The Hesse Exhibit
We took an opportunity this Christmas eve to visit the Hesse exhibit at Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon. It’s an amazing exhibit with lots of beautiful paintings and artifacts - definately worth the admission price. Viewing the hand-carved carriage alone is worth the trip.
The term “Hessian” evokes the 18th century German soldiers whose training and prowess were so esteemed that they were engaged by the British to fight in the American War of Independence. Few outside of Germany, however, know of the noble family that has led the state of Hesse since the 16th century and continues to this day. Art historians are familiar with the great Madonna by Holbein which belongs to the family and is currently the subject of an exhibition at the Staedel Museum in Frankfurt. Apart from this unsurpassed masterpiece of German Renaissance art, the vast Hesse art collections are virtually unknown.
The Portland Art Museum is the exclusive venue for the first public presentation of the artistic wealth of the house of Hesse which will take place October 2005 through March 2006. In addition to the great Holbein Madonna, this ground-breaking exhibition will include outstanding examples of German baroque silver and furniture, a royal coach, a gilded throne, German Romantic paintings, Winterhalter portraits, a Russian dowry, Jugendstil from the Hesse-sponsored Darmstadt artists colony, classical antiquities, and jeweled orders and tiaras.
LINKS | A.D. COOK FINE ART | MYSPACE
ADVERTISE | CAFEPRESS | RECOMMENDED READING
AIRSOURCE: The Official AirbrushTour Store
