Thomas H And Diane Demell Jacobsen Phd Foundation Art Collection

Philadelphia Museum of Art to Brandish Thomas Cole Masterpiece "The Curvation of Nero" in American Galleries

"The Arch of Nero," 1846, by Thomas Cole (1801-1848). Oil on canvas, sixty ¼ 10 48 /4 inches. Image courtesy the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen PhD Foundation.

Philadelphia, PA (June 8, 2021) — The Philadelphia Museum of art announced today that it volition display in its American galleries The Arch of Nero, a masterpiece by the smashing 19th-century American mural painter Thomas Cole (1801–1848), as a long-term loan from the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen PhD Foundation. Purchased past the Foundation at Sotheby's American fine art auction in New York on May 19, 2021, this painting was ane of a number of works of art sold by the Newark Museum of Art in Newark, New Jersey, to raise funds for the direct care of its collection. The Arch of Nero was widely considered to be the most important of the works sold past the museum. The Jacobsen Foundation, an organisation dedicated to sharing its collection of American art with museums across the country, purchased The Arch of Nero intending to keep this important painting in the public domain. It will be placed on view in Gallery 208 of the Philadelphia Museum of Fine art beginning July 2, 2021.

Cole painted The Arch of Nero at the tiptop of his powers in 1846, drawing upon his memory and sketches made in Italy in 1832. A boldly composed image with Cole'due south typically expressive handling, the subject focuses on a monumental arch, ravaged by the passage of time and seen against green hills and a bright blue sky with gathering clouds. Known equally the "Arch of Nero" in Cole'south day, the subject of this painting was really part of an aboriginal Roman aqueduct near Tivoli. To Cole, this ruin served as a meditation on the transitory glory of empires and the cycle of ascension and fall of civilizations repeated throughout world history. The aura of emperor Nero'due south violent and decadent rule (54–68 CE) hangs over this painting, representing in Cole's vision an era when the Roman republic had devolved into a corrupt and tyrannical empire. Painted in the year that the The states invaded Mexico in a thinly veiled land grab, The Curvation of Nero calls to heed the similarly greedy expansion of the Roman empire and its ultimate ruin. As the Cole scholar William L. Coleman has noted, the artist's lesson on the fate of tyrants, his business over the erosion of republican values in this country, and his critique of the nation's expansion of colonial (and slaveholding) territories—implicit in his choice of the subject of this painting and its carmine, white, and blueish-clad figures—remains pertinent today.

Revered in his lifetime, Cole was recognized every bit the leader of a group of New York-based landscape artists known every bit the Hudson River School. His legacy can be seen in the galleries of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the work of artists who were inspired by his instance, such as Asher B. Durand, Frederic E. Church, Albert Bierstadt, Sanford Gifford, Martin Johnson Heade, and George Inness. The museum owns two early paintings by Cole, but no painting that represents his finest and most mature work. "Nosotros are thrilled to take this corking painting in our galleries," said Kathleen A. Foster, the museum'due south Robert 50. McNeil Jr. Senior Curator of American Art, "and we are grateful to the Jacobsen Foundation for ensuring that information technology will continue to be seen past the public for years to come."

At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Arch of Nero will be presented in context with works by Cole'due south Hudson River School peers and other important examples of mid-belatedly 19th-century American landscapes that capture the romanticism of the age.

Near The Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen PhD Foundation

The mission of the Jacobsen Foundation is "to advisedly research and obtain American masterpieces, provide restoration, if necessary, and facilitate long-term loans to accredited major museums and traveling exhibitions." This unique program allows curators to affordably complement works in their museum galleries and to build enriched instruction programs. The Foundation Collection, coupled with the founder's personal collection, is composed of 400 works of art, featuring paintings, sculptures, works on newspaper, silverish, glass, ceramics, and piece of furniture. Since its inception in 2011, the Foundation has offered loans to over 30 major museums, besides as a traveling exhibition drawn from the collection, "The Art of Seating," that appeared in twenty-eight venues throughout North America.

Another major oil painting recently acquired past the Jacobsen Foundation, Mary Cassatt's Baby Charles Looking over his Mother'due south Shoulder (No. 3) of 1900, was sold past the Brooklyn Museum. Like the Cole, it volition proceed to exist enjoyed by the public, as it will be placed on loan this summertime to The Mint Museum in Charlotte, Northward Carolina.

Most the Philadelphia Museum of Fine art

We are Philadelphia'southward art museum. A world-renowned collection. A landmark building. A place that welcomes everyone. We bring the arts to life, inspiring visitors—through scholarly study and creative play—to discover the spirit of imagination that lies in anybody. We connect people with the arts in rich and varied ways, making the experience of the Museum surprising, lively, and always memorable. We are committed to inviting visitors to encounter the world—and themselves—anew through the beauty and expressive power of the arts.

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For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at pressroom@philamuseum.org. The Museum is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street. For general information, call 215-763-8100.

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Source: https://press.philamuseum.org/philadelphia-museum-of-art-to-display-thomas-cole-masterpiece-the-arch-of-nero-in-american-galleries/