So far, for me, it’s been a good enough year — in that nothing really bad has happened (knock on wood). Oh yes, I’ve certainly had worse years than 2011. As a Richmonder, I also have to say, it’s been a much better year than most.

Two happenings, in particular, have made 2011 a year to remember fondly for folks who live adjacent to the fall line of the James River: The Picasso show at VMFA and the Final Four run for VCU‘s Rams.

I wrote “Picasso’s Richmond Period” about the show, “Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris,” which was displayed (Feb. 19 to May 15) at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It was published by Richmond.com (February 18th). Here’s part of that piece:

…An art show to rival this one has probably never been presented in Richmond. So, don’t be surprised by the number of way-out-of-town accents you’re going to hear in Carytown shops and the Fan District’s restaurants over the next 12 weeks.

The impact on this city’s economy is expected to be significant. In the long run, though, perhaps local school children will be the greatest beneficiaries of this chance to see a collection of objects that did much to shape the world’s art history over eight decades — art that most people only ever see in photographs.

It will be interesting to see how many kids’ art shows will have Picasso-influenced pieces in them over the next year. So, don’t scold the sixth-graders for putting both eyeballs on the same side of a face … they will just be having a little fun.

Nyerges said, “An exhibition this monumental is extremely rare, especially one that spans the entire career of a figure who many consider the most influential, innovative and creative artist of the 20th century.”

Since this collection of Picasso (1881-1973) paintings, drawings, sculpture, etc., is showing in just seven cities, worldwide, how did Richmond end up being the only one on the East Coast to have it?

In 1985 the Musée National Picasso opened in a renovated 17th century mansion in Paris. The art in the museum came directly from Picasso’s estate. To settle the inheritance bill with the French government his heirs donated the pieces from Picasso’s collection of his own work. For most of his life he had kept certain favorite pieces.

Now the museum in Paris is being renovated, so to get some of the art out of the way — and to make some money to defray renovation expenses — a traveling show was put together by Anne Baldassari, the Paris museum’s director. She also oversaw the installation of the show at the VMFA. At the media preview (on Thursday morning) Baldassari said, with a decidedly French accent, that she’s a little bit jealous of the display capabilities of the VMFA.

Aside from whatever pull Nyerges has to bring in such an attraction, it seems the Richmond museum’s fancy new look itself — a $150 million upgrade — played a significant role in the decision made in France to include it on the tour…

My article, “Living a Final Four Dream,” about VCU’s five-game streak on the national stage, was published by Richmond.com (April 4th). Here are two excerpts:

…Meanwhile, regarding VCU’s appearance in the Final Four, nobody I know can remember when a college or professional team from Richmond ever played in such an important game in any sport. Perhaps it’s fair to say VCU just overshadowed anything, popular culture-wise, Richmond has ever witnessed.

Coming into the game, the resume of the Colonial Athletic Association’s last team standing read this way: VCU 59, Southern Cal 46; VCU 74, Georgetown 56; VCU 94, Purdue 76; VCU 72, Florida St. 71; VCU 71, Kansas 61.

In those five wins VCU’s players had performed as though they were living in the moment more completely than their expectations-burdened opponents. Butler was different. Unlike those five power conference losers, the Bulldogs didn’t trip over their own hubris. Instead, they executed their plan to deny VCU its three-point shots with utter determination.

Which meant it came down to a gritty, no-blood-no-foul contest with an outcome that was determined by hard-earned shots that fell, and those that rimmed out. In short, Butler was so good that VCU needed to be luckier…

…When I was running errands on Saturday afternoon, before the game, I was in the Grace and Harrison Streets area. It was teeming with people. Most of them, old or young, were wearing VCU gear. Visually, it was amazing. There were temporary stands selling bootleg VCU T-shirts in the parking lots. I could hear a crowd cheering and chanting on Broad Street, a block away. Even the mumblers and panhandlers in front of the convenience store were outfitted in goldenrod and black T-shirts.

After the game, some with a snootful of the spirit of anarchy took advantage of the license in the air. The cops and some elements of the crowd battled, apparently without any serious injuries. Whether any of the firebugs or brick-throwers were students or basketball fans isn’t known at this desk.

However annoying any of that public behavior may seem to a reader, Smart and his team didn’t burn any couches. The only bricks they threw were at the rim in Houston…

As much as I was delighted that during 2011 the Civil War sesquicentennial shows at various local museums educated thousands of locals and tourists about that period of Richmond‘s history, I’m also happy they were somewhat overshadowed.

VMFA’s spectacular Picasso show and the Rams’ March Madness miracle put Richmond on some new maps. As a lifelong Richmonder, it was nice to see my home town being recognized for events that took place since the 1860s, or the 1960s.

