MUSEUM news 62 Above: Horse mask, Nez Perce. C. 1875-1900. Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York. Below left: Louisa Keyser, known as Dat So La Lee (c. 1850–1925), Beacon Lights (basket). 1904–1905. Washoe, California/Nevada. Willow, western redbud, bracken fern root. D: 40.6 cm. Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York. Right: “Great mother headdress,” d’mba. Baga, Guinea. Late 19th–early 20th century. The Baltimore Museum of Art, gift of Alan Wurtzburger, BMA 1957.97. 50 AT 20 Cooperstown—In 1995, the Fenimore Art Museum embarked upon a new era with the addition of a spectacular new American Indian Wing designed to house the extraordinary gift from Eugene and Clare Thaw of their remarkable collection of American Indian art. The collection has continued to grow as new objects are added by the Thaws and other donors, and today it numbers almost 850 objects. Each new object reaffirms the Thaws’ commitment to the beauty and artistry of American Indian art and thus strengthens the philosophical foundation of the collection: that the aesthetic power of American Indian art is equivalent to that from any culture. The collection is representative of a broad geographic range of North American Indian cultures, including the Northwest Coast, Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Arctic, California, and Great Basin regions. From April 1–December 31, 2015, the Fenimore will mark the twentieth anniversary of the Thaw Collection with 50 at 20: Masterpieces of American Indian Art from the Thaw Collection, an exhibition that will highlight fifty outstanding works of American Indian art spanning 2,000 years of art in North America. Through the voice of Native artists, scholars, as well as Native and non-Native curators, the exhibit seeks to explore the tangible as well as intangible qualities that make a masterpiece. AFRICAN ART IN BALTIMORE Baltimore—The core of the African art collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art is a gift of 125 objects from the collection of Janet and Alan Wurtzburger that came to the museum in 1954. This marked the beginning of an early permanent display of African art there and assured a significant place for these then littleknown art forms within the museum’s growing collection. Now featuring more than 2,100 objects that span from ancient Egypt to contemporary Zimbabwe, the collection includes works from more than 200 African cultures in a full range of media. The gallery for the BMA’s African art collection is currently being expanded to more than three times its former size and relocated to the center of the museum’s first floor. This new Alan and Janet Wurtzburger African Art Gallery will open to the public April 26, 2015. More than 100 objects, many large scale, will address the impact of region, history, and culture on African art traditions. Several of these objects, such as the majestic Baga d’mba yoke from Guinea, are considered to be among the best of their kind. Above: Figurative palm wine cup. Kuba. Democratic Republic of the Congo. 19th century. The Baltimore Museum of Art, gift of Alan Wurtzburger, BMA 1954.145.110.
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