Memorial Art Gallery
Encyclopedia
The Memorial Art Gallery is the civic art museum of Rochester, New York
. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester
and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus. It is the focal point of fine arts activity in the region and hosts the biennial Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition and the annual Clothesline Festival.
. After Averell died at age 26, his mother, Emily S. Watson (by then the wife of James Sibley Watson
), spent several years seeking a way to publicly commemorate him. Meanwhile Rush Rhees
, president of the University of Rochester
, had been looking for benefactors to help him add to the University's campus, then located on Prince Street in the City of Rochester. Hiram Sibley had some 30 years previous funded the construction of the University's library which displayed part of Sibley's art collection on its upper floor for a time, but Rhees wanted to construct a dedicated art gallery. The Rochester Art Club, which was the focal point for art enthusiasts of the area and which had exhibited and taught at art venues of the time (Reynolds Arcade
, the Bevier Memorial Building
, and the Powers Block) provided the manpower to staff the gallery. Rhees assembled a board of managers, including the Art Club's president, George L. Herdle, in November of 1912 and by the eighth of the following October, presided over the Gallery's opening. The inaugural exhibition consisted of paintings from dealers for sale, with the Gallery taking a 10% commission. The most wealthy families immediately gifted their purchases to the gallery to start its permanent collection.
Exhibits in the early years of the Gallery consisted of loans from the private collections of George Eastman
, the Sibleys, the Watsons, and other prominent Rochester families. Herdle labored mightily to keep the Gallery's walls filled with new works until his untimely death in 1922 at which point his daughter and University of Rochester graduate, Gertrude L. Herdle began what would become a 40 year career as the museum's director. Another daughter, Isabel C. Herdle, served in various curatorial roles during the same period after schooling at Harvard University
the University of London
, and the Royal Institute of Technology
in Stockholm and stints at the Fogg and the de Young
museums.
In all of its years of operation, the Gallery has endured only two thefts: During a 1927 Buddhist exhibition, a youth made off with a Tibetan banner on loan from a local family. Some twenty years later, after the youth had developed into a career fencer, police recovered the banner from his small apartment. Also, in 1978, someone pinched Picasso
's Flowers in a Blue Vase during a busy Sunday afternoon; the painting found its way back to the Gallery within three weeks.
The Gallery, though sited on the University of Rochester's campus, existed as a separate organization from the University until 1935, when Alan Valentine
renegotiated the 1912 charter.
Today, the Gallery is supported primarily by its membership, the University of Rochester, and public funds from Monroe County and the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Gallery exhibited still photography and motion pictures until the 1949 opening of the George Eastman House
.
The Gallery began featuring arts and crafts of various immigrant groups starting in 1919. Director George Herdle was known to ask Italian, Pole, Dane, Dutch, English, Near Eastern, Greek, Armenian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian families to loan items from their attics and basements.
's former Prince Street campus and consists of the following structures:
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus. It is the focal point of fine arts activity in the region and hosts the biennial Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition and the annual Clothesline Festival.
History
The Gallery is a memorial to James George Averell, a grandson of Hiram SibleyHiram Sibley
Hiram Sibley , was an industrialist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.Sibley was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, and later resided in Rochester, New York. He became interested in the work of Samuel Morse involving the telegraph.In 1840, he joined with Morse and Ezra Cornell to create a...
. After Averell died at age 26, his mother, Emily S. Watson (by then the wife of James Sibley Watson
James Sibley Watson
Dr. James Sibley Watson, Jr. was a Rochester, New York, medical doctor, philanthropist, publisher, editor, and early experimenter in motion pictures....
), spent several years seeking a way to publicly commemorate him. Meanwhile Rush Rhees
Benjamin Rush Rhees
Benjamin Rush Rhees was the third president of the University of Rochester, serving from 1900-1935.-Education:Rhees earned his undergraduate degrees from Amherst College where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi...