– 30 –

Portrait of Dora Marr, 1937
© Musée National Picasso, Paris

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ landmark exhibition Picasso:  Masterpieces from the Musée Picasso, Paris brought more than just visitors to the Commonwealth.  The exhibition brought $26.6 million to the Richmond region and a further $2.3 million across Virginia, totaling nearly $30 million.

Combining the exhibition’s staging expenses with visitor spending from nearly a quarter million visitors, the economic study showed primary and secondary benefits to the region and the state.

“The Picasso exhibition was not only a blockbuster for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, but for all  of Virginia as well,” Director Alex Nyerges said.  “The ripple effect impacted hotels, restaurants and the overall tourism industry, subsequently benefiting the region. The arts are an important catalyst for tourism and we will continue to initiate ‘can’t miss’ exhibitions and programs at the museum.”

As the exclusive East Coast venue  of the international exhibition, Richmond attracted visitors from every state in the United States. The total spending was distributed among food, lodging, transportation and retail localities.  As a result, an estimated 297 jobs in Richmond and 329 jobs in Virginia were supported.  State and local governments also benefited, with more than $250,000 in local tax revenue and almost $750,000 in state tax revenue, for a total of more than $1 million dollars of total tax revenue from the exhibition.

In addition to visitor spending, VMFA’s membership grew.  New members from January – mid-May brought in $1.1 million in membership fees. Membership numbers topped 40,000 as of the close of the exhibition.  “We have provided some enticing benefits for membership, including free admission to special exhibitions, member previews, discounts on classes and lectures and free parking in the deck,” Nyerges said.  “In addition, a special reciprocal membership level provides free admission to more than 400 museums throughout the United States.”

Chmura Economics & Analytics (Chmura) conducted the study, which included an intercept survey in April and May to collect information, such as visitors’ spending patterns.

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Between April 29 and May 7, 2011, Chmura conducted interviews at VMFA.  A usable sample of 404 surveys was collected with a maximum statistical error of +/- 4.9 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence.  Among the Virginia respondents, 58.8 percent were from the Richmond metropolitan region.  After Richmond, Virginia respondents were from northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Charlottesville.  The regions with the highest number of visitors are North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania
and Washington, D.C.

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VMFA was the only East Coast venue for the Picasso:  Masterpieces from the Musée Picasso, Paris seven-city international tour. The exhibition was on view February 19 through May 15, 2011, and was co-organized by the Musée National Picasso, Paris and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  Drawn from the collection of the Musée National Picasso in Paris, the largest and most significant repository of the artist’s work in the world, the exhibition represented works produced during every major artistic period of Pablo Picasso’s eight-decade career. It included 176 works from Picasso’s personal collection – art that he kept for himself with the purpose of shaping his own legacy. Altria Group was the presenting
sponsor for the exhibition.

About the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts:

With a collection of art that spans the globe and more than 5,000 years, plus a wide array of special exhibitions, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is recognized as one of the top comprehensive art museums in the United States. The museum’s permanent collection encompasses more than 23,000 works of art, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside Russia and one of the nation’s finest collections of American Art, Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

VMFA is home to acclaimed collections of English Silver and Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British Sporting and Modern & Contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened its doors to the public after a transformative expansion, the largest in its 75-year history. Programs include educational activities and studio classes for all ages, plus fun after-hours events. VMFA’s Statewide Partnership program includes traveling exhibitions, artist and teacher workshops, and lectures across the Commonwealth. General admission is always free.

For additional information, telephone 804-340-1400 or click here.

– The information above was provided by Suzanne Hall with the VMFA.

Spring N2 Summer on Saturday, June 18, at the Science Museum of Virginia. School is out, the family needs some activity and gas prices are high.

Why not discover your world (even explore out of this world) at the Science Museum of Virginia’s official welcome-to-vacation-season party? Look for splatting water balloons and geyser tube eruptions, all those wonderful outdoor summer science adventures and everyone’s favorite summertime treat — ice cream!

The fun lasts all day and is filled with warm weather activities, green ideas you can take home, and visits to the new Crabitat, Earth’s poles and into space — all without leaving Richmond. Make a solar oven to take home, discover how to make solar s’mores, make seed bombs for guerilla gardening, toss water balloons with a medieval siege machine. Check out Virginia FIRST Robotics robots, learn what you can do to help save Chesapeake Bay and keep an eye out for sea creatures who just might talk to you. Hop on a train car and travel to the ends of Earth. Explore asteroids and comets in the world premier exhibit Great Balls of Fire! When you need a refreshing break, Bruster’s is on had with ice cream cones.

Thank you to our premier partners, HCA and Virginia 529.

