UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

Modeling Women
Female Artists and Models at Chesterwood
May 14 - October 31
French Family Galleries

Modeling Women is Chesterwood’s inaugural exhibition in the French Family Galleries on the second floor of the recently restored 1901 Residence. These galleries provide the opportunity to fulfill our mission to tell more expansive and inclusive stories about the lasting impact of Daniel Chester French as a working sculptor.  This exhibition brings to light the contributions of French’s female models, well known in their day as the muses to many of French’s contemporaries, such as the African American model Hettie Anderson and America’s “first super model”, Audrey Munson.  French also actively taught and championed female sculptors, two of which are highlighted in their own galleries: Evelyn Beatrice Longman and Margaret French Cresson.

Daniel Chester French depended on many colleagues to realize his artistic vision. An often-overlooked part of a sculptor’s process is the selection of a model to pose in the studio. As a realistic figurative sculptor, he relied heavily upon his models, and they played a critical role in his creative process. As a professional sculptor he was also a mentor to dozens of students both in his studio and as a teacher at the Art Students League in New York. His students often worked alongside him as assistants and collaborated with him on projects. Daniel Chester French would also recommend his mentees for sculptural commissions he was unable to take on himself, thus launching many successful careers.

Modeling Women: Female Models and Artists at Chesterwood brings together over 35 sculptures, paintings, and medals from Chesterwood’s permanent collection, some of which have never been exhibited in public before, to explore the themes of collaboration and mentorship.

Image:
Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) 
Hettie Anderson, 1910 
Oil on canvas
Gift of the Daniel Chester French Foundation,
NT 69.38.789 

Hettie Anderson (1873–1938) was one of the most sought-after models around the turn of the twentieth century. She came to New York from South Carolina, where records describe her family as Black or biracial, as both of her maternal grandparents were born to enslaved Black women and white enslavers. Anderson was one of French’s favorite models, and she posed for French in both New York and Stockbridge. In August 1914 French wrote to Evelyn Beatrice Longman that he was at work in his Chesterwood studio on a figure of Sculpture for the Saint Louis Art Museum, “Miss Anderson is helping me and, I think, is enjoying being here.”

The 47th Annual Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture Show

Global Warming/Global Warning!
June 7 - October 31

June 7 marks the opening of its 47th annual contemporary outdoor sculpture exhibition, which will run throughout the season, ending October 31. This season’s exhibition, entitled Global Warming/ Global Warning! addresses the issue of climate change and will be curated by preservation engineer and restoration architect Michael F. Lynch, with works by sculptors Kathleen Jacobs, Ann Jon, Harold Grinspoon, Natalie Tyler, and DeWitt Godfrey.  

Global Warming/Global Warning! explores how the natural and designed landscapes at Chesterwood are being impacted by global warming, climate change, invasive species, pollution, and the aging out of a mature forest. Invited artists engage directly with the environment, using the native and invasive materials of the forest, responding to climate impacts, and introducing human-made objects juxtaposed with the natural environment to challenge the viewer and raise issues around what we are doing to our planet. 

Curator Michael Lynch writes, “In 2008, Chesterwood hosted an outdoor contemporary sculpture show that reflected artists’ concerns about the environment, but as the Albany Times Union reviewer wrote at the time, the catalog narrative was silent on the issue of climate change and environmental degradation. A lot has changed in the intervening decades. In 2016 during The Nature of Glass show featuring contemporary glass, I was struck by the fragility of the art being shown in the woods. In 2019-20 I was struck by the fragility of those very woods, as one of the tree sculptures in Rick and Laura Brown’s exhibit ‘One Impulse From Vernal Wood,’ collapsed.  

Those experiences led me to focus this year’s theme on how the natural and designed landscapes at Chesterwood are being impacted by global warming. Global Warming/ Global Warning! reflects the duality of the art being made in the aging forest that is suffering from climate change and the hope that we can find our way out of the climate situation we have created.” 

This year’s exhibition features artists Kathleen Jacobs, Ann Jon, DeWitt Godfrey, Harold Grinspoon, and glass artist Natalie Tyler, who will premiere a new work entitled “Tornado.”  A full survey of the artists’ statements about their work for Global Warming/Global Warning! can be found in Chesterwood’s press kit.