This fall, the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers and The Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan are offering exhibits on different aspects of nature just the way many people like it best – in a picture frame, requiring no work beyond contemplation.
At HRM, “Un/Natural Selections: Wildlife in Contemporary Art” (Oct. 13 through Jan. 14) offers animals in real and surreal settings to examine the human effect on the environment. Drawn exclusively from the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s permanent collection, the show explores works in a variety of media divided into four thematic sections – tradition, politics, science and aesthetics. These act as overlapping chapters, investigating the ways we use animal imagery to tackle human concerns.
“The museum is delighted to present this series of work in a new, thought-provoking way. I hope that visitors consider these particular themes in other works of art to explore our interconnectedness with wildlife,” said Tammi Hanawalt, Ph.D., curator of art at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming.
The title is a play on Charles Darwin’s concept of natural selection from his pivotal writing, “On the Origin of Species” (1859). Darwin’s ideas contributed much to the development of wildlife art in the late 1800s, as artists began to depict animals in natural habitats, enacting natural behaviors. The artists in this exhibit represent another stage in the evolution of animal art – choosing to place animals in alternative, unnatural spaces more often directly linked to civilization than to wilderness.
“We are thrilled to be the New York venue to present this important and timely topic that explores our evolving relationship with wildlife and addresses humans’ impact on nature and its inhabitants,” HRM Director and CEO Masha Turchinsky said in a statement. “We are proud to share this exciting exhibition organized by our colleagues at the National Museum of Wildlife Art and look forward to tackling these important conversations through the lens of contemporary art.”
Meanwhile, The Morgan Library & Museum presents “Seeds of Knowledge: Early Modern Illustrated Herbals,” (Friday, Oct. 6, through Jan. 14), highlighting the collection of 15th- to 17th-century European printed herbals of the late Liechtenstein legal adviser Peter Goop, said to be one of the most significant private collections of herbals in the world. Using The Morgan’s 10th-century manuscript of Dioscorides’s “De materia medica” as a centerpiece, the exhibit explores developments in the understanding of the healthful and healing properties of plants, as Europe moved away from medicinal folklore toward an increased comprehension of the natural world.
For more, visit hrm.org and themorgan.org.
