One of black history’s preeminent visual storytellers, Jacob Lawrence employed Modernist forms and bright colors to narrate the American experience through the eyes of the country’s most marginalized citizens. As Gardiner prepared to take on the high-profile role, she wrote in a letter to her mother that she knew she would be scrutinized: “I very well know every eye is upon me, my dear mother, and I will behave accordingly.” “Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle” Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, Massachusetts) Born into a wealthy Long Island slaveholding family, Gardiner was just 24 years old when she wed John Tyler in 1844. Inspiration for the exhibition’s title comes from Julia Gardiner, who was the first woman to marry a president in office. The portraits are as “varied as the women themselves,” who all responded to the unique challenges and pressures of their office in different ways, writes Ault. Though the physical exhibition is currently closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, would-be visitors can explore a virtual version featuring high-resolution images of first ladies from Martha Washington to Melania Trump, as well as brief biographies, podcasts and blog posts. “ Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States” seeks to redress this imbalance by presenting 60 portraits-including photographs, drawings, silhouettes, paintings and sculptures-of American presidents’ wives. The gallery itself only began commissioning official portraits of the first ladies in 2006. But as Alicia Ault points out for Smithsonian, these women haven’t always been recognized as important individuals in their own right-a fact reflected in the relative dearth of portraiture depicting them. Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery’s presidential wing have long called for an exhibition devoted to the U.S.’ first ladies. Illustration by Meilan Solly / Photographs via NPG Depicted clockwise from top left: Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, Grace Coolidge, Nancy Reagan, Dolley Madison, Abigail Fillmore, Frances Cleveland and Sarah Polk. “Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States” The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (Washington, D.C.)Ĭlick this image to view the online exhibition. From first ladies to women writers and Mexican muralists, these were ten of our favorite online exhibitions of 2020. To mark the end of an unprecedented year, Smithsonian magazine is highlighting some of the most innovative ways in which museums helped craft meaningful virtual encounters with history and art. (For a more complete list of offerings, visit the Smithsonian’s online exhibitions portal.) Other highlights included the National Museum of Asian Art’s virtual reality tour of six iconic monuments from across the Arab world, the Cooper Hewitt’s walkthrough of “ Contemporary Muslim Fashions,” and the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s exploration of black soldiers’ experiences during World War I. At the National Museum of Natural History, curators catered to science enthusiasts with narrated virtual tours of various exhibits and halls at the National Air and Space Museum, aviation experts produced panoramic views of famed aircraft’s interiors. A beautifully illustrated portal created by the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative examined how girls have shaped history, while a landmark show at the Smithsonian American Art Museum spotlighted Chicano activists’ pioneering printmaking. The Smithsonian Institution also made impressive forays into the world of online exhibitions. In London, meanwhile, Tate Modern adapted its “ Andy Warhol” show by creating a curator-led tour that takes users through the exhibition room by room. Abroad, exhibitions such as the Rijksmuseum’s interactive version of a Rembrandt masterpiece offered viewers a chance to literally “ zoom in” on a single piece of art-and perhaps notice new details that would’ve otherwise gone unnoticed. Closed to the public and financially strained, many museums nevertheless managed to create thought-provoking alternatives to in-person viewing.ĭigital offerings in the United States ranged from the Morgan Library & Museum’s interactive retrospective of Al Taylor’s drawings to the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) “Virtual Views” of Surrealist women. Hundreds of institutions have made 3-D tours of their galleries available online through Google Arts & Culture and similar platforms, allowing visitors from around the world to virtually “wander” through the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Mexico City, the Tokyo National Museum and other significant sites.īut when the Covid-19 pandemic forced museums to shutter for most of 2020, public interest in virtual art experiences skyrocketed like never before. In recent years, curators and educators have increasingly started exploring the many possibilities offered by virtual exhibitions.
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