AUDUBON'S AVIARY, WWII & NYC and More Among April 2013 Exhibits at New-York Historical Society

The New-York Historical Society (170 Central Park West, NYC) has announced its exhibitions for April 2013. All exhibitions are presented at the New-York Historical Society unless otherwise noted. For more information, call (212) 873-3400 or visit www.nyhistory.org. Details below!

EXHIBITIONS
April 2013

TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS:

AUDUBON'S AVIARY: PART I OF THE COMPLETE FLOCK

March 8, 2013 - May 19, 2013

This spring, the New-York Historical Society will launch the first exhibition in a sweeping three-part series that celebrates the sesquicentennial purchase of its unparalleled collection of John James Audubon's preparatory watercolors for the sumptuous double-elephant-folio print edition of The Birds of America (1827-38), engraved by Robert Havell Jr. Over three years, Audubon's Aviary: The Complete Flock (Parts I-III), will feature all of its 474 stunning avian watercolors by Audubon, including all 435 models for The Birds of America, all but one acquired in 1863 from the artist's widow Lucy Bakewell Audubon. Engaging state-of-the-art media installations will provide a deeper understanding of the connection between art and nature, as well as Audubon's contributions to American art and history. Audubon's Aviary: The Complete Flock is a once-in-a-lifetime trilogy of exhibitions (2013-2015) that will explore the evolution of Audubon's dazzling watercolors in the order in which they were engraved. Visitors to New-York Historical will have the unique opportunity to view these National Treasures sequentially and in their entirety for the first time-the same way Audubon's original subscribers received the Havell prints. Audubon's Aviary: Part I of The Complete Flock will open with a look at the self-taught Audubon's development of his innovative signature depictions and experimental media. To elucidate this early chapter in his life, New-York Historical will supplement its own rich holdings (dating from 1808) with a selection of the artist's rare, earliest pastels borrowed from Houghton Library of Harvard University and from the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, La Rochelle (Collection Société des Sciences Naturelles de la Charente-Maritime) in France. The La Rochelle pastels were only discovered recently and have never been seen outside of that city. These "early birds" capture Audubon's youthful excitement about drawing birds while in France and during his first years in America. They also reveal important new discoveries about the renowned artist-naturalist's methods and his early career. Following his introduction of early pastels into which Audubon gradually introduced watercolor, the exhibition will feature over 220 of the artist's avian watercolors, including the first 175 models that Havell engraved for The Birds of America. Part I of TheComplete Flock also celebrates the release of the lavishly illustrated book Audubon's Aviary: The Original Watercolors for "The Birds of America" by the exhibition's curator Roberta J.M. Olson?published by the New-York Historical Society and Skira/Rizzoli.

WWII & NYC

Until May 27, 2013

When World War II broke out, New York was a cosmopolitan, heavily immigrant city, whose people had real stakes in the war and strongly held opinions.WWII & NYC explores how New York and its metropolitan region contributed to victory in the Second World War, and how New Yorkers experienced and confronted the challenges of "total war." The presence of troops, the inflow of refugees, the wartime industries, the dispatch of fleets, and the dissemination of news and propaganda from media outlets, changed New York, giving its customary commercial and creative bustle a military flavor. Likewise, the landscape of the city acquired a martial air, as defenses in the harbor were bolstered, old forts were updated, and the docks became high security zones. This grand consideration of the wartime metropolis features the compelling stories of those who experienced the war in a New York City context. The exhibition ranges from the mobilization of workers to the frenzy of shipbuilding, from the home front arts and entertainment industry to the dispatch of troops to the European theater, from the struggles over Civil Rights and segregation to the Times Square celebration of V-J Day. These were the times that saw raucous men in uniform celebrating their last stateside moments, tearful families embracing their sons, women with lunch pails off to work, celebrity-studded bond rallies and calls for justice at home and abroad from African-American patriots. The exhibition draws upon extensive collections at New-York Historical and on important loans from the US Navy, the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of WWII-Boston, the Mariners' Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other institutions.

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