, president of the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
, had been looking for benefactors to help him add to the University's campus, then located on Prince Street in the City of Rochester. Hiram Sibley had some 30 years previous funded the construction of the University's library which displayed part of Sibley's art collection on its upper floor for a time, but Rhees wanted to construct a dedicated art gallery. The Rochester Art Club, which was the focal point for art enthusiasts of the area and which had exhibited and taught at art venues of the time (Reynolds Arcade
Reynolds Arcade
Reynolds Arcade is a historic office building located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It is an eleven story, Art Deco style commercial / office building with arcaded shops on the first floor. It was built in 1932 of steel frame construction and is faced on the exterior with Indiana...
, the Bevier Memorial Building
Bevier Memorial Building
Bevier Memorial Building is a historic institutional building built originally for the Rochester Athaneaum and Mechanics Institute located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It is a three and a half brick story with ceramic trim designed by Claude Fayette Bragdon and completed in 1910.It was...
, and the Powers Block) provided the manpower to staff the gallery. Rhees assembled a board of managers, including the Art Club's president, George L. Herdle, in November of 1912 and by the eighth of the following October, presided over the Gallery's opening. The inaugural exhibition consisted of paintings from dealers for sale, with the Gallery taking a 10% commission. The most wealthy families immediately gifted their purchases to the gallery to start its permanent collection.
Exhibits in the early years of the Gallery consisted of loans from the private collections of George Eastman
George Eastman
George Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream...
, the Sibleys, the Watsons, and other prominent Rochester families. Herdle labored mightily to keep the Gallery's walls filled with new works until his untimely death in 1922 at which point his daughter and University of Rochester graduate, Gertrude L. Herdle began what would become a 40 year career as the museum's director. Another daughter, Isabel C. Herdle, served in various curatorial roles during the same period after schooling at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, and the Royal Institute of Technology
Royal Institute of Technology
The Royal Institute of Technology is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH was founded in 1827 as Sweden's first polytechnic and is one of Scandinavia's largest institutions of higher education in technology. KTH accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education...
in Stockholm and stints at the Fogg and the de Young
M. H. de Young Memorial Museum
The M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, commonly called simply the de Young Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H...
museums.
| Name | Title | Tenure | Other affiliations |
|---|---|---|---|
| George L. Herdle | Director | November 1, 1912 – 1922 | Rochester Art Club |
| Gertrude L. Herdle (later Gertrude H. Moore) |
Director | 1922 – June, 1962 | University of Rochester |
| Harris K. Prior | Director | 1962 – 1975 | Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Museum Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute is a regional fine arts center founded in 1919 and located in Utica, New York. The institute has three program divisions:*Museum of art*Performing arts*School of art-Museum of art:... |
| John A. Mahey | Director | October, 1975 – March 8, 1979 | Cummer Art Gallery Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens is a public museum located in Jacksonville, Florida. The museum focuses on portraying European and American artistic paintings. The museum also has a large collection of Meissen porcelain... , Crocker Art Museum Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is one of the leading arts institutions in California, and the longest continuously operating art museum in the West. Located in Sacramento, California, the Crocker has been an art innovator since 1885... |
| Bruce W. Chambers | Acting director | March 9, 1979 – January 30, 1980 | University of Iowa Museum of Art University of Iowa The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees... , Fashion Institute of Technology Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of... , Emory University Emory University Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of... , University of Rochester |
| A. Bret Waller | Director | January 31, 1980 – 1984 | Michigan Museum of Art University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art, or UMMA in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the USA. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall originally housed U-M's Alumni office along with the... , J. Paul Getty Museum J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California... , Indianapolis Museum of Art Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art is an encyclopedic art museum located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum, which underwent a $74 million expansion in 2005, is located on a campus on the near northwest area outside downtown Indianapolis, northwest of Crown Hill Cemetery.The... |
| Grant Holcomb | Director | 1985 – present | Timken Gallery Timken Museum of Art The Timken Museum of Art is a fine art museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, close to the San Diego Museum of Art.-History:... |
In all of its years of operation, the Gallery has endured only two thefts: During a 1927 Buddhist exhibition, a youth made off with a Tibetan banner on loan from a local family. Some twenty years later, after the youth had developed into a career fencer, police recovered the banner from his small apartment. Also, in 1978, someone pinched Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
's Flowers in a Blue Vase during a busy Sunday afternoon; the painting found its way back to the Gallery within three weeks.
