Jim Dine's Glyptotek Drawings Coming to Morgan Library
New York, NY, March 23, 2011—Jim Dine's series of extraordinary drawings inspired by Greek and Roman sculpture and sourced primarily at the Glyptothek Museum in Munich, Germany will receive its first New York showing in a new exhibition opening May 20 at The Morgan Library & Museum. The forty works on paper, known as the Glyptotek Drawings (1987-88)*, are crucial to understanding Dine's career, as they were instrumental in launching his ongoing engagement with the art of the ancient world. The drawings—a promised gift to the Morgan from the artist—will be on view through September 4. ????
Dine first visited the Glyptothek in 1984 and was motivated by the works he encountered there to create a book of Heliogravure prints to house, in his words, "my Glyptothek." Later, in his studio, he produced drawings from sketches done at the museum and from photographs, postcards, and catalogues, incorporating ancient works from other museum collections as well. The entire suite of forty drawings forms a single work. Dine has said, "I think each individual drawing could stand alone, but as a single work all forty make a narrative about learning from the ancient world." ????
"The Glyptotek drawings are superb in their imaginative transformation of classical subjects and exhibit the vitality we have come to associate with the art of Jim Dine," said William M. Griswold, the Morgan's director. "To see all forty together is to experience afresh the appeal to the artist of the ancient world. The Morgan is delighted to show them as a group for the first time in New York, and we are deeply grateful to Mr. Dine for the generous gift of these important works to the Morgan's collection."
??
The subjects of the Glyptotek series include ancient busts, full-length sculptures, statuettes, fragments, and reliefs. Some, such as the Barberini Faun, the Boy with a Goose, and the Wounded Trojan from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina, are well known. Dine says he was drawn to the imperfections of the sculptures that reveal the passage of time—chipped noses, missing limbs, irregular surfaces. Most of the subjects Dine has chosen are barely contained within the edges of his drawings, a device that both energizes them and adds a sense of monumentality. The artist has said, "I choose things that I think can come alive. I don't want to draw these things as dead objects, as stone. I want to observe them carefully, and then I want to put life into them and make them vigorous and physical."????
In keeping with Dine's usual working method, the labor-intensive drawings combine a rich variety of media, including ink, charcoal, crayon, pastel, and marker applied in a broad, gestural style. The drawings evidence the artist's enthusiasm for materials and process. Occasionally he abrades the surface with etching tools or an emery board. He often rubs and spreads the material with an eraser or with his fingers, imbuing his subjects with an animate sense of fluidity. The strong interplay of light and shadow and the sweeping strokes that convey the physical engagement of the artist vests these images with a romantic feeling, making them haunting modern visions of the ancient world.????
As Dine had planned to make Heliogravure prints from the drawings, he used translucent paper and plastic sheets as support. This unconventional surface allowed for the images to be transferred to etching plates; the prints were published in a 1988 limited edition entitled Glyptotek, with Dine's translation of a poem by Sappho. The exhibition will feature a copy of the book, also a promised gift of the artist to the Morgan.
????A number of other drawings, which Dine produced in response to the Glyptotek Drawings, are also presented. Invited by the museum's director, Dine returned to the Munich Glyptothek in 1989; working alone at night in the galleries, he created a number of large-scale works. A selection from this series will be included in the show. The following year, Dine traveled to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen where over a course of seven days he worked in the galleries to create Seven Views of the Hermaphrodite, which is also presented in the exhibition.????
Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings is organized by Elliott Zooey Martin, Curatorial Assistant of Modern and Contemporary Drawings at the Morgan.????
*[The artist prefers this spelling for his work.]????
PUBLIC PROGRAMS????
Discussion??
A Conversation with Jim Dine and Ruth Fine
??To coincide with the exhibition Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings, the internationally renowned artist speaks with Ruth Fine, Curator, Special Projects in Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., about his work. ??Sunday, May 22, 3 p.m.????
Films
??Jim Dine on Screen
To coincide with the exhibition Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings, the Morgan is screening the following films that document the artist's life and work.????
