OPENS AT THE PICTURE GALLERY ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

Civil War Drawings from the Becker Collection, September 4- October 11, 2010
Curators: Judy Bookbinder and Sheila Gallagher
Public reception and curators’ talk: Saturday September 4, 2010 4:30-6:00.

Detail of Francis H. Schell (1834-1909), “Skirmish with the Texas Rangers on Tuesday the Eighteenth”, December 18, 1861, graphite on wove paper, 18 x 22 in.

This exhibition presents a selection of approximately forty-five drawings from the Becker Collection, the largest group of Civil War drawings in private hands. Joseph Becker and his colleagues, who, during the nineteenth century served as artist-reporters for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, executed these drawings often under harrowing conditions. This collection of firsthand drawings, most of which were never published, have been on public display only once before. It includes original drawings by some of the era’s most notable artists and landmark works long thought lost or destroyed. As the United States prepares to observe the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the Becker Collection adds significantly to the nation’s understanding of its conflicted past. At a time when photography could only capture staged or still moments, the Special Artists risked their lives to record live-action historical events. The drawings in this exhibition are dramatic representations of the events that divided and defined a nation and testaments to the contributions Special Artists made to the development of American journalism and the history of American art.

For more information about the Becker Collection please visit: http://idesweb.bc.edu/becker/

To book school tours, please contact: Judi_Tatem@nps.gov, 603-675-2175 (X 100) or Gregory_C_Schwarz@nps.gov

The Saint-Gaudens Memorial is pleased to announce the awarding of its 2010 Fellowship to Mary Temple. Temple is best known for her large, site-specific trompe l’oeil installations painted on the outside of buildings or inside, on the walls and floors, often in unexpected locations.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Temple received her MFA from Arizona State University in Tempe. She has exhibited in numerous museums and galleries in the United States, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Mass MoCA, and the Brooklyn Museum and has had her work shown abroad in France, Italy, Luxembourg, and Slovakia. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

The Fellowship of the Saint-Gaudens Memorial was established in 1977 to assist artists of promise. A Fellow is selected annually by the Saint-Gaudens Memorial from a pool of candidates put forward by the Fellowship Committee and advisors, and is awarded to artists who have completed a body of work that demonstrates exceptional talent, and who may benefit from the recognition and financial grant that accompany the Fellowship. The year following the Fellowship, the artist submits works for installation, as part of the Saint-Gaudens Memorial exhibition series at the Picture Gallery.

Kendall is currently completing the NPS Bevinetto Congressional Fellowship in the Washington Office. As part of this fellowship, he spent 2008 working as a member of the legislative staff on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources. This year, he has served as the liaison between the Director and the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, working on national issues for the NPS and the Department of the Interior.