Spring N2 Summer is included with exhibit admission. Tickets for Spring N2 Summer, Museum exhibits and an IMAX® film are $16 for ages 13-59 and $15 for ages 4-12 and 60+. Tickets Spring N2 Summer and Museum exhibits are $11 for ages 13-59 and $10 for ages 4-12 and 60+. Spring N2 Summer is free for members.

For more information call (804) 864.1400, or click here. The Museum is located at 2500 West Broad Street in Richmond.

– The information above was provided by Nancy Tait with the SMV

The suit alleges that Rick Mather + SMBW LLC, the partnership formed between the high-profile British architect and a local architecture firm, failed to pay a significant portion of the bill for engineering services provided by Hankins & Anderson.

Click here to read Al Harris’ article at Richmond BizSense.

The Benedictine Society agreed to continue to operate the school, to develop a long-term plan for its future success and move forward with plans to relocate to the abbey. The loan was repaid to the congregation and rolled into the abbey’s existing debt for school expenses, for a total of $2.7 million. Both the school and the abbey were used as collateral on the loan, Walsh said.

Last month, the society entered an agreement with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to pursue the sale of its North Sheppard Street school building. The academy would be relocated to the society’s Mary Mother of the Church Abbey in Goochland, a move some alumni and parents say will destroy the fabric of the school.

Click here to read the entire article at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Fireworks at Hemissem, ca.1650–51, Wenceslaus Hollar (Bohemian, 1607–1677), Etching. Promised Gift of Frank Raysor

An exhibition honoring the promised gifts of collector, connoisseur and scholar Frank Raysor at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is open and will be on view until May 22, 2011.

Throughout the past 35 years, Raysor, who grew up in Richmond, has amassed a collection of approximately 10,000 prints that covers the history of print-making and includes special deep holdings of artists such as Charles Meryon, Félix Bracquemond, Seymour Haden and Wenceslaus Hollar. This gift will increase VMFA’s total number of objects by one third.

As a representation of Raysor’s collection, more than 100 works spanning five centuries and a variety of themes and cultures will be on display. Works by professional printmakers, as well as painters and sculptors are part of the exhibition.

“It’s a major opportunity for the museum to acquire a collection of this range and depth, particularly with the holdings of certain artists,” VMFA Director Alex Nyerges said. In recognition of this extraordinary gift, VMFA will name Raysor “Collector of the Year” at the Collector’s Circle gala in April.

Portraits:

Three stupendous Baroque portraits by Anthony Van Dyck, Rembrandt van Rijn and Robert Nanteuil open the exhibition. Although the three were contemporaries, their portraits differ in their degree of finish and formality. Also in this collection is one of the first “portraits” of a domestic animal – Visscher’s The Large Cat, memorable for its veracity. Bracquemond’s Portrait of Edmond de Goncourt must be considered, for its originality and directness combined with optical naturalism and surpassing detail, one of the greatest tours de force of the printmaker’s art. Far less formal are the portraits of Tissot and Cassatt, which offer new formats and insights into the genre. In the misty outlines of his subject’s beard and face, Carrière introduces haunting symbolist effects in Portrait of Puvis de Chavannes, while Beaux creates a beautiful image faithfully reproduced in wood engraving. Finally, Orlik and Zorn offer portraits of musicians that also recall the examples of the three great portraitists shown in the first gallery of the exhibition.

Landscapes and Cityscapes:

City and country views predominate in this exhibition and are indeed subjects most favored by independent printmakers. One of the earliest landscapes in the show, Claude Lorrain’s The Cowherd, has been called “the most beautiful print ever made.” The pastoral tradition Claude inaugurated influenced centuries of artists, and that influence is evident when comparing a similar subject made two centuries later by Charles-François Daubigny. While landscape prints can oscillate between real and imagined views, John Constable anchors his vision firmly in his seen reality. Cityscapes offered artists a chance to demonstrate their virtuosity. Compare the panoramas of Prague and San Francisco by Wenceslaus Hollar and Charles Meryon, respectively, with the vertical panorama of Manhattan skyscrapers by Armin Landeck. The contemporary artist Richard Haas concludes the exhibition with his 2007 work entitled 57th Street Looking East.

Actors and the Theater:

Artists have always been fascinated by the world of the theater, often using this subject as a vehicle for critiquing contemporary society. The baroque printmakers Jacques Callot and Abraham Bosse show actors in very different kinds of theater, respectively informal and formal. Antoine Watteau, in a work engraved by Pierre-Quentin Chedel, goes behind the scenes, using actors from the commedia dell’arte tradition to explore the world of sentiment. Offering a satirical view of classes coming together, William Hogarth’s bustling Southwark Fair critiques 18th-century urban England and its morbid interest in all kinds of spectacles. Fantin-Latour’s escapist Pastorale shows a highly artificial vision influenced by Wagner’s operas. Instead of the stage, Walter Sickert offers a view of a captivated audience in a music hall, a source for popular entertainment in Edwardian England. Finally, in Piccadilly Circus, 1915, Muirhead Bone depicts wartime anxiety in the center of the London entertainment industry as theater lights serve as searchlights looking for enemy aircraft.