Jim Dine??(1970, 28 minutes)??
Director: Michael Blackwood
????A concentrated look at Jim Dine's work, this film was made during what the artist called his four-year "voluntary exile" in London. Actively at work in his studio on several large collages—some of which include written words and real life objects—Dine talks about his connections to literature, his frequent collaboration with poets, and reads some of his own poetry. Courtesy of Michael Blackwood Productions.????
Followed by:??
??Jim Dine: A Self-Portrait on the Walls??(1995, 28 minutes)??
Director: Nancy Dine????
This remarkable documentary records eight days of intense work and quiet rumination as Dine produces and reflects upon an exhibition of large, transitory, charcoal drawings executed directly on the walls of the Ludwigsburg Kunstverein in Germany. Courtesy of Berkeley Media LLC.??
Friday, June 24, 7 p.m.????
Films are free.
Tickets are available at the Admission Desk on the day of the screening. Advance reservations for Morgan Members only: 212.685.0008, ext. 560, or tickets@themorgan.org.
????Gallery Talk??
Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings??
Elliott Zooey Martin, Curatorial Assistant, Modern and Contemporary Drawings, The Morgan Library & Museum??
Friday, June 10, 7 p.m.
????The Morgan Library & Museum??
The Morgan Library & Museum began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of the preeminent collectors and cultural benefactors in the United States. Today, more than a century after its founding in 1906, the Morgan serves as a museum, independent research library, musical venue, architectural landmark, and historic site. In October 2010, the Morgan completed the first-ever restoration of its original McKim building, Pierpont Morgan's private library, and the core of the institution. In tandem with the 2006 expansion project by architect Renzo Piano, the Morgan now provides visitors unprecedented access to its world-renowned collections of drawings, literary and historical manuscripts, musical scores, medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, printed books, and ancient Near Eastern seals and tablets. ????
General Information??
The Morgan Library & Museum??
225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016-3405??
212.685.0008??
www.themorgan.org
????Hours??Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; extended Friday hours, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Mondays, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. The Morgan closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.????Admission??$15 for adults; $10 for students, seniors (65 and over), and children (under 16); free to Members and children, 12 and under accompanied by an adult. Admission is free on Fridays from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is not required to visit the Morgan Shop.
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Dine first visited the Glyptothek in 1984 and was motivated by the works he encountered there to create a book of Heliogravure prints to house, in his words, "my Glyptothek." Later, in his studio, he produced drawings from sketches done at the museum and from photographs, postcards, and catalogues, incorporating ancient works from other museum collections as well. The entire suite of forty drawings forms a single work. Dine has said, "I think each individual drawing could stand alone, but as a single work all forty make a narrative about learning from the ancient world." ????
"The Glyptotek drawings are superb in their imaginative transformation of classical subjects and exhibit the vitality we have come to associate with the art of Jim Dine," said William M. Griswold, the Morgan's director. "To see all forty together is to experience afresh the appeal to the artist of the ancient world. The Morgan is delighted to show them as a group for the first time in New York, and we are deeply grateful to Mr. Dine for the generous gift of these important works to the Morgan's collection."
??
The subjects of the Glyptotek series include ancient busts, full-length sculptures, statuettes, fragments, and reliefs. Some, such as the Barberini Faun, the Boy with a Goose, and the Wounded Trojan from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina, are well known. Dine says he was drawn to the imperfections of the sculptures that reveal the passage of time—chipped noses, missing limbs, irregular surfaces. Most of the subjects Dine has chosen are barely contained within the edges of his drawings, a device that both energizes them and adds a sense of monumentality. The artist has said, "I choose things that I think can come alive. I don't want to draw these things as dead objects, as stone. I want to observe them carefully, and then I want to put life into them and make them vigorous and physical."????
