Before Hollywood dominated the film industry, Florida was the hot spot for movie executives. With our warm weather, sunny skies, convenient location, cheap labor, and diverse scenery, Florida quickly became a frontrunner in the early film business in the first part of the 20th century. Jacksonville in particular seemed a logical choice as a capital.

Comedians, editorial cartoons, and memes harness the power of satire, parody, and hyperbole to provoke laughter, indignation—even action.

The Cummer Museum’s collection contains many works on paper. Did you know that works on paper are easily and irreversibly damaged by both natural and artificial lights?

In 2014, Julien de Casabianca, a French artist and filmmaker, conspired to release some of the world’s great art, typically locked away within museums, into urban settings. His global Outings project, now in more than 70 locations world-wide, is a multi-step experience. First, he isolates figures from historical works of art, then prints them large scale and installs them in urban settings, and finally photographs the new composition. In conjunction with Jacksonville Outings, the Cummer Museum presents a sampling of Mr. de Casabianca’s photographs from his Lyon, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and Warsaw installations.

Image:
Outings, New York, 2015, photograph printed on brushed silver Di-bond. Photograph courtesy of Julien de Casabianca.

Fields of Color: The Art of Japanese Printmaking presents nearly 20 prints from the 19th to early 20th century, which were selected from a prized collection of more than 230 examples. Lush pools of color combined with delicate, dark lines create images ranging from the absurdly fantastic to the serenely mundane. These scenes of the floating world, better known as ukiyo-e prints, are defined by their ability to transport the viewer to a weightless dimension ruled by bright, vibrant hues and compositional arrangements. The captivating work of master printmakers such as Ando Hiroshige (1797 – 1858) and Katsushika Hokusai (1838 – 1912) will be on display. A small selection of netsukes — ornate sculpted toggles — will complement this exhibition.

Image:
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Japanese, 1839 – 1892), 100 Aspects of the Moon: Moon of the Pleasure Quarters, 1886, woodblock print, The Dennis C. Hayes Collection, AG.1998.4.67

Organized by guest curator Jeffreen M. Hayes, Ph.D., the Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman exhibition features nearly 80 works of art, including sculptures, paintings, and works on paper, and is the first to reassess Harlem Renaissance artist Augusta Savage’s contributions to art and cultural history in light of 21st-century attention to the concept of the artist-activist. The fully illustrated companion catalogue presents the most up-to-date scholarly research, re-examines Savage’s place in the history of American sculpture and positions her as a leading figure who broke down the barriers she and her students encountered while seeking to participate fully in the art world.

A gifted sculptor, Savage (1892 – 1962) was born in Green Cove Springs and later became a significant teacher, leader, and catalyst for change. Overcoming poverty, racism, and sexual discrimination, Savage became one of this country’s most influential artists of the 20th century, playing an instrumental role in the development of some of the most celebrated African American artists, including: Charles Alston, William Artis, Romare Bearden, Robert Blackburn, Selma Burke, Ernest Crichlow, Gwendolyn Knight, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, and Morgan and Marvin Smith, whose works are also included in the exhibition. A prodigious and highly acclaimed artist in her own right, Augusta Savage created works that elevated images of black culture into mainstream America. A central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, she worked with other leaders, writers, musicians, and artists to showcase the contributions of African American culture. As a community organizer and teacher, Savage created a bridge between the first generation of Harlem Renaissance artists and subsequent generations of artists.

Through this exhibition, the Museum will highlight the artistic, social, and historic impact of Augusta Savage who, despite how she transformed the artistic landscape, is deserving of greater national appreciation. Today, Savage is best known for Lift Every Voice and Sing (formerly known as The Harp), her commissioned sculpture for the 1939 World’s Fair, and is recognized in Black community as an educator and an important community leader. However, Savage’s artistic skill was widely acclaimed nationally and internationally during her lifetime, and a further examination of her artistic legacy is long overdue. This exhibition will introduce Savage as a pioneering artist and community organizer who helped shape artistic movements that changed the way artists represent the Black figure, using art as a form of activism. This exhibition has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Sotheby’s Prize and was on view between October 12, 2018 to April 7, 2019.

Image:
Augusta Savage (1892–1962), Gamin, c. 1930, Painted plaster, 9¼ x 6 x 4 in., Purchased with funds from the Morton R. Hirschberg Bequest, AP.2013.1.1