Exhibitions
Patricia Tobacco Forrester
Avila, 1990
Watercolor
Gift of Steven Scott
Michel Ciry
L’Hiver en Ile de France, 1949
Etching
Gift of Grover Batts
Out on a Limb:
Forests and Trees from the Permanent Collection
Permanent Collection: CALVERT GALLERY
The Academy Art Museum is the fortunate recipient of two recent gifts of artwork: Greg Mort’s Afterglow and Patricia Tobacco Forrester’s Avila. Inspired by these gifts, we have brought together 10 more works from our permanent collection that feature trees and forests.
In the European tradition the representation of trees and forests as an expressive element or independent theme has origins in the art of Renaissance and Baroque Germany and the Netherlands. Artists like Albrecht Altdorfer (1480 – 1538), Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528), and others developed the idea that a pure landscape could stand alone as a subject. Frequently these artists employed prints (woodblocks, etchings, engravings) as the medium to investigate the expressive possibilities of trees and forests. In the 17th century Rembrandt (1606 – 1669) and his Dutch contemporaries composed scenes of humble rural life that were often dominated by trees. Human activity is diminished in the face of larger natural forces.
The 10 artists in this exhibition draw on those traditions and other later artistic movements as varied as Romanticism, Abstract-Expressionism, and Minimalism in their depictions of trees and forests. Many of these works have an autumnal quality, with trees that hold few or no leaves, and seem to invite reflection and contemplation. Others reflect a sense of wonder at the power of nature. Another group suggests a natural harmony between human activity and the forest. Together they present a richness of arboreal images and ideas.