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This tremendously exciting exhibition is slated to open at the Heckscher
Museum of Art in November 2000. Curated by noted art historian Dr.
Gail Levin, Professor of Art History at Baruch College and the Graduate
Center of the City University of New York, Aaron Copland's America
celebrates the centennial of the American composer's birth.
Copland, who was born in Brooklyn on November 14, 1900, rose to
prominence for classical music compositions that captured the essence of
the modern era even as they integrated intrinsically American musical
themes. His music drew from such diverse sources as jazz rhythms,
European avant-garde composers, and folk songs. This dynamic
exhibition, which investigates the connections between Copland's career
in music and artistic movements of the twentieth century, will establish
relationships between the work of visual artists (and often specific
works by visual artists) and Copland's own music. A number of the
composer's most noted musical works will be highlighted, including
Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, El Salon México, Fanfare for the
Common Man, Lincoln Portrait, Simple Gifts, and The Tender Land. For the first time at the Heckscher, audio guides will accompany this
exciting exhibition to enable visitors to hear Copland's music even as
they view works by some of the most prominent names in twentieth century
art, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Georgia
O'Keeffe, Thomas Hart Benton, Marsden Hartley and others. Among the
works to be featured are e.e. cummings' Sound of 1919, Salvador Dali's Le
Piano Surrealiste of 1937, and Marcel Duchamp's Sonata of 1911. Folk
themes and multiculturalism will be highlighted with works such as Marc
Chagall's Green Violinist, 1923 to 1924, which relates closely to Copland's
composition Vitebsk.
Although the museum's staff had initially assumed that there would be a
close connection between Copland's music and the painting of American
regionalists such as Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton (both of whom are
represented in the exhibition by exceptional works), we were pleased to
learn that Dr. Levin had also established clear parallels between the
composer's work and that of avant-garde artists in both Europe and
America. On Copland's first transatlantic crossing, the young composer
met fellow passenger and avant-garde artist, Marcel Duchamp, who took
the young American under his wing in Paris. In America, Copland
responded personally to the social and economic crises of the 1930s that
fueled left-wing politics, and he became an habitué of artistic circles
that included Diego Rivera and Carlos Chavez.
One section of the exhibition is devoted to portraits of Copland by a
diverse group of American artists, including prominent sculptors,
painters and photographers. Late in life, he sat for Long Island artist
Rhoda Sherbell, and the resultant bronze portrait was said to have truly
captured the essence of the composer. Sherbell's artist's proof,
recently donated to the Heckscher, is included in Aaron Copland's
America.
Dr. Levin's exhaustive research has culminated in a major book, Aaron
Copland's America: A Cultural Perspective, which is being published by
Watson-Guptill Press. Dr. Judith Tick, a consultant to the exhibition
and distinguished Professor of Music at Northeastern University, has
contributed an essay, The Music of Aaron Copland. A plethora of musical
events, a symposium and other special programming accompanies the
exhibition. Visit our web site at www.heckscher.org for a listing.
Aaron Copland's America is a landmark exhibition, and an opportunity
that is simply not to be missed!
Copland Biographers and Experts
Learn about Aaron Copland's Influence in the Arts by clicking here! |
