La Salle University Art Museum

11/16/2022

Edward Moran (August 19, 1829- June 8, 1901) was an English American artist of maritime paintings. He immigrated to Philadelphia in 1845 and apprenticed under James Hamilton and Paul Weber. Edward’s brother, Thomas Moran was also a famous painter, and they shared a studio in Philadelphia. The entire Moran family were known to be prolific painters during the 19th century. Autumn Landscape by Edward Moran is currently on display in the special exhibition room at the La Salle University Art Museum. Visit and enjoy Monday-Thursday 10-4!

11/12/2022

Excited to celebrate Homecoming Weekend! La Salle University Art Museum will be open for additional hours today Saturday, November 12, from 11:00am-3:00pm. Come visit!

11/11/2022

Remembering all those who served on Veteran’s Day!

Winslow Homer is known particularly for his sea-themed paintings, but his early career was as a commercial illustrator. His interest in art started early -- his mother was an amateur watercolorist. He apprenticed with a commercial lithographer in Boston in his late teens. Independent minded, he soon set up his own studio and sold work to magazines such as Harper's Weekly. During the Civil War, Homer served as an embedded artist with the Union army capturing life on the front.

Winslow Homer
The Army of the Potomac--A Sharpshooter on Picket Duty
From Harper's Weekly, November 15, 1862
Wood engraving on paper
Gift of Mrs. J.B. Yasinow

11/03/2022

Today is Japanese Culture Day, known as Bunka no Hi. It celebrates the culture and arts of Japan. A major genre of Japanese art from the 17th-19th centuries is ukiyo-e. This term translates to mean “pictures of the floating world.” Many ukiyo-e artists worked in woodblock prints and focused on subjects like kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, scenes from history and even folk tales.

Utagawa Kunisada I (1786-1864)
Portrait of a Samurai, 1857
Woodblock print
79-G-999(7)

10/27/2022

To celebrate National Black Cat Day we offer up "Three Cats" by Paul Kamper. The German painter and sculptor studied with Bauhaus artist Georg Muche. He was influenced by the CoBrA and Tachisme movements (the post-WWII European response to Abstract Expressionism).

Paul Kamper, German (1926-2014)
Three Cats, 1954
Oil on canvas
00-P-464

10/25/2022

The museum’s front entry hall is celebrating the upcoming Inauguration by exhibiting images of a few former Presidents! This portrait of Brother Daniel Burke, F.S.C., celebrates La Salle’s 25th President. Brother Daniel was also the University’s Art Museum founder, establishing our collection in 1965.

Take some time to stop by the art museum to celebrate the Inauguration of our 30th President, Daniel J. Allen, Ph.D. We will be having extended hours during our campus celebration on Friday, October 28th from 12:00-2:00pm.

10/04/2022

Some inspiration for your rainy day

09/29/2022

Today is national coffee day! Enjoy this 20th century print “Augustus John and William Nicholson” at the Café Royal enjoying coffee!

09/27/2022

Today is ! The La Salle University Art Museum displays The Children of William Grant of Congalton in our 18th century gallery. William Grant was the son of Ludovick Grant of Edinburgh. He was a lawyer and the Congalton estate in Scotland. He married Dorothea Dalrymple and had four children. Do you have siblings? Post a pic of you and your siblings and tag

09/13/2022

Happy Birthday Robert Indiana!

Robert Clark (Sept. 13, 1928 – May 19, 2018), who later changed his name to Robert Indiana, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago after serving in the military. Next, he went to Edinburgh College of Art and then returned to the US and moved to New York City in the mid-1950s. Indiana became known for his text-based pieces. His EAT sign had to be removed from the 1964 New York World’s Fair as the public kept expecting to find a restaurant.

Indiana’s most celebrated work has been the LOVE series. It served as a Christmas card for the Museum of Modern Art in 1965 and as a US stamp in 1973. Indiana claimed his color scheme for this work was based on red and green signs from his father’s work set “against the blue Hoosier sky.” The colors are also reminiscent of the hard-edged abstract work Blue Green Red by Ellsworth Kelly, who was a contemporary of and inspiration to Indiana.


Robert Indiana, The Philadelphia Love, Color Serigraph, 1975
https://artcollection.lasalle.edu/objects-1/info/3165

09/12/2022

Professor Moriuchi’s Introduction to Art History class came to visit the La Salle University Art Museum today. Students worked alongside classmates completing a scavenger hunt. The art museum is located on the lower level of Hayman Hall and is a great place to check out with your friends!

08/27/2022

Seeing some new faces at the art museum this weekend! Welcome to our incoming freshman class and our returning explorers! If you need a break from move in, remember you can visit the art museum from 2-4pm today!

