 Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (Cyanopsitta spixii), 2005. © Henrik Håkansson |
Henrik Håkansson
Cyanopsitta spixii Case Study #001
June 30–September 17
Swedish artist Henrik Håkansson uses a variety of media to explore environmental issues, observing mankind's contradictory relationship to Nature. Through his observations, he aims to close the gap with nature and to make the viewer receptive to natural processes. The artist has created installations in countries around the world including France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the US and the Netherlands. Håkansson began his residency at the Gardner Museum in March of 2003 and will return this summer to install the exhibition.
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East met West in Renaissance Venice, especially in the work of Gentile Bellini. One of the city’s most prestigious artists, he was sent to Istanbul in 1479 to work for the Ottoman sultan, Mehmed II. All of Bellini’s surviving work done in Istanbul will be presented in the exhibition. The artist depicted Byzantine and eastern Mediterranean subjects such as Cardinal Bessarion and Caterina Cornaro, queen of Cyprus. While exploring Western fascination with the East—and vice versa—Gentile Bellini and the East provides a new context for examining the art of Renaissance Venice. This exhibition was made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Also on view at the National Gallery, London, April 12 to June 25, 2006.
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Mat Weights: Bears, Chinese, ca. 206 BC–AD 9. Early Italian Room.
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A Bronze Menagerie: Mat Weights of Early China
October 5, 2006 – January 14, 2007
A remarkable and mysterious group of small bronze sculptures from China’s Warring States Period and Han Dynasty (475 bc–ad 220) depicts bears, felines, rams, deer, and other creatures. Made in sets of four, these sculptures were used to weigh down mats used for seating and for playing board games, and their internment in tombs suggests that they were as significant during life as after death. A Bronze Menagerie is the first exhibition devoted to mat weights and considers their function, style, and broader cosmological significance—shedding new light on a fascinating art form.
The exhibition is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with generous support from the Leon Levy Foundation and JPMorgan Chase
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