The Gallery, though sited on the University of Rochester's campus, existed as a separate organization from the University until 1935, when Alan Valentine
Alan Valentine
Alan Chester Valentine competed on the gold-medal winning American rugby union team in the 1924 Summer Olympics.-Biography:...
renegotiated the 1912 charter.
Today, the Gallery is supported primarily by its membership, the University of Rochester, and public funds from Monroe County and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Collections
The Gallery's permanent collection comprises some 11,000 objects, including works by Monet, Cézanne, Matisse, Homer and Cassatt. Contemporary masters in the collection include Wendell Castle, Albert Paley and Helen Frankenthaler. Other notable works include:- Jean-Léon GérômeJean-Léon GérômeJean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.-Life:Jean-Léon Gérôme was born...
's Interior of a Mosque, the only painting from Hiram SibleyHiram SibleyHiram Sibley , was an industrialist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.Sibley was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, and later resided in Rochester, New York. He became interested in the work of Samuel Morse involving the telegraph.In 1840, he joined with Morse and Ezra Cornell to create a...
's original collection still in the Gallery's possession - Egyptian and Eastern Mediterranean antiquities from the collection of Herbert Ocumpaugh, a 19th century businessman
- Near East antiquities from the collection of Edwin Barber MorganEdwin Barber MorganEdwin Barber Morgan was an entrepreneur and politician from the Finger Lakes region of western New York. He was the first president of Wells Fargo & Company, founder of the United States Express Company, and director of American Express Company...
's son - English and Continental silver from the 17th through 19th centuries from the collection of Ernest Woodward, heir to the Jell-OJell-OJell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada....
fortune - George EastmanGeorge EastmanGeorge Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream...
's collection of about 60 Old Master, British, Dutch, American, and French Barbizon School paintings - El GrecoEl GrecoEl Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
's The Apparition of the Virgin to St. Hyacinth - Portrait of Colonel Nathaniel RochesterNathaniel RochesterNathaniel Rochester was an American Revolutionary War soldier and land speculator, most noted for founding the settlement which would become Rochester, New York.-Early years:...
, attributed to John James AudubonJohn James AudubonJohn James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats... - Woman in Red by Maud HumphreyMaud HumphreyMaud Humphrey was born in Rochester, New York on March 30, 1868. Her parents were John Perkins Humphrey and Frances V. Dewey Churchill. She was an American commercial artist, illustrator and watercolorist. She was also a suffragette, and the mother of actor Humphrey Bogart. She married Belmont...
. Her son, Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, also loaned two of her sketches to a 1952 exhibition. - William CongdonWilliam CongdonWilliam Grosvenor Congdon gained notoriety as an artist in New York City in the 1940s, but lived most of his life in Europe....
Eiffel Tower #1, Marion Stratton Gould Fund - Milton AveryMilton AveryMilton Avery was an American modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City.-Biography:...
's Haircut by the Sea, donated by Roy NeubergerRoy NeubergerRoy Rothschild Neuberger was an American financier who contributed money to raise public awareness of modern art through his acquisition of pieces he deemed worthy. He was a co-founder of the investment firm Neuberger Berman....
in 1963
The Gallery exhibited still photography and motion pictures until the 1949 opening of the George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
.
The Gallery began featuring arts and crafts of various immigrant groups starting in 1919. Director George Herdle was known to ask Italian, Pole, Dane, Dutch, English, Near Eastern, Greek, Armenian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian families to loan items from their attics and basements.
