About the Exhibition
The inaugural exhibition for the new Museum is Afield in America: 400 Years of Animal & Sporting Art 1585-1985, curated by F. Turner Reuter, Jr., and based on his book Animal and Sporting Artists in America which was published by the National Sporting Library in 2008. Mr.Reuter’s book is being reprinted this year. The inaugural exhibition in the new Museum is intended to raise awareness ofthe importance of animal and sporting art as a reflection of American history and cultural life.
Designed to attract the widest possible audience, Afield in America presents works by iconic American artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Alfred Jacob Miller, and Frederic Remington, as well as those by recognized masters of the animal and sporting art genre, including John James Audubon, Edward Troye, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, and William Tylee Ranney.
“The works of other fine American sporting artists, which have long been esteemed by enthusiasts of the genre but, until recently, were often overlooked by art historians, are an important focus of the exhibition,” says Mr. Reuter.
This group includes: William Herbert Dunton, Herbert Haseltine, Thomas Hewes Hinckley, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Alexander Pope, Ogden Pleissner, Percival Rosseau, and John Martin Tracy.
The exhibition will also have an illustrated, color catalogue. In the catalogue, critical essays explore larger interpretations of the works with the objective of defining the remarkable role animal and sporting artists have played in the history of American art. Essayists include William H. Gerdts, Ph.D., art historian and author of Art Across America; Adam D. Harris, Ph.D., Curator of the National Museum of Wildlife Art and author of Wildlife in American Art; Daniel J. Herman, Ph.D., historian and author of Hunting and the American Imagination; and Robin R. Salmon, author and Vice President for Collections and Curator of Sculpture, Brookgreen Gardens; and F. Turner Reuter, Jr.
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Afield in America: 400 Years of Animal & Sporting Art 1585-1985, will run from October 11, 2011 through January 14, 2012.
About the National Sporting Library and Museum
The National Sporting Library and Museum, Middleburg, Virginia, is dedicated to preserving, sharing and promoting the literature, art, and culture of horse and field sports. Founded as the National Sporting Library in 1954, by George L. Ohrstrom, Sr. and Alexander Mackay-Smith, the institution has expanded to become a library, research facility, and art museum with over 17,000 books and works of art in the collections. The John H. Daniels Fellowship program supports research and includes scholars from around the world. Information is shared through exhibits, lectures, seminars, publications, and special events. Many of the programs are free and open to the public.
The Library and Museum are located in the beautiful historic village of Middleburg, Virginia. The NSLM consists of two buildings on the same campus. The Library, built in 1999, was designed to provide facilities for book stewardship and research. It has the Forrest E. Mars, Sr., Exhibit Center and the Founders’ Room for public events. While primarily a research center, the Library is open to the public. The historic building, Vine Hill, also located on the campus, was once occupied by the Library. Vine Hill has been renovated and expanded to house the new art Museum.
About the Celebration Weekend October 7 – 9, 2011
To commemorate the opening of the Museum, the NSLM will host a historic Coaching Drive in the countryside and a Gala on the Museum grounds during a weekend celebration October 7 – 9, 2011. There will be over 25 historic coaches participating in a pageant on Saturday, October 8, 10:00 a.m., at the Upperville Colt & Horse Show grounds, site of the oldest horse show in the country. The presentation will be open to the public.
