Walsh Art Gallery and Bellarmine Museum of Art Presents REFLECTIONS AND UNDERCUTS, Now thru 4/4

Fairfield, CT -- Exploring the world of the printmaker as artist, Fairfield University's Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery and Bellarmine Museum of Art present concurrent exhibitions, "Reflections and Undercurrents: Ernest Roth and Printmaking in Venice, 1900-1940, at the Walsh Art Gallery," and "In the Wake of the Butterfly: James McNeill Whistler and His Circle in Venice, at the Bellarmine Museum of Art," with both shows on view today, January 23 through April 4, 2014.

"Reflections & Undercurrents: Ernest Roth and Printmaking in Venice, 1900-1940," at the Walsh Art Gallery features the work of Louis Ernest David Roth (1879-1964), one of the most significant American etchers of the first half of the twentieth century, "Ernest Roth's work ranges from important views of New York and Paris to exotic images of Istanbul and Segovia," said Jill Deupi, J.D., Ph.D., Director and Chief Curator of Fairfield University Museums. "His most important achievements, however, are his prints of Italy, in particular the approximately forty-five views he did of Venice between 1905 and 1941."

Roth's Venetian masterworks have never been the subject of an independent exhibition, catalogue, or book. Many have never been reproduced. This exhibition of just over one hundred works brings together thirty-five of Roth's most important Venetian views, including variant printings of the plates, preparatory drawings, and the plates themselves, with prints by his most important artistic contemporaries. In addition to works by Roth, the exhbition features the etchings of John Taylor Arms (American, 1887-1953), Fabio Mauroner (1884-1948), Herman Armour Webster (American, 1878-1970), Sydney Litten (British, 1887-1949), James McBey (Scottish, 1883-1959), Donald Shaw MacLaughlan (Canadian, 1876-1952), and Jan Vondrous (Czech-American, 1884-1956).

On view concurrently at the Bellarmine Museum of Art, "In the Wake of the Butterfly: James McNeill Whistler and His Circle in Venice" explores the work of Roth's nineteenth-century precursors working in Venice. This section considers the etchings of Venice by James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903), Otto Bacher (American, 1856-1909), John Marin (American, 1870-1953), Mortimer Menpes (Australian, 1860-1938), and Joseph Pennell (American, 1860-1926), and includes two paintings of Venice on loan from the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury: one attributed to John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925) and the other by Connecticut Impressionist painter, Julian Alden Weir (American, 1852-1919).

Both exhibitions were co-curated by Eric Denker, Ph.D., senior lecturer at the National Gallery of Art. Reflections & Undercurrents is a touring exhibition organized by THE TROUT GALLERY/Dickinson College. Exhibition sponsors for the Fairfield University showings are the National Endowment for the Humanities, Morris Media Group, and Whole Foods Market.

The Bellarmine Museum of Art is open Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on select Saturdays (see our calendar for details). Admission is always free. Call (203) 254-4046, or visit http://www.fairfield.edu/museum. The Bellarmine Museum of Art is located in Bellarmine Hall on the campus of Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut.

The Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery is located in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts and open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as one hour prior to curtain and during intermission at all Quick Center events. Admission is always free. Call (203) 254-4062, or visit http://www.fairfield.edu/walsh.

Fairfield University is located at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut.