Metal of Honor
Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art
October 13, 2022 – January 16, 2023
Hostetter Gallery
Discover the allure and significance of one of the world’s most precious metals this fall at the Gardner. Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art explores how four artists, of different times and different places, use gold as an artistic strategy for innovation and honor. Works by Simone Martini (c. 1284-1344, Italy), whose novel compositions and masterful techniques were unequaled in Europe and well ahead of his time, are juxtaposed with works by three contemporary painters—Titus Kaphar (b. 1976, US), Stacy Lynn Waddell (b. 1966, US), and Kehinde Wiley (b. 1977, US). These artists reinterpret the style and medium of devotional imagery to explore the meaning of representation, commemoration, and adoration today.
The exhibition features stunning examples of Martini’s skilled manipulation of gold and the sacred symbolism it evokes, including the Gardner’s five-panel altarpiece and its smaller painting, Virgin and Child with Saints. These pieces are the first two works by the artist in the United States, a testament to our founder’s pioneering tastes. A new film explores goldwork techniques used in Martini’s time and today.
Just as Martini did for his sacred subjects, these three contemporary painters turn to gold in the portraits to elevate and honor the Black men and women they depict. The exhibition features two later works from Kaphar’s The Jerome Project, which is continued in the Fenway Gallery with works from the original 2014-15 series, three works from Wiley’s ICONIC series, and three figurative works by Waddell, who will also be featured on the Museum’s Anne H. Fitzpatrick Façade.
Header image: Simone Martini (c. 1284-1344, Italy), Virgin and Child with Saints, about 1320. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
Gallery Lecture:
West African kingdoms known for gold mining and processing
Gold: from Africa to Europe and Beyond
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Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Oct 7, 2022
In preparation for “Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art,” on view from October 13, 2022, to January 16, 2023, the Gardner Museum staff spent time with Artist-in-Residence Stacy Lynn Waddell. Together they took a closer look at Simone Martini’s painting in the Museum’s collection and Stacy described how his innovative use of gold inspires her. Please note: Gardner Museum conservators advised the film participants on safe handling of the artworks. Metal of Honor, the film with sound, was produced by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2022 and runs about 4 minutes.
See related:
- Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art
- Curating a Fractured Past: The Role of Museums, Maps, Manuscripts, Prints, Rare Books, Photos, Artifacts, Literature & the Arts in Embracing Our Common Humanity on a Finite Planet
- Future of Africa-based Curatorial Practice Workshop | Harvard University Center for African Studies
- From Gallery to Reality (… and Back): The Display of Art and the Art of Display in the Digital Age
- From Charts to Maps: The “Networks of Transmission” in Imaging Africa in the Early Years
- Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa
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