Exhibition Dates: June 26 - September 16, 2007
Exhibition Location: Robert Wood Johnson Galleries
Although the name of Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996) today appears most often in the context of dance – specifically ballet – in America, he was also actively involved in theater, writing, and collecting art. Over a span of some 40 years, he donated more than a thousand works from his personal collection to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. These works – found in rare book and print shops around the world – all display some spark of ingenuity, esthetic grandeur, or legerdemain that attracted his eye.
Opening June 26, the exhibition A Tribute to Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996) celebrates the centennial of his birth and recognizes his great generosity to the Metropolitan Museum.
The exhibition will include drawings by Paul Cadmus, more than a dozen Japanese woodcuts, and about a dozen small sculptures and drawings by Elie Nadelman. Of particular interest is the Augustus Saint-Gaudens cast of Diana that greeted visitors to Kirstein's townhouse near Gramercy Park.
Born into a prosperous Boston family, Kirstein found his calling in the theaters of America and Europe, and at Harvard University, where – in the late 1920s – he
started the innovative literary magazine Hound & Horn and set up a gallery for avant-garde pictures and sculpture that laid the groundwork for the Museum of Modern Art. He is probably best known for bringing to America in 1933 the Russian choreographer George Balanchine, with whom he founded and directed the New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet.
Throughout his life, Kirstein provided meaningful financial support for the institutions he founded as well as numerous other performing groups, museums, schools, and libraries. Noteworthy among the many honors Kirstein received for his intellectual and material contributions to the arts was recognition in 1945 for his role as Private First Class in the recovery of art taken by the Nazis.
The installation is organized by Colta Ives, Curator, with the assistance of Samantha Rippner, Associate Curator, both of the Department of Drawings and Prints.
A variety of education programs has been organized to complement the installation. The exhibition and related programs will also be featured on the Museum's web site (www.metmuseum.org).
The installation at the Metropolitan is part of a citywide celebration of the Kirstein centennial. A full listing of events is available at www.nycballet.com.
Participating organizations include the Harvard Theatre Collection, New York City Ballet, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, School of American Ballet, Wadsworth Atheneum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Metropolitan Museum where, on October 23, a panel seminar celebrating Lincoln Kirstein's place in the world of art will take place.
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June 6, 2007
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