Metamorphoses: Highlights from the Permanent Collection
CompletedAugust 16 – December 10, 2022
In addition to stewarding artworks and objects acquired since the 19th century – when the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College and Tulane University were separated by gender – the Newcomb Art Museum periodically acquires new works that resonate with the critical issues of our time, as well as the institution’s historic emphasis on innovative art, craft, and design. In a first-of-its-kind collections display, Metamorphoses contrasts iconic Newcomb Pottery with kinetic sculpture, photography, and prints to explore ideas of change, transition, and movement in both a literal and symbolic sense. Works, such as Flood Lines by the Vestiges Project, reference human-built environments imperiled and inevitably altered by natural disasters. By contrast, works like John T. Scott’s Black Butterfly encourage reflection on rhythm and motion, and serve as metaphors for transformation and rebirth.
While the works by Newcomb and Tulane-affiliated artists ground the exhibit, other pieces reveal how the collection has evolved to include art inspired by diverse cultures, architecture, and the sociopolitical landscape. The exhibition includes selections from past faculty Lin Emery, Ida Kohlmeyer, Sarah Agnes Estelle “Sadie” Irvine, and George Rickey; as well as alumni such as Melissa Turner Drumm, Betsy Packard, Cynthia Scott, Michel Varisco, and artists of the Newcomb Pottery Enterprise and Newcomb Guild. Works by artists Carrie Mae Weems, Carlos Rolón, and Jesús Rafael Soto are also featured.
CURATED BY
Maurita N. Poole and Laura Blereau
Learn more at the Metamorphoses website
Approaching Time 2010.6
Black Butterfly 2017.09
Bowl, Lichenware A.2000.1499
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Chandeleur (The Fishers) 2021.3.1
Clothes 2020.1.3
Eight Circles, Painted 2011.12
Expanding Circles 2011.14
Flood Lines 2021.5.1.a
Flood Lines 2021.5.1.b
Flood Lines 2021.5.1.c
Gulf Rainware Vase A.2000.1568
Hooped 1991.9
Lidded Dish with Feet 2019.18.1
Multiple II, from the "Jai-Alai Series" 1979.158.A.6-P
Multiple III, from the "Jai-Alai Series" 1979.158.A.7-P
Multiple IV, from the "Jai-Alai Series" 1979.158.A.8-P
Multiple V, from the "Jai-Alai Series" 1979.158.A.9-P
Prints, Paintings and Drawings 2020.1.1
Quinary Cube 2022.2.3
Soft Sculpture Grouping 2018.4.1
Sorry Meant 1950 2011.13
Tall Vase with Louisiana Iris Design 1982.415-C
Trôleuse 2021.4.2
Trophy 2018.12.1
Tyg with Pine Grove Design 1996.6.1
Untitled 2022.2.2
Vase 1981.393-C
Vase 2021.7.1
Vase of Warbler Ware with Mocha Glaze 1973.258-C
Vase, Gulf Rainware 1973.226-C
Vase, Lichenware 1973.243-C
Vase, Lichenware 1973.246-C
Vase, Lichenware 1973.260-C
Window Moth, Rain Window 2022.2.1.b
Window Moth, Sunshine 2022.2.1.a
Wrestling Rope 2021.4.1
- Carrie Mae Weems (Portland, OR, 1953 – )
- Cynthia Scott (Rochester, NY, )
- Debra Howell (Cheltenham, PA, 1957 – )
- Francis A. Ford (New Orleans, LA, 1916 - 1984)
- George Rickey (South Bend, IN, 1907 - 2002, Saint Paul, MN)
- Gladys Gustine Randolph (Bayou Goula, Louisiana, 1885 - 1913)
- Harriet "Hattie" Coulter Joor (Navarro County, TX, 1875 - 1965 (March 28), Lafayette, LA)
- Ida Kohlmeyer (New Orleans, LA, 1912 - 1997, New Orleans, LA)
- Jan Gilbert (New Orleans, 1953 – )
- Jesús Rafael Soto (Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, 1923 – 2005, Paris, France)
- John T. Scott (New Orleans, LA, 1940 – 2007, Houston, TX)
- Jonathan Browne Hunt (Flemington, New Jersey, 1876 - 1943, Denver, CO)
- Joseph Fortune Meyer (Burthiers, Haute-Saone, France, 1848 - 1931, New Orleans, LA)
- Kenneth Eugene Smith (Scio, New York, 1907 - 1980, Indiana)
- Lin Emery (New York, NY, 1926 – 2021, New Orleans, LA)
- Lizbeth Marie "Betsy" Packard (Chicago, IL, 1953 – )
- Marie de Hoa LeBlanc (New Orleans, LA, 1874 - 1954, New Orleans, LA)
- Melissa Turner Drumm (Philadelphia, PA, 1961 – )
- Michel Varisco (New Orleans, LA, 1967 – )
- Newcomb Guild (New Orleans, LA, 1940 – 1952)
- Roberta Beverly Kennon (1877 - 1931)
- Sarah Agnes Estelle "Sadie" Irvine (New Orleans, LA, 1887 - 1970, New Orleans, LA)
- The Vestiges Project (New Orleans, LA, 1984 – )