Press Releases
FEBRUARY 2006
SPECIAL EXHIBITION OPENS TO THE PUBLIC ON FEBRUARY 4
The Flint Institute of Arts reopened to the public
on September 24, 2005 after completing Phase I of a two-phase $20 million
renovation. The museum and art school facility has expanded from 85,000
to 110,000 square feet, with Phase II to add 17,000 square feet of gallery
space in 2006. The special exhibition TO BE, OR NOT TO BE: Four Hundred
Years of Vanitas Painting will run from February 4, 2006 through April
2, 2006.
Vanitas is a type of still life painting that developed in Holland in
the early seventeenth century. The word comes from a verse in the Latin
bible, from the Book of Ecclesiastes: vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas
(vanity of vanities, and all is vanity). This reminder of the fragility
and briefness of all human life was a part of the unprecedented economic
and political growth of the Dutch Republic, during which average incomes
skyrocketed and national wealth grew to dwarf that of all other European
states. This exhibition emphasizes the compelling religious, philosophical
and cultural concepts embodied in vanitas art, and the lasting relevance
of the genre since its development in the seventeenth century.
In the works of art of this exhibition, vanitas is portrayed in many symbolic
forms: the human skull, soap bubbles ready to pop, flowers and fruit with
the first signs of spoilage, insects and sea-shells, burnt-out candles,
crystal goblets, and signs of wealth and power like money, jewels and
crowns. The display of luxuries in Dutch vanitas art has often been cited
as a visual counterpart to Calvinist strictures on wealth and pleasurable
pursuits.
The popularity of vanitas became widespread during the seventeenth century;
artists from France, Germany, Flanders, Spain and Italy contributed to
the genre, perhaps in response to the terrors of the Thirty Years War
(1618-1648) and the specter of plagues, which periodically and unpredictably
ravaged the continent.
Yet, vanitas has much more than a merely historical appeal. The history
of our times has shown new, horrific threats to human life, from world
wars and genocide to the threats of natural disasters like tsunamis and
hurricanes and the modern-day plague of HIV. Distanced from the genre’s
seventeenth century religious context, contemporary artists find the theme
of life’s transience a useful critique of present-day society, where
technological advances in science and medicine have transformed perceptions
of beauty, life, and death.
In the last half of the twentieth century, a variety of American artists
began to re-examine these themes. In a wide array of formats, they have
presented anew the traditional images and extended the visual range in
new, sophisticated directions. Painters from Georgia O’Keeffe and
Aaron Bohrod to contemporary artists such as Wade Schuman and Daniel Sprick
show the full scope of contemporary vanitas genre today. This exhibition
was funded by generous gifts from the Citizens Banking Corporation Charitable
Foundation, The Dietrich Foundation Inc., Founders Society and the Charles
Stewart Mott Foundation.
The Flint Institute of Arts is a museum and art school located in the
Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Michigan. Visitors can enjoy an active
program of changing exhibitions, masterpieces from the permanent collection,
studio classes, and a variety of educational programs and special events
throughout the year.
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