Two new exhibits at the Detroit Institute of Arts

February 20, 5:59 AMSoutheast MI Home & Living ExaminerJackie DiGiovanni

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www.dia.org 

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is located at  5200 Woodward Avenue in Detroit.  They recently announced two new exhibits.

A new DIA exhibit opened Wednesday, February 18, Learning by Line: The Role and Purpose of Drawing in the 18th Century.

Learning by Line is three collections in one: landscapes, portraits, and history. Works from the DIA collection are organized to tell "the stories of the artists and collectors of drawings in 18th-century Europe." Portraits by Jean Valade, Ozias Humphry and Jean Étienne Liotard are included.

Also on display is At the Foot of the Cross, by Robert Scott Duncanson. The recently uncovered and restored painting is on loan to the DIA from the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM). Duncanson is a revered African-American artist of the 1800s. His work is in the collections of many museums including:

Douglass Settlement House, Toledo, Ohio 
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Detroit Institute of Arts 
Dayton Art Institute 
Taft Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati Historical Society
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
California African American Museum, Los Angeles, California
Museum of Art, North Carolina Central University
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

According to the DIA website:

The recently discovered painting, in which he explores a religious subject, was executed by the artist during his formative years when, like many emerging artists, he went through a period of experimentation. It is signed by Duncanson and dated 1846, a year when he is known to have worked in Detroit.

Much research remains to be done on At the Foot of the Cross. The discovery of this rare painting will provide further insight into the development of Duncanson’s analytical, technical, and stylistic skills. It is relevant to American art history in general because it reveals Duncanson’s exploration of Christian art, for which there was no distinct American tradition in the 19th century.

Click here for more information about Duncanson.

Click here for a map.

Both exhibits are free with museum admission. Museum hours and admission: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for senior citizens, and $4 for youth ages 6-17. DIA members are admitted free. For more information, call (313) 833-7900 or see the website at www.dia.org.

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