piece, there is also a complimentary selection by Belgian artist Rene Magritte, “L’Anniversaire,” which is on loan from the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Both works are showcased as part of the reinstallation of Modernist works.

“These very special loans offer a wonderful opportunity for visitors to view works by American Modernists side-by-side with masters of the European avant-garde who had great influence in America,” said, Margi Conrads, director of curatorial affairs at Crystal Bridges.

“The Four Seasons,” by American artist Philip Haas, will be installed along the Orchard Trail and in the museum’s courtyard. The work is a series of fiberglass heads inspired by four 1563 Italian Renaissance paintings: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Smaller three-foot high sculptures of The Four Seasons will be located inside the museum’s Bridge Gallery. This exhibit will be on view from April 29 through September. Haas will be speaking at Crystal Bridges from 1-2 p.m., Friday, April 29, about the work. The event is free to the public.

This summer the museum is focusing on a Black Unity exhibition of 13 artworks by eight African American artists within the past five decades.

“With the increased diversification of our collections, it is exciting to have the opportunity to showcase new acquisitions in an installation that specifically addresses the black experience in this country,” said Alejo Benedetti, curator for this exhibit. “This show encourages conversations about race. The unique voices of the artists unite visitors across a shared American identity—in this way black unity is inherently American unity.”