Salon Wall

SALON WALL

The Salon Wall of Artworks is installed in the style of European Exhibition and Kunskammer ["Cabinet of Curiosity"] of the 1700s and 1800s. Modern museums customarily separate works of arts based on nationality, materials or time period. In contrast the Salon Wall arrangement allows the viewers to see diverse works of art together, and to recognize the shared theme of mortality and its different interpretations. Here paintings are shown next to prints, and hang near masks and headhunters trophies.

A central theme of the exhibition, Vanitas [the hollowness of this world pleasures in the face of death] is represented in artists juxtaposition of skulls with objects that represent the seductive attraction of life and symbols that remind the viewer of the rapidity of the passage of time. Adriaen van Utrech’s “Vanitas Still Life” shows a wide range of symbols while a carved English lintel makes the same point with the simple contrast between a skull and fruit. The theme became popular in the 17th century, and the modern examples flow its ongoing resonance for artists. Photographer Vic Duniz’ “Skull” [Vanitas]: Pictures of Soil” from 1998, contrasts a skull with a single, crushed flower to make the point of the transitory nature of life…

Salon Wall

Riachard Harris talking about the Salon Wall, in his

Gallery Talk with Richard Harris click here..

Salon Wall

People looking at the Salon Wall

PHOTO GALLERY

: Salon Wall

: The Salon Wall

: The Salon Wall

: The Salon Wall

: Medical Diagrams – Unknown

: The Morgue [Burnt to Death] – by Andres Serrano

: Angel of Death – by Leonard Baskin

: Be Good to your Internal Organs – by Chris Roberts

: Skull Walking Cane – by Robert Mapplethorpe

: Death and the Woman – by Kathe Kollwitz

: Fall and Redemption of Man – by artist unknown

: Woman of Winter – by Clyde Angel

: House of Belgian Painter James Ensor – by Martin Franck

: Skull / Head [ Inside/ outside] – by Katherine Du Tiel

: House of Belgian Painter Jamess Ensor – by Martin Franck

: Untitled: 1 Pavan – by Fredrick Sommer

: We Will Not Go Back – by Sue Coe

: Followers of Don Juan de Valdes Leal – Allegory of Mortality

: Followers of Don Juan de Valdes Leal – Allegory of Mortality

: Two Skulls – by Julian Adolphe Duvocell

: Head Hunter’s Trophy [ India]

: The Resurrection of the Dead – by Leonard Baskin

: Artist Unknown – [Haitian] Voodoo Spirit / 2000

: Artist Unknown – [Haitian] Azor, Baron of the Cross / 2000

: Untitled [Skull] – by Jasper Johns

: Rest in Peace – Artist Unknown [French]

: Life Mindful of Death – by John Dugdale

: The Head – by Edward Hagedorn

: Vanitas Still Life with a Bouquet and a Skull – by Adrian van Utrecht

: The Living Shell – by Pavel Techelitchew

: Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Spectre Invoked by Princess Takiyashu – by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

: Old Fears are Still Valid – by Marlene Dumas

: Funesto [Unlucky/ Sad] – by Fred Stonehouse

: House of Belgian painter James Ensor – by Martine Franck

: Om and Presence for A.G. – by William T. Wiley

: Untitled: Body Farm # 8 – by Sally Mann

: Ospedale – by Irving Penn

: Victory: The Celebration – by Robert Levers

: Cease the Day, Cease the Night – by Jiri Anderle

: Large Drawing # 18 – by Lucas Samaras

: Death – by Otto Goldman

: The Diplomatic Artist – by Friedrich Schroder Donnenstern

: The Triumph of Death – by Carlo Lasinio

: Memento Mori – by Basset, Rue Saint-Jacques

: Salon Wall

KT Lowe says:

July 5, 2012 at 9:07 am

I saw this exhibition yesterday while on vacation. I found it a well thought out exhibition, with a great deal of attention directed toward historical and modern methods of display. I also found it respectful of all cultures represented. Aside from that, I too am a collector of skull representations (a fledgling collection, as I don’t have much money to put toward it) and found much of the objects delightful in their diversity. Is there a catalog for this exhibition?

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