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.

light filled room; strands of blue-green glass marbles in an abstract lightning-bolt like formation on the white back wall

Installing Maya Lin’s Sculpture in Neilson Library

April 16, 2021

Nikolas Asikis, Chief Preparator, shares the process of installing Along the Cappawonganick (Mill River), a sculpture by Maya Lin created specifically for the renovated Neilson Library.

On the Threshold

John Crome’s Wooded Landscape (included in his Norfolk Picturesque Scenery Series) depicts the edge of a forest looming over a clearing. With billowing clouds in the receding landscape, the scene depicts a period of calm before a creeping storm — a storm one could read as human encroachment.

Black and white etching of a wooded scene on right foreground with a cloudy sky in the background

The Sublime in the Mundane: Human Encroachment in the Natural Landscape

As I become increasingly aware of anthropogenic environmental destruction, I find myself drawn to nature. It is in nature, in the intertwining body of roots and branches, air and light, that I find comfort amid the stresses of human life. Nature is pure. It is awe-inspiring. It is sublime.

Triptych drawing of classical statues adorned with flowers and vines - one standing, two reclining

Lavinia Fontana: Renaissance Artist

Earlier this year, the SCMA acquired two small portraits by the Italian Renaissance artist, Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614). These paintings are an important addition to the collection as the earliest works of art by a named woman artist. They also add a new dimension to the historic collection as objects that may not have been considered “fine” art at the time of their creation, but instead pertained more to the world of material culture.

Defiant Vision Q&A: Final Questions

This is the final Q&A post for Defiant Vision: Prints & Poetry by Munio Makuuchi before it closes exhibition closes on Sunday, December 8. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already had the chance!

In this series, Aprile Gallant, Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs responds to visitor questions from the exhibition’s comment book. Accompanying images are in the slideshow above.

Piet Mondrian's Chrysanthemum

No other flower signals the transition from summer to fall like chrysanthemums.

Chrysanthemum, ca. 1921–25 by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, 1872–1944.

Remembering Iwami Reika (1927-2020)

Today's post is from Aprile Gallant, Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs.

I was saddened to hear of the recent death of the Japanese printmaker Iwami Reika. Hilary Tolman, Smith class of 1987, in whose honor twenty-three of the artist’s works have been donated to the SCMA collection, gave me the news, as she knew of my particular interest and high regard for Iwami’s work.

Reika Iwami. Japanese, 1927-2020. Autumn Waves, 1981. Woodcut printed in black and metallic ink with embossing on medium thick, slightly textured, cream-colored paper (50/50). 15 ¾ x 12 inches. The Hilary Tolman, class of 1987, Collection. Gift of The Tolman Collection, Tokyo. SC 2014.12.16

Staying Inside | Learning Something New

Staying Inside is a series on SCMAinsider, the museum’s blog, that regularly features contributions from SCMA staff and students about what we are into right now, be it a book, a work of art, a song, a podcast, a recipe, a way to get outside, a performance; anything, really, that we are holding close or that brings us comfort and connection right now. Today's post is from Aprile Gallant, Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs.

Defiant Vision Q&A: Nudes and Midwesterners

Question: Why are there mostly naked girls [in the images] and why are there not that many boys?

Answer: That’s a good question!

Defiant Vision Q&A: Paintings or Prints?

In this series, Aprile Gallant, Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs answers visitor questions about the SCMA exhibition Defiant Vision: Prints & Poetry by Munio Makuuchi.

Questions and answers from Defiant Vision: Prints & poetry by Munio Makuuchi

In this series, Aprile Gallant, Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs answers visitor questions about the SCMA exhibition Defiant Vision: Prints & Poetry by Munio Makuuchi. Visit the exhibition to pose a question in the comment book, then check the book and SCMA Insider for the answers! Our first question explores Makuuchi's selective use of color in his work.

Munio Makuuchi American, 1934–2000. On Boys day I 'I.D.' with Rocky Mountain Salmon . . . / . . . So where’s the Salmon?, 1985.

Witchcraft and Superstition in Goya's Los Caprichos

Goya used images of witches in his work to reflect the evil he saw plaguing society.

naked male figure and winged female figure fly through the air holding a broom with a cat and a snake on the edge; text along the bottom: "Allá vá eso."

Honoring Kurt Lang (January 25, 1924—May 1, 2019)

Henriette Kets de Vries is the Cunningham Center Manager and Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the SCMA. She worked closely with Kurt Lang and featured works from his collection in the exhibition No Man's Land: Prints from the Front Lines of WWI.

Kurt Lang in the 1940s while he was home on leave from U.S. Army basic training during World II