Useful and Beautiful

Event Type Exhibitions
Date calendar  Monday, November 18, 2019
Time clock  12:00pm - 5:00pm (5h)
Location Ann K. Walch-Chan Gallery
Details

Useful and Beautiful: Decorative Arts Highlights  

Referring to the aesthetic movement, with its emphasis on beauty over substance, Oscar Wilde wrote in his preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, “All art is quite useless.” This exhibition demonstrates that art can be both beautiful and useful, highlighting decorative arts from the FIA collection. Decorative arts as a category was created in Europe after the Renaissance in distinction from the “fine arts” of painting and sculpture, designating objects that are utilitarian but also artfully crafted. During the 19th-century Arts and Crafts movement in England and the United States, there was a greater appreciation for the decorative arts, with many championing the idea that there was no meaningful difference between fine and decorative. In other cultures, such as in Chinese art, this distinction would not have been relevant, as the most valued works include those that could be categorized as “decorative.”

Decorative arts includes objects such as vases, teapots, dinnerware, candlesticks, and musical instruments. These objects were made with a wide variety of materials, including glass, ceramics, metal, and wood. Styles reflect the period in which they were made, and designs are often derived from the natural world, including plant forms and animals, but also geometric designs and abstract shapes. This exhibition features highlights from the FIA collection, including recent acquisitions that have never been on view, demonstrating the broad variety of objects both useful and beautiful.

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