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 06/16/2008
SCAD Museum of Art re-opens doors after major renovation; features seven exhibitions including scandalous, satirical prints by William Hogarth
Image Credit: William Hogarth, "The Enraged Musician," engraving and etching, SCAD Museum of Art/ Newton Collection
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SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The SCAD Museum of Art, housed in historic Kiah Hall, re-opened its doors after a major exterior preservation project. Seven exhibitions, including "Hogarth's Tale of Two Cities: Rich and Poor in 18th-century London," are on display. Museum admission is free and open to the public; summer hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. The museum is located at 227 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., two doors north of the Savannah Visitors Center.
The preservation work on Kiah Hall, formerly known as the Gray Building and constructed in 1856 as the Central of Georgia Railroad headquarters, was largely funded by a generous federal Save America's Treasures grant. The original, 152-year-old metal roof was replaced with a new roll-seam, stainless-steel roof. The historic windows were restored and re-installed. Repairs also were made to masonry, stucco, chimneys and drainage. Additional funding for the project was provided by grants from the Charles A. Frueauff Foundation and the Frances Wood Wilson Foundation.
For its reopening, the SCAD Museum of Art features several new exhibitions, including "Hogarth's Tale of Two Cities." This comprehensive exhibition, on display through November, showcases 50 satirical prints by British artist Hogarth from the museum's Newton Collection of British and American Art. In celebrated series such as "A Harlot's Progress," "A Rake's Progress," "Industry and Idleness," "Four Prints of an Election" and "Marriage à la Mode," Hogarth's moralizing narratives interweave actual events and contemporaries with his own imaginative visions to create a rich pageant of urban life. These narratives of gamblers, politicians and loose women in 18th-century London are as saucy and compelling to viewers today as they were to their inaugural audience.
For example, "A Harlot's Progress" depicts a poor country woman who travels to London, falls prey to a procuress and enters a life of prostitution. After many jaunts and scandals, she is sent to Bridewell Prison and later dies of venereal disease. The detailed faces of each character reveal Hogarth's humorous sub-narratives.
In another series, "Marriage à la Mode," two fathers arrange their children's marriage for convenience and money. The partnership inevitably falls apart, ending with the murder of the son and the daughter's suicide, and Hogarth spreads the message that a marriage partner should be chosen for love.
Both new and timeless delights are on display in the other SCAD Museum of Art exhibitions. Highlights include 19th- and 20th-century photographs from the Shirrel Rhoades collection and other gifts, including three of Robert Mapplethorpe's elegant black-and-white flower images and two pieces by Eadweard Muybridge showing the mechanics of animal locomotion. A Pablo Picasso painting of Dora Maar from the museum's 20th-century collection also is on display. Maar was Picasso's muse, most widely known from his "Weeping Woman" series. Antique maps, books, and portraits of famous artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael and Rembrandt are also on view.
A complete list of current exhibitions is below. For more information or to arrange group tours, visit or call 912.525.7191. Media may contact 912.525.4745.
Hogarth's Tale of Two Cities: Rich and Poor in 18th-century London
Second Floor Painting Gallery
Through November
This comprehensive exhibition of prints by William Hogarth chronicles the highs and lows of life in 18th-century London. Selected from the SCAD Museum of Art's Newton Collection of British and American Art, the 50 pieces on view include celebrated series such as "A Harlot's Progress," "A Rake's Progress," "Industry and Idleness," "Four Prints of an Election" and "Marriage à la Mode." Hogarth's moralizing narratives interweave actual events and contemporaries with his own imaginative visions to create a rich pageant of urban life.
Lines and Shadows, Image and Self: Artist Portraits on Paper
Second Floor Print Gallery
Through November
This exhibition displays important artist portrait prints from the 16th and 18th centuries from the SCAD Museum of Art's collection. Included are early portraits of Michelangelo and Raphael, portraits of Rembrandt, several engravings from Anthony Van Dyck's series "Iconography," and early mezzotints portraying Lely, Kneller, Reynolds and others by pioneering British printmakers such as Isaac Beckett and John Smith.
Fantastic Adventures in Text and Image
First Floor Map Gallery 3
Through November
This exhibition charts the adventures of famous literary characters such as Robinson Crusoe, Lemuel Gulliver, Moll Flanders and Tom Sawyer through various editions of books, including those illustrated by well-known artists such as Cruikshank, Hogarth, Rowlandson and Rockwell.
Focus on 20th-century Art: Highlights from SCAD's Collection
Second Floor Focus Gallery
Permanent exhibition
These significant pieces from the college's permanent collection, including paintings, drawings and prints by Pablo Picasso, Willem de Kooning, Salvador Dalí, Raphael Soyer, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold and others, represent changing movements in modern and contemporary art. The exhibition includes recent gifts not previously on view.
The Master Eye: 19th- and 20th-century Photography from the Rhoades Collection
First Floor Photography Gallery
Permanent exhibition
These photographs include iconic examples from pioneering 19th-century practitioners and major 20th-century artists, who wielded their cameras to capture images of arresting landscapes, richly textured narratives, elegant fashion scenes, singular still lifes and powerful portraits. Photographers include Mathew Brady, Eadweard Muybridge, Man Ray, Herb Ritts, Annie Leibovitz and others. Examples from other donations such as works by Robert Mapplethorpe are also on view.
Mapping the Past: A Selection of Antique Cartography from the Newton Collection
First Floor Map Galleries
Permanent exhibition
Maps depicting North America, Great Britain and the rest of the world are on view in the museum's three map galleries. Highlights include 1597 maps from the earliest atlas of the Americas, 1776 military maps, and other 17th- and 19th-century maps, some of them hand colored. Cartographers include Wytfliet, Hondius, Monath, Lotter, d'Anville, Faden, Lodge, Cary and Wyld.
150 Years of Architectural Elegance: The Central of Georgia Railroad's 1856 Gray Building Headquarters and Saving a National Treasure: Bricks, Mortar and Metal
First Floor Entrance Gallery
Permanent exhibitions
These exhibitions chronicle the history of SCAD's Kiah Hall. Once the headquarters of the Central of Georgia Railroad and now a college art museum, the landmark Greek Revival building epitomizes the elegance of mid-19th century architecture. Exhibition assistance was provided through a grant from the Georgia Humanities Council. Complementing the historical overview of the 1856 building is a small photographic exhibition, which documents the recent exterior preservation project made possible by a major Save America's Treasures federal grant, with additional assistance from the Charles A. Frueauff Foundation and the Frances Wood Wilson Foundation.
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