Press Materials

Assyrian kings in the ninth to seventh centuries B.C. decorated their palaces with masterful relief sculptures that represent a high point of Mesopotamian art, both for their artistic quality and sophistication and for their vivid depictions of warfare, rituals, mythology, hunting, and other aspects of Assyrian court life. The importance of these ancient treasures has only increased with the recent destruction, by ISIS, of many of the reliefs that remained in Iraq. Curated by Timothy Potts, assisted by Sara Cole. 

Édouard Manet (1832-1883) earned his place as the leading avant-garde painter of modern Paris through a series of provocative paintings that shocked contemporary audiences. The first exhibition ever to explore the last years of his short life, Manet and Modern Beauty highlights a less familiar and more intimate side of this celebrated artist’s work. Stylish portraits, luscious still lifes, delicate pastels and watercolors, vivid café and garden scenes convey Manet’s elegant social world and reveal his growing fascination with fashion, flowers, and the parisienne—for the artist, a feminine embodiment of modern life in all its particular, fleeting beauty. Curated by Scott Allan and Emily Beeny. 

The history of the book in the late Middle Ages is a story of competing media as the handwritten and the illuminated encountered the print revolution in Europe. New printing technologies gave rise to a rich period of experimental cross-fertilization during which artists created hybrid works, books printed to look like manuscripts, and painted compositions modeled after prints. This exhibition includes masterpieces of both media, challenging the division between them considering the culture of the book as technology met artistry. Curated by Larisa Grollemond.