In keeping with Dine's usual working method, the labor-intensive drawings combine a rich variety of media, including ink, charcoal, crayon, pastel, and marker applied in a broad, gestural style. The drawings evidence the artist's enthusiasm for materials and process. Occasionally he abrades the surface with etching tools or an emery board. He often rubs and spreads the material with an eraser or with his fingers, imbuing his subjects with an animate sense of fluidity. The strong interplay of light and shadow and the sweeping strokes that convey the physical engagement of the artist vests these images with a romantic feeling, making them haunting modern visions of the ancient world.????
As Dine had planned to make Heliogravure prints from the drawings, he used translucent paper and plastic sheets as support. This unconventional surface allowed for the images to be transferred to etching plates; the prints were published in a 1988 limited edition entitled Glyptotek, with Dine's translation of a poem by Sappho. The exhibition will feature a copy of the book, also a promised gift of the artist to the Morgan.
????A number of other drawings, which Dine produced in response to the Glyptotek Drawings, are also presented. Invited by the museum's director, Dine returned to the Munich Glyptothek in 1989; working alone at night in the galleries, he created a number of large-scale works. A selection from this series will be included in the show. The following year, Dine traveled to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen where over a course of seven days he worked in the galleries to create Seven Views of the Hermaphrodite, which is also presented in the exhibition.????
Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings is organized by Elliott Zooey Martin, Curatorial Assistant of Modern and Contemporary Drawings at the Morgan.????
*[The artist prefers this spelling for his work.]????
PUBLIC PROGRAMS????
Discussion??
A Conversation with Jim Dine and Ruth Fine
??To coincide with the exhibition Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings, the internationally renowned artist speaks with Ruth Fine, Curator, Special Projects in Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., about his work. ??Sunday, May 22, 3 p.m.????
Films
??Jim Dine on Screen
To coincide with the exhibition Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings, the Morgan is screening the following films that document the artist's life and work.????
Jim Dine??(1970, 28 minutes)??
Director: Michael Blackwood
????A concentrated look at Jim Dine's work, this film was made during what the artist called his four-year "voluntary exile" in London. Actively at work in his studio on several large collages—some of which include written words and real life objects—Dine talks about his connections to literature, his frequent collaboration with poets, and reads some of his own poetry. Courtesy of Michael Blackwood Productions.????
Followed by:??
??Jim Dine: A Self-Portrait on the Walls??(1995, 28 minutes)??
Director: Nancy Dine????
This remarkable documentary records eight days of intense work and quiet rumination as Dine produces and reflects upon an exhibition of large, transitory, charcoal drawings executed directly on the walls of the Ludwigsburg Kunstverein in Germany. Courtesy of Berkeley Media LLC.??
Friday, June 24, 7 p.m.????
Films are free.
Tickets are available at the Admission Desk on the day of the screening. Advance reservations for Morgan Members only: 212.685.0008, ext. 560, or tickets@themorgan.org.
????Gallery Talk??
Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings??
Elliott Zooey Martin, Curatorial Assistant, Modern and Contemporary Drawings, The Morgan Library & Museum??
Friday, June 10, 7 p.m.
????The Morgan Library & Museum??
The Morgan Library & Museum began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of the preeminent collectors and cultural benefactors in the United States. Today, more than a century after its founding in 1906, the Morgan serves as a museum, independent research library, musical venue, architectural landmark, and historic site. In October 2010, the Morgan completed the first-ever restoration of its original McKim building, Pierpont Morgan's private library, and the core of the institution. In tandem with the 2006 expansion project by architect Renzo Piano, the Morgan now provides visitors unprecedented access to its world-renowned collections of drawings, literary and historical manuscripts, musical scores, medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, printed books, and ancient Near Eastern seals and tablets. ????
General Information??
The Morgan Library & Museum??
225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016-3405??
212.685.0008??
www.themorgan.org
????Hours??Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; extended Friday hours, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Mondays, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. The Morgan closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.????Admission??$15 for adults; $10 for students, seniors (65 and over), and children (under 16); free to Members and children, 12 and under accompanied by an adult. Admission is free on Fridays from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is not required to visit the Morgan Shop.
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