Davison Art Center

It’s common today to speak of building one’s brand—everyone from world leaders to precocious teens are worried about their image, shaping their personalities online, creating a persona that straddles reality and the imagined. For the Medici family, the 16th-century rulers of Florence and Tuscany and patrons of some of the most famous Renaissance artwork, the tools to accomplish this were very different from those of today. However, the objective was the same. Wesleyan's Davison Arts Center (DAC) is participating in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called “The Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512-1570,” currently on display through October…

Art enthusiasts can now enjoy Wesleyan's Davison Art Center (DAC) collections on their own living room walls. The DAC has partnered with Art Authority and 1000 Museums to offer the public high-quality reproductions of select holdings from the DAC collection. Currently, the DAC store includes works by Albrecht Dürer, Paul Gauguin, and all 80 prints in Francisco de Goya’s series, Los Caprichos. Each reproduction is made using a professionally photographed digital image and printed on archival fine art paper. A variety of sizes and framing options are available for each print. The DAC is working to make reproductions of additional…

The exhibit titled Into the Image is on display at the Davison Art Center (DAC) through Nov. 24. This exhibition of miniature artworks—drawn entirely from the Davison Art Center collection—features objects made across several centuries and includes examples by Rembrandt van Rijn and Henri Matisse. On Oct. 10, Miya Tokumitsu, DAC curator, and Andy Szegedy-Maszak, Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek and Professor of Classical Studies, led a gallery talk during the opening reception. Into the Image will be the final exhibition in the Davison Art Center’s current gallery at 301 High Street. A new gallery will be constructed between…

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More than 40 years have passed since Richard "Dick" Field P'09 laid eyes on a silkscreen titled Corpse and Mirror. "I enjoy seeing this. It's part of my past," Field said during a stopover at the Davison Art Center on Feb. 7. "It's like visiting an old friend." Corpse and Mirror, created by American artist Jasper Johns, is one of 23 prints donated to the Davison Art Center in December 2018 by the artist himself. Johns donated the images to Wesleyan in honor of Field, who served as the DAC's curator from 1972 to 1979. Johns, an 89-year-old artist, is known…

For more than a decade, Assistant Professor of Art Sasha Rudensky '01 has repeatedly returned to Russia and the post-Soviet territories to photograph a lost generation that has come of age during the Vladimir Putin era. On Sept. 13, Rudensky debuted a collection of these photographs at an exhibit titled "Acts and Illusions" at the Davison Art Center. The exhibition presents 24 photographs together with a video installation, revealing an unsettling view into contemporary life in the New East. Elijah Huge, associate professor of art, associate professor of environmental studies, collaborated with Rudensky on the video installation. Clare Rogan, curator of…

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On April 16, the Friends of the Davison Art Center presented "The Big Draw: Middletown," the fifth annual community celebration of drawing with workshops designed for all skill levels, from beginning drawers to accomplished artists. The event took place at four locations across the campus including the Davison Art Center; the Center for the Arts; Fayerweather Beckham Hall; and the Usdan University Center. "The Big Draw" included eight workshops facilitated by faculty and students from Wesleyan's Art Studio Program in the Department of Art and Art History. Activities included developing narrative through drawing, drawing with inked feet to music, drawing from…

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An exhibition titled "Passion and Power: German Prints in the Age of Dürer" is on display in the Davison Art Center through March 3. The show opened Feb. 4. (more…)

The Davison Art Center has been awarded two photographs by the Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, as part of a gift from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation to 33 leading colleges and universities around the world. The prints, titled "Ghada" and "Sayed," are part of Neshat's Our House is on Fire series, an exploration of Egypt after the Arab Spring, which was supported by the Foundation. "Shirin Neshat is one of the most important photographers of our time, and these deeply moving portraits evoke our common humanity. Looking closely at the photographs, you can see a veil of calligraphy—the text in Persian…

The Friends of the Davison Art Center organized an Autumn Soirée fundraiser on Oct. 22 at the President's House. Attendees enjoyed a special evening of music and art hosted at the home of President Michael Roth and University Professor of Letters Kari Weil. “Kari and I are lifetime members of the Friends of the Davison, and we were happy to express our support in this way,” President Roth said. "The Center benefits the Wesleyan community, of course, but also so many in the area who care for the arts.” Professor of Music Neely Bruce performed an intimate piano concert. As…

Davison Art Center Lends Rare 16th-Century Print to the Met

Davison Art Center Offers Museum-Quality Art Reproductions

Miniature Artworks Displayed at Into the Image Exhibit

Bestiary Exhibit Explores Medieval Compendia of Animals

Davison Art Center Acquires 23 Prints from American Artist Jasper Johns in Honor of Former Curator

Rudensky’s Post-Putin Era Photographs on Display at Davison Art Center

Szegedy-Maszak’s Photography Collection Displayed at Davison Art Center

Free Drawing Workshops Offered at 5th Annual Big Draw

‘Photographing Ina’: Exhibition by Trager ’56 Opens at the Davison Art Center

13 Students Curate German Prints Exhibit at Davison Art Center

Davison Art Center Awarded 2 Photos by Iranian Artist Neshat

Friends of Davison Art Center Holds Autumn Soirée Fundraiser