SCMAinsider
SCMAinsider offers dynamic perspectives on the diverse collections and visions that shape the
Smith College Museum of Art.
We welcome contributions from all members of our community and seek to cultivate a range of
voices and experiences. If you want to contribute to the blog, please contact us at scmacuratorial@smith.edu.
Outside the Box: Frames to Focus on During Your Next SCMA Visit
Kay Horak ‘24 is a self-designed Art Conservation Major with a Mathematical Sciences Minor and Museums Concentration.
Curiouser and Curiouser
The poster features contrasting neon colors layered over one another and photographs of iconic Alice in Wonderland imagery. One does not need any drugs to feel the full effect of his hallucinogenic style.
Thomas Cornell's French Revolutionary Portraits
The SCMA’s Cunningham Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs has in its collection a set of etchings that artist Thomas Cornell completed for the Northampton-based Gehenna Press, run by Leonard Baskin, in 1964.
Degas Doppelgängers: SCMA Lithographs From Same Series as Gardner Heist Drawings
With the recent efforts of the FBI to again publicize the crime and recover the works, we thought we’d highlight the parallel works in our collection in solidarity with the Gardner.
Munio Makuuchi
Like all of Makuuchi’s visual works, "On Boy’s Day" relates directly to his life history.
Smith Tours: Diego Rivera and the Value of Art
Designing and giving a tour at the Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) is both exciting and unpredictable.
Daumier's Bathers
Daumier produced a series entitled Les Baigneurs, which provides humorous commentary on bourgeois bathers in the nineteenth-century.
From our archives: The Age of Mezzotint
Mezzotint, a printmaking technique invented by the German amateur artist Lugwig von Siegen in 1642, created unprecedented capabilities for translating paintings into prints.
Student Picks: From Tissot to Toulouse-Lautrec - Fashion Focus in 19th-century French Art
From Degas’ depiction of dancers, to Mary Cassatt’s rendition of social life and mother-daughter bonds, to Toulouse-Lautrec’s images of prostitutes at the Moulin Rouge, they all allow us to muse over the garments worn at the time by every kind of person in the social spectrum.
Curator, Who Me?
The exhibition, developed in conjuncture with Smith’s Celebrating Collaborations conference, was truly a collaborative effort.
Installing Sol LeWitt's "Wall Drawing #139"
My experience assisting in the installation of Sol LeWitt’s "Wall Drawing #139" is among the highlights of my Smith career.
Student Picks: Beauty by Design - The Art of Japanese Kimono
While working on a project which involved researching feudal Japanese costume, I fell in love with the beautiful and exotic Japanese kimonos.
Less is More: Josef Albers
The grandfather of Minimalism, Josef Albers was a prolific painter, printmaker, designer, and teacher who illuminated the importance of astute perception and restrained expression.