Speculative Spirit: The Making of Cole's The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds
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The Chrysler Museum's iconic Thomas Cole canvas The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds is the largest the artist ever made and a monumental statement of a young artist's ambitions to channel the lessons of European art into a new practice of major public commissions. The work is in the process of a landmark in-gallery conservation effort that scholars nationwide are watching with great interest, and this talk will discuss the artwork in the context of a remarkable artistic life that was as rife with frustrations as it was rich in lasting achievements. Join the Chrysler Museum as Dr. William L. Coleman, Director of Collections & Exhibitions at The Olana Partnership, as he shares the history of this incredible painting and the extensive process of restoring its beauty.
About the speaker:
Dr. William L. Coleman is an art historian and curator specializing in American landscape art. He serves as Director of Collections & Exhibitions for The Olana Partnership where he oversees the extensive permanent collection at the artist Frederic Edwin Church’s iconic 250-acre designed landscape in Hudson, New York. He co-curated the 2020-22 nationally traveling exhibition Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment. He has been a fellow of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Endowment for the Humanities and has published a variety of scholarship on the history of art, architecture, and music.
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