Community involvement
Besides hosting exhibitions, classes, and educational programs, the Gallery puts on such major events as the biennial Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition and the annual Clothesline Festival.- The Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition is a biennial competition for artwork from New York's 27 westernmost counties. It is judged by guest jurors, which have included Charles E. BurchfieldCharles E. BurchfieldCharles Ephraim Burchfield was an American painter and visionary artist, known for his passionate watercolors of nature scenes and townscapes...
, John Bauer, former director of the Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, and Thomas Messer, former director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim MuseumThe Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
. Past winners include Wendell CastleWendell CastleWendell Castle is an American furniture artist and a leading figure in American craft. He is often credited with being the father of the art furniture movement....
, Albert PaleyAlbert PaleyAlbert Paley is a modernist American metal sculptor, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1944. He earned both a BFA and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Paley initially worked as a goldsmith and moved to Rochester, New York in 1969 to teach at the Rochester Institute...
, Honoré SharrerHonoré Desmond SharrerHonoré Desmond Sharrer was a noted American artist first received public acclaim in 1950 for her Tribute to the American Working People. It was painted as a five-image polyptych echoing a Renaissance altarpiece, except its central figure is a factory worker not a saint...
, Hans Christensen, Bill Stewart, Graham Marks, and Kathy Calderwood. It grew out of the Rochester Art Club's annual members-only exhibition starting in 1914, and became a separate event in 1938 under its current name.
- The Clothesline Festival is an open-air exhibition where visitors buy artwork directly from New York state exhibitors and enjoy live entertainment and family activities. The Gallery reluctantly initiated the Festival as an unjuried show in 1957 after the conclusion of a particularly acrimonious Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition, but the Festival has consistently proved a crowd-pleaser as well as a means to bolster the Gallery's budget.
Facilities
The museum is located on the University of RochesterUniversity of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
's former Prince Street campus and consists of the following structures:
| Name | Photo | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Main gallery | Inspired by the Tempio Malatestiano Tempio Malatestiano The Tempio Malatestiano is the cathedral church of Rimini, Italy. Officially named for St. Francis, it takes the popular name from Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, who commissioned its reconstruction by the famous Renaissance theorist and architect Leon Battista Alberti around 1450.-History:San... (which Averell had sketched in a visit to Italy), it was primarily executed by John Gade, though Claude Bragdon was nominally involved. A 1926 expansion designed by Stanford White Stanford White Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found... 's son doubled the floor and wall space and added the fountain court as a venue for live music performances. The fountain was designed by Gaston Lachaise Gaston Lachaise Gaston Lachaise was an American sculptor of French birth, active in the early 20th century. A native of Paris, he was most noted for his female nudes such as Standing Woman.-Early life and education:... and inspired by the Putto with Dolphin of the Palazzo Vecchio Palazzo Vecchio The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, Romanesque, crenellated fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany... . |
|
| 1968 wing | The 1968 wing was built as an expansion to provide more configurable exhibit space. It opened in August 1968. | |
| The Cutler Union | Originally constructed as the women's student union Student activity center A student activity center is a type of building found on university campuses. In the United States, such a building is more often called a student union, student commons, or student center... for the University of Rochester, funded by a bequest from James Goold Cutler James Goold Cutler James Goold Cutler was a prominent Rochester, New York architect and businessman, and served as the Mayor of Rochester from 1904 to 1907. He was born in Albany, New York, the son of John N. Cutler and Mary E. Cutler. On September 27, 1871, he married Anna Catherine Abbey, and in 1872 he and his... , it was first opened in September 1933. The Gallery held classes in its basement for many years until the University gave it to the Gallery in 1987. It features a massive gothic spire. |
|
| The Vanden Brul pavilion | An enclosed, skylit sculpture garden linking the 1968 wing to the Cutler Union, opened in May 1987, named for board member and donor Herbert W. Vanden Brul's parents | |
| The Gertrude Herdle Moore sculpture garden |