The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg is embarking on a year-long loan sharing collaboration with Art Bridges to present five paintings by celebrated American artists from the Art Bridges Collection. The artists represented are Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee-Smith, Norman Wilfred Lewis, Lee Krasner, and Marsden Hartley, each of whom advanced narratives about race, gender, and regional identity through their depictions of American life in the twentieth century.
Art Bridges is a nonprofit arts foundation that creates and supports programs that expand access to American art around the country. It partners with art institutions on projects that deeply engage communities via thematic traveling exhibitions, long-term loan sharing collaborations, among additional initiatives. In addition to the loans, the MFA is also working with Art Bridges to create exciting programs, such as film screenings, lectures, and virtual performances, centered around the five paintings. Visit our website for regular updates.
With these loans on view, the MFA continues its commitment to share diverse stories, and elevate the traditionally underrepresented voices of Black, female, and gay artists.
“The quality of these artworks is outstanding. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Art Bridges, we are honored to share these stories from this inclusive group of artists with our community,” said MFA Executive Director & CEO Kristen A. Shepherd. “Each painting complements and resonates with our collection, and builds upon the greater narrative of this illuminating time in American art. We believe these important works will be a catalyst for many powerful connections with our visitors.”
The MFA, St. Petersburg is the first museum to have both Krasner’s Re-Echo (1957) and Lawrence’s In the Heart of the Black Belt (1947) on view from the Art Bridges Collection.
The artworks by Krasner, Lawrence, Lee-Smith, and Lewis are on display at the MFA through February 2022. Hartley’s painting will be on view from June 2021 to August 2022. The five paintings can be seen in the MFA’s Modern and Post-War galleries.
The MFA has prints by Krasner, Lawrence, Lee-Smith and Lewis in its own collection, however due to those pieces being works on paper, they are not on permanent display because of their light sensitivity. One of the great strengths of the MFA’s holdings is its collection of modern American paintings from 1920–1960. These five loans will amplify and create new connections among the existing works in the galleries, as well as fill gaps in the MFA’s presentation of twentieth century American art.
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