Mythology

September 9-December 23, 2016

Thomas Nast

Mythology explores Classical Greco-Roman mythology through works from the museum’s collection. Classical myths and legends such as those told by Ovid and Homer have inspired artists for centuries. Representations of Classical myths not only reflect the influence of time and place, but also demonstrate how artists alter and augment mythological narratives. From the visual, the performing, and the literary arts, Classical mythology has inspired novels including Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians series and Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, and films including Clash of the Titans, Cold Mountain, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?   This exhibition examines mythology’s influence on our culture and how the artist’s transference of myth from literary to visual art influences and shapes our perceptions of Classical mythology.

Featured in Mythology are works by artists from the 16th through the 21st centuries including: Agostino Carracci, Hendrik Goltzius, Max Klinger, Wally Reinhardt, Del LaGrace Volcano, Theodor van Thulden, Warren Keller, Thomas Nast, Giovanni Battista Galestruzzi, Jean Theophile Prestel, Robert Gendler, and Johann Wilhelm Baur.

This exhibition was organized by museum education intern, Lillie Shulman ’17, under the direction of Anthony Shostak, education curator.