08/02/2022

We have another collection birthday -- John French Sloan (1871 – 1951). Sloan, an American realist painter and etcher, was raised in Philadelphia and attended Central High School with painter William Glackens and art collector Alfred Barnes when family circumstances forced him to leave school. Early in his career Sloan worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer’s art department and further developed his skills taking courses at the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts.

Before Sloan left Philadelphia for New York City, he secured a commission to illustrate the literary works of Charles Paul De K**k. French novelist De K**k was highly popular in his day. The etching “Jean…presented to each burglar the muzzle of a pistol (The Burglars)” is from the De K**k novel Jean. Sloan’s use of line helps to emphasize the action of this scene. The burglars are caught in a moment between action and stillness. Their dark clothes and shadowy faces contrast the light pajamas and sheets of the protagonist who catches these thieves red-handed.

John Sloan
Jean…presented to each burglar the muzzle of a pistol.
1903
20th Century
3 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (8.9 x 13.3 cm)
Etching
76-G-619(a)

07/30/2022

Happy birthday to Henry Moore (July 30, 1898 – August 31, 1986). The abstraction in Moore’s work lent it a sense of universality and allowed for an almost unlimited play with shape, form, and scale; while his frequent inclusion of the figure provided a touchstone through which his audience could connect with his work. Moore was primarily known as a modernist sculptor except during World War II when he was famed for his “shelter drawings” – depictions of Londoners seeking refuge in the Underground during the Blitz. Moore was the quintessential British artist in the mid-20th Century. He had a one-man show at MoMA in 1946 and won the International Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale in 1948. Moore maintained a crew of assistants including many of the next generation of British sculptors. His workshop approach allowed him to meet the great demand for his work as well as to explore other avenues such as drawing and printing.

https://artcollection.lasalle.edu/objects-1/info/1974

Henry Moore, English, (1898–1986)
Heads, Figures, and Ideas, 1958
11 1/2 x 9 7/8 in. (29.2 x 25.1 cm)
color lithograph
78-G-794

07/19/2022

Happy birthday to John Martin (1789 – 1854). The British artist’s paintings and engravings often featured vast scenes teeming with tiny figures, like what we see in this print. Martin achieved considerable success in his day. Yet as tastes changed, his reputation suffered – the love of the sublime waned and the public considered a lot of his works to be melodramatic. Later in the twentieth century, interest in his art rekindled due in part to his influence on film makers, such as D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille and George Lucas.

Martin’s mezzotint Satan Presiding at the Infernal Council depicts a scene from John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667). Close viewing of this print reveals Martin’s blending of small details that reinforce the drama of the scene. According to historian James Hamilton, this artwork influenced the Galactic Senate scene in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. What visual connections do you notice?

https://www.starwars.com/databank/galactic-senate

John Martin, English, (1789–1854)
Satan Presiding at the Internal Council
1824
9 7/8 x 13 5/8 in. (25.1 x 34.6 cm)
Mezzotint on paper
88-G-3018

07/18/2022

The La Salle University Art Museum is excited to announce the appointment of Carolyn Greene, PhD as the new Director and Chief Curator. Dr. Greene earned her master’s degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Pennsylvania before completing her PhD in Art History at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on Chinese art, with an emphasis on the impact of female patronage during the late Qing and into the early Republic.

Throughout her career she has worked within several art institutions’ curatorial departments, including the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut and the Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. Most recently, Dr. Greene served as a professor of Art History at the University of Central Arkansas where she taught courses in both western and non-western topics.

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Greene to the La Salle community and to the art museum’s collection of more than 5,000 works from across the globe forward in the upcoming months!

07/07/2022

Happy birthday to Marc Chagall (Belarusian, 1887 – 1985)! After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Chagall emigrated to France, where he was already famous in Modernist circles. In 1923 art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard (1866 – 1939) commissioned Chagall to illustrate Nikolai Gogol’s novel Dead Souls. The novel’s main character, Chichikov, plans to purchase “dead souls” or serfs (essentially, enslaved individuals who worked in agriculture) who had passed away. When a serf died the landowner still owed a tax on the individual until the next census. These “dead souls” were the center of Chichikov’s get-rich-quick scheme and part of the author’s dark-humored critique of Russian society.

This scene is one of ninety-six etchings created to illustrate Gogol’s novel. While the print lacks the artist’s renowned use of color, Chagall created an animated and lively group. Vollard, a notorious perfectionist, died before he felt Chagall’s illustrated edition of Dead Souls could be published. It was not until 1948 that another publisher printed Chagall’s illustrations.

