After I stepped out of an exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum, I felt a little disoriented. It didn’t hit me until I was driving home why: I hadn’t had that much non-digital visual stimulation in a long time.
I don’t know about you, but it’s been a hot minute since I’ve been so compelled by things that are still. I am so tired of doomscrolling on small and medium screens. Blue light haunts my every waking moment, and to spend a luxurious hour of stillness with interesting works of art and their attendant stories felt almost foreign, but oh so needed.
Venturing out
Museum operators around the world likely took a collective breath when a German study released in late February found museums to be safer than any other indoor activities, when it comes to the transmission of COVID-19.
The study, reported by hyperallergic.com, made this intrepid reporter feel braver than I have in a long time, so I took myself and my favorite mask to spend a few hours at our beloved art museum.
My goal was to see Future Retrieval: Close Parallel, an exhibition of various artistic mediums drawing upon the past to inform the future. Very meta, and up my alley. What I didn't expect was stumbling upon the Frank Duveneck: American Master exhibition – on display through May 9 – that turned me into an instant fangirl. So, here's how that happened.
I made a reservation online for a Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Everything is so carefully plotted out these days – every grocery store run and every potential encounter must be extensively calculated in advance. Bring the good mask. Bring the good hand sanitizer. Don’t touch your face. My brain is weary. I thought I might be able to find a hint of spontaneity within pandemic parameters by allowing myself to wander the museum freely.
I started on the second floor, navigating the highlighted ingress and egress of CAM’s familiar marble steps. Here’s where I confess something: I didn’t realize the Duveneck exhibition, which is on this floor, was ticketed separately. I just wandered in, and no one stopped me. I would have gladly paid the $10 had I realized, because what a treat it was!
I learned about Duveneck’s prodigious talent; that English was his second language; of his reverence for Dutch masters and his incredible skill. He captured light like I’ve never seen. I spent an entire hour gazing at his masterful oil works, lamenting the loss of his wife and artistic counterpart, and appreciating the growth he exhibited throughout his career.
Two paintings from different eras of Duveneck’s career stood out to me. I was utterly captivated by a still life of fruit on a table – when you go, which I implore you to do, you’ll see what I mean. The seeds on the ripe slices of watermelon practically shine with juice from the fresh-cut fruit. His incredible perspective skill makes a knife dangling on the edge of the table in this portrait seem like you could grab it and take a slice for yourself.
I also loved a series of three urchin boys. You’ve definitely seen the “Cobbler Boy” before; he’s immortalized as an ArtWorks mural on East Freedom Way at The Banks, albeit with a bat in his hand. At the art museum, you’ll see him with his original accompaniment: a lit cigarette. These boys are churlish and brusque, with chapped rosy cheeks Duveneck has masterfully captured. Their pursed lips – indeed, one of the trio is named “Whistling Boy” – imply playfulness, a hint of their youth. I think they’re rakish and charming and was moved learning about the hard lives their likenesses are meant to portray.
Parallel living
By this time, it was 6:37 p.m. I made my way downstairs to a couple of large gallery rooms across from the cafe to see Future Retrieval’s installation entitled Close Parallel. (Future Retrieval is the studio collaboration of former University of Cincinnati faculty members Katie Parker and Guy Michael Davis.)
Close Parallel is immersive and intentional, juxtaposing historical art pieces from CAM’s collection with contemporary responses made in contemporary mediums. The nuances are not always immediately recognizable, but the descriptive wall labels help a lot.
My absolute favorite is "Us," featuring a neon-haloed sculpture of a rhesus monkey, made in 2020, staring into an Egyptian-inspired mirror made in 1927. It felt transportive and transient – the neon halo had major “beam me up, Scotty” vibes – and I loved it.
It is amusing to me as I reflect on my experience how I thought my time at CAM would be focused on Close Parallel (which I did very much enjoy). Instead, I came away a newly minted Duveneck fangirl. I thought I wanted art of now, when I was most taken with art from days gone by. I think that’s what makes all art so powerful and important. It transcends time and finds you where and when you need it most.
I also want to offer this, for those wary of visiting art museums because it seems out of their wheelhouse, who have read this far: I did not grow up going to art museums. I went on a few requisite school field trips, but I am not a devotee of oils and pastels. I think some modern art is pretentious as heck and some classical art boring as all get out. I believe CAM has a very talented staff and they hit the jackpot, for me, this time.
There are, obviously, a million more fascinating and beautiful and strange things to see at the Cincinnati Art Museum. (Also on display is an '80s art exhibition titled American Painting: The Eighties Revisited, if you're interested in that colorful decade.)
Give your brain a nice vacation one of these days and take yourself to a local museum, it could be exactly what you need right now.
Leftovers
A man came up to me in one section of the Duveneck exhibition and said he’d found a photograph of Duveneck with his school of students/devotees, called the Duveneck Boys, in some attic of some random house. He was, uh, very proud of this. I humored him and secretly enjoyed that odd encounters with strangers can still happen, even in a pandemic.
There’s a fascinating series of Duveneck’s exploration of the Near and Far East. Duveneck was a product of his time; several of these pieces have exoticized, Orientalist and colonialist tones. I appreciated that CAM’s excellent curator of this exhibition, Dr. Julie Aronson, did not gloss over this period of his career and instead acknowledges these facts.
There is also a (free, no breaking-in required) bonus Duveneck showing on the first floor entitled More Duveneck! Paintings from the Vault.
Museums on my to-visit list
Walk This Way, Taft Museum of Art. Oh my God, shoes.
Contemplation Room & Library of Love, Contemporary Arts Center. I’ve been to the CAC several times since this exhibition opened and I still don’t think I’ve caught it. It’s water-centric, multi-genre and collaborative, from Brazilian artist Sandra Cinto.
Dress Up, Speak Up: Resistance and Regalia, 21c Museum & Hotel. An examination of identity throughout the centuries.
Everything at the Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center. This midsize exhibition venue never fails to delight.
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