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.

The intro text for the show is on the far left and a portrait of a person with gilded gold frame to the right of the intro text.

Thinking Through Drawing: On View through September 7, 2025

November 19, 2024

Henriette Kets de Vries is the Manager of the Cunningham Study Center and Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs.

Shared Inspiration

Comprised of paintings, drawings and prints by major artists of the post-World War II period, The Pokross Collection is a marvelous and exciting addition to SCMA’s collection.

art gallery with two artworks hung on the back wall and four artworks hung on the right wall

The Open Door

This photograph, "The Open Door," is the oldest in our collection.

open doorway of a barn with broom resting against a wall on the left, lantern hanging on a wall on the right

The Last Silent Movie

Language death like that of Ubykh is the focus of Susan Hiller’s "The Last Silent Movie."

jagged line with peaks and valleys, PLATE 21 printed over it and UBYKH / Shade, sea. printed below

At the Museum with Mary Cassatt

Degas’ dynamic portraits of Mary Cassatt at the Louvre express the admiration he felt for her.

Two women visiting a museum, seen from the back. woman on the right leans on her umbrella

Behind the Scenes with Debussy's Paris, Part II: Conservation

The "Debussy's Paris" exhibition was a great opportunity to have several nineteenth century posters conserved.

large poster laid across a white table; one woman sits on the table handling the poster, another woman stands toward the end of the table holding the poster down

Behind the Scenes with Debussy's Paris

It takes several years to plan and mount an exhibition, involving staff from Education, Membership and Marketing, and other Museum departments.

gallery with artworks displayed on the walls, orange ladder and blue cart in the middle of the gallery

Janet Fish

The exhibition I have been working on is in honor of Janet Fish, one of Smith College’s most successful artist-alumnae.

tabletop with newspaper on it; on top of newspaper, various shells and boxes of shells laid out

Melancholia I

"Melancholia I" excites, in part, because Dürer presented a new perspective on melancholia that challenged the prevailing stereotype.

Seated angel leaning head on hand. Dog lying at her feet. Cherub seated on mill stone.

Will Barnet's The Golden Frame

It’s easy to see why drawing is so important to Will Barnet’s paintings.

oval frame with four figures inside, one at left holding sketchpad and pencil, one at right partially hidden by a painting

Käthe Kollwitz: Darkness and Light

Empathy suffuses Kollwitz’s work, as though art were a way of identifying faces among the masses, drawing them out of anonymity.

Pictures of the Floating World

The word Uikyo-e means “pictures of the floating world.”

Head and shoulder views of a man and a woman

Albrecht Dürer: Genius and Fame

Over the course of the semester, I had the wonderful opportunity to not only learn about the fascinating world of Renaissance printmaking, but also to apply my new knowledge to writing the labels for our exhibition at the Smith College Museum of Art entitled "Albrecht Dürer: Genius and Fame."

In an archway stands Christ with the crown of thorns and a man on either side of him. Slightly below him is a group of six men, all gesturing at him or each other. To the left are three crosses.