Marc Chagall (Belorussian, 1887–1985)
Mob of Peasants, plate XXVIII from Les Âmes Mortes (Dead Souls)
1923-1948
10 3/4 x 8 3/8 in. (27.3 x 21.3 cm)
79-G-1053
Gift of Benjamin D. Bernstein

07/06/2022

How to get $2 museum admission with your ACCESS or Art-Reach ACCESS card

Summer is well under way and the pressure to get out and make the most of the season is very real! Why not go to a museum?

The La Salle University Art Museum is *free*​ and open to folks who want to schedule a time to visit. With staffing limitations this summer, the museum is open by appointment only; but, come out and visit! Just email us artmuseum(at)lasalle(dot)edu and we'll get you on the books. There is elevator access to the museum for individuals with mobility limitations or strollers.

In the spirit of accessibility, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article last week that highlighted museums and cultural institutions where folks with ACCESS or ArtReach ACCESS cards can visit for a $2 entry fee! This is news we don't mind reading!

Like, tag a friend, and share to help us spread word about LaSalle University Art Museum and this fantastic program! We hope to hear from you or see you around this summer.

https://www.inquirer.com/philly-tips/art-reach-access-card-eligibility-philadelphia.html

Your ACCESS Card can get you into more than 60 attractions, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Opera Philadelphia, Longwood Gardens, the Wilma Theater, and more, for only $2.

06/28/2022

This week the art world mourns the passing of artist Sam Gilliam (1933 – 2022) on Saturday. As an artist, he was renowned for his draped canvas paintings. His unique and colorful canvases pushed the field of painting in new directions. He earned many honors throughout his career, like being the first Black artist to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale (1972).

While our art museum does not house one of Gilliam's unique canvas artworks, we are proud to care for a multimedia piece that demonstrates his adept use of color and even mimics the movement of his larger paintings.

If you want to see the artist's painting in person, the Philadelphia Museum of Art currently has his piece Dakar I on display.

Image:
Sam Gilliam (American, 1933 - 2022); As Kids Go; 1996; Color screenprint with embossed relief, collage and acrylic paint on handmade paper; 01-G-3262; Gift of Anthony T. Podesta

06/21/2022

Here’s hoping that you all could take a moment to celebrate Juneteenth on Sunday! The art of Black artist Walter H. Williams (1920 – 1998) evokes the spirit of holiday: celebration and reflection. Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York. After serving in WWII, he studied art at the Brooklyn Museum’s school, and later received a fellowship to study in Mexico which was more racially tolerant than the United States. After living and working in Mexico, he moved to Denmark where he believed he could live free from racial prejudice. It was during this time that Williams created this work and others featuring Black children in various dream-like scenes.

This image has a lot to unpack: the sitting boy, the black bird, the cage, and the dark structure in the background with the figure outside. On the one hand, this image seems full of hope: a child sitting peacefully in a field with his mother looking after him in the background. On the other hand, the meager details and the contrast of flying birds with a caged bird adds a darker note. It’s possible these details allude to a darker note of promise unfulfilled. It might reflect the restricted condition of African Americans in twentieth-century society and beyond.

Boy with Caged Bird, 1966
Color Woodcut, 30/210
67-G-138
Image (c) of the artist's estate

06/16/2022

Announcing the 2022 AASLH Leadership in History Award Winners

What great news for our area partners! Congrats Historic Germantown and Stenton

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) proudly announces the winners of the 77th annual Leadership in History Awards, the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. This year, AASLH confers 53

06/10/2022

Happy Pride month to all folx and a happy birthday to celebrated Philadelphia artist, Violet Oakley (June 10, 1874 – Feb. 25, 1961)! A change in family fortune led Oakley to withdraw from her studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and instead to enroll in classes with the illustrator Howard Pyle at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry. By 1902 Oakley had a well-established career and was commissioned to paint murals in the state capitol in Harrisburg, PA – the first woman to receive this honor.

Our collection boasts many of Oakley’s preparatory sketches for various projects. This post showcases the final design for the Redemption wall from her Great Women of the Bible murals commissioned by the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown. According to the Woodmere Art Museum, this series was a collaboration between Oakley and her life partner, Edith Emerson. Following Oakley’s death, Emerson established the Violet Oakley Memorial Foundation which ensured that Violet’s legacy could live on.

Have you seen any of Oakley's works in person? What's your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

82-D-290
Violet Oakley
Great Women of the Bible, "Redemption", final sketch
c. 1945-1948
8 1/2 x 17 in. (21.6 x 43.2 cm)
Gouache, graphite, gold gilt on board
Gift of the Violet Oakley Memorial Foundation