About Frank Raysor:

Frank Raysor grew up in Richmond and often visited VMFA at a young age in the mid-1950s.  He left Richmond to attend Duke University and then Harvard Business School before embarking on his career in business, first with Davenport & Company in Richmond and then with Seagram in New York City, where he worked for 34 years.And, while Raysor is not an artist, the interest in images nurtured by VMFA inspired him to begin his own personal collection, with a strong concentration on prints.

About the Exhibition:

• TITLE:  A Celebration of Print: 500 Years of Graphic Art from the Frank Raysor Collection
• LOCATION: VMFA, Mellon Focus Gallery
• DATES: Jan. 29 – May 22, 2011
• VMFA CURATOR: Dr. Mitchell Merling, Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art
• NUMBER OF WORKS: 105
• ADMISSION: Free

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With a collection of art that spans the globe and more than 5,000 years, plus a wide array of special exhibitions, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is recognized as one of the top comprehensive art museums in the United States. The museum’s permanent collection encompasses more than 22,000 works of art, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside Russia and one of the nation’s finest collections of American art. VMFA is home to acclaimed collections of English Silver and Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British Sporting and Contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened its doors to the public after a transformative expansion, the largest in its 75-year history. Programs include educational activities and studio classes for all ages, plus fun after-hours events. VMFA’s Statewide Partnership program includes traveling exhibitions, artist and teacher workshops, and lectures across the Commonwealth. General admission is always free. For additional information, telephone 804-340-1400 or click here.

– The information above was provided by Suzanne Hall at the VMFA.

Click here to read Suzanne Hall’s post on the VMFA blog.

While I understand that the somewhat ham-handed short notice aspect of this story rubbed some neighbors the wrong way, why can’t we wait until we see the sign itself before we get worked up about what’s so wrong with it?

The museum got approval from the state architectural review board on Nov. 5 to install a 15-foot-high sign that includes a 4-foot by 8-foot illuminated electronic screen on the Boulevard. Some neighbors in the Fan and Museum districts say the museum told them about the sign plan just one day before a board meeting of Fan’s neighborhood association, making it obvious their feelings were superfluous.

“Let the people speak,” says Delegate Manoli Loupassi, who’s looking into the matter.

Click here to read “Museum Sign Becomes a 15-Foot Political Platform” at STYLE Weekly.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, Paolo  de’ Matteis. Museum Purchase, The Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund. Currently on view in the Southern Baroque Gallery.

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Fan District Hub readers, your Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will be open on Christmas Day with free admission to all exhibitions.

In keeping with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ goal of being accessible for all, VMFA is pleased to offer a special holiday gift to the people of the Commonwealth this holiday season — free admission to all special exhibitions on Christmas day.

All galleries will be open and general admission is always free.

“The holidays are times when family and friends gather together to celebrate the season and the precious gift of  time with each other. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is now open 365 days a year as a destination for meaningful visits and lively conversations that are always a part of a museum experience,” stated Alex Nyerges, Director.

VMFA will be open from noon until 5 p.m. Christmas Day and during that time, visitors are invited to view the museum’s two special exhibitions for free; American Quilts: Selections from the Winterthur Collection and Sally Mann: The Flesh and The Spirit.

VMFA’s Amuse Restaurant will offer guests a special Christmas day menu to enjoy with their family and friends.

About the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts:

With a collection of art that spans the globe and more than 5,000 years, plus a wide array of special exhibitions, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is recognized as one of the top comprehensive art museums in the United States.

The museum’s permanent collection encompasses more than 22,000 works of art, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside Russia and one of the nation’s finest collections of American art. VMFA is home to acclaimed collections of English Silver and Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British Sporting and Contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art.

In May 2010, VMFA opened its doors to the public after a transformative expansion, the largest in its 74-year history. Programs include educational activities and studio classes for all ages, plus fun after-hours events.

VMFA’s Statewide Partnership program includes traveling exhibitions, artist and teacher workshops, and lectures across the Commonwealth. General admission is always free. For additional information, telephone 804-340-1400 or click here.

– The information above was provided by Suzanne Hall at the VMFA.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has received approval from the state architectural review board to install a 15-foot-high sign on the Boulevard — a sign that includes a 4-foot-by-8-foot illuminated electronic screen.

Click here to read the entire article.

Does it come as a surprise that some of the museum’s neighbors are not all that happy about this development?