AUSTIN, Texas—The first major U.S. exhibition of paintings by one of the principal figures of late 16th century painting, Luca Cambiaso, will be on view from Sept. 19, 2006 through Jan. 14, 2007, at the Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin. The Blanton will be the exclusive U.S. venue for “Luca Cambiaso, 1527-1585,” providing a rare opportunity for the public to see firsthand some 60 paintings and 80 drawings by a fascinating artist whose work has largely remained in his native Genoa.
The Blanton has organized the exhibition in partnership with the Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, Italy, where it will travel following its Austin presentation. Major support for the exhibition has been provided by ATandT.
“Given his singular style and tremendous influence on later generations of artists in Genoa, Luca Cambiaso is one of the most under-recognized artists of the late Renaissance,” said Jonathan Bober, the Blanton’s curator of Prints, Drawings and European Paintings and the sole American member of the scholarly committee for the exhibition.
Blanton Museum Director Jessie Otto Hite said, “The Blanton’s magnificent treasure trove of works by Cambiaso is a distinctive hallmark of our permanent collection. We have looked forward eagerly to the day when, in our new home, we could properly showcase his works and mount this exhibition. We are proud to be working with the museums of Genoa to bring this insufficiently known master at last to the attention of American audiences.”
With seven paintings by Luca Cambiaso in its permanent collection, the Blanton Museum of Art owns more than half of the paintings by the artist in the United States. The Blanton’s Cambiaso holdings are part of its Suida-Manning Collection of European Art, assembled by William Suida, a pioneering scholar of the school of Genoa, his daughter, Bertina, and son-in-law Robert Manning. In the course of their study, they collected works by Cambiaso as well as other important Renaissance and Baroque artists. In 1998, the university acquired the entire Suida-Manning Collection, which now forms the artistic and historic core of the Blanton’s Old Master collection.
The Blanton opened its new 124,000-square-foot Michener Gallery Building in April 2006, and this exhibition will be the first major international exhibition to be housed in its temporary exhibition galleries.
Most of the paintings in the exhibition are being lent by museums and churches in Genoa, where Cambiaso lived and worked exclusively until four years before his death. With rare exceptions, the works have never before been displayed in the United States and few have been displayed outside of Italy. Additional paintings and drawings are coming to Austin from an international roster of distinguished institutions, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum, the Louvre Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Morgan Library, the National Gallery of Art and the Uffizi Gallery, among others.
The exhibition is the product of an international committee of scholars including Jonathan Bober of the Blanton; Piero Boccardo, director of the Musei di Strada Nuova – Palazzo Rosso and Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe, Genoa; Franco Boggero, superintendent of Cultural Assets of Liguria; Clario De Fabio, director of the Musei di Strada Nova – Palazzo Bianco and the Museo di Sant’Agostino, Genoa; and Lauro Magnani, professor of modern art history, University of Genoa.
Find out more information about Luca Cambiaso and the exhibition.
Located at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Congress Avenue, the Blanton is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (free admission day), and Sunday from 1-5 p.m. Admission is free to members, all current UT ID-holders and children under 12, $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for youth. For information call 512-471-724 or visit the Blanton Museum of Art online.
For more information contact: Sheree Scarborough, 512-475-6784; Brady Dyer, 512-232-5171.
