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Coming Into Focus

Three powerful exhibitions recently curated by A&S faculty and student.

By Dan Bernardi

The quote "Art is not what you see but what you make others see," by French artist Edgar Degas, can also be said for art exhibitions. The curator selects a theme, a concept and specific art pieces to convey a message and ignite a conversation. Three such exhibits by members of the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) were recently on view at the Syracuse University Art Galleries (SUArt).

Professor Wayne Franits, Department of Art and Music Histories (AMH), curated the exhibition “Masterpieces of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting from Regional Collections;” Professor Joan Bryant, Department of African American Studies (AAS), curated a selection of works from the George R. Rinhart collection titled “Black Subjects in Modern Media Photography;” and Julia Jessen G’20 curated the exhibition “Making History, Justifying Conquest: Depictions of Native Americans in American Book Company Textbooks.”

The exhibitions were examples of how members of A&S are taking the research and work they do in the classroom and sharing it with the greater community.

“As home of the liberal arts, the College of Arts and Sciences is centered on the principles of dialogue and inquiry,” says A&S Dean Karin Ruhlandt. “I am proud of the work A&S faculty and students have done in curating three unique installations that raise important questions about identity, history and culture.”

Interpreting Art

Need a refresher on interpreting art? We've got you covered.

I. 17th-century Dutch art on display

Painting flourished during the 17th century in The Netherlands, a time of independence and great economic prosperity. Professor Wayne Franits’ exhibition of masterpieces offered visitors a view of a wide-ranging subject matter and a glimpse into life during the Golden Age of Dutch art.

17th-century Dutch painting of a woman.
Portrait of a Woman by Nicolaes Maes, 1686. Private Collection. From the exhibition "Masterpieces of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting from Regional Collections."

Franits spent two summers visiting regional museums and private collections in Upstate New York and western Massachusetts to select 25 paintings for this exhibition, which provided visitors with a fascinating and unusual opportunity to look at 17th-century Dutch art firsthand. From the very beginning, Franits intended to involve his students in the curating process.

“Five of our graduate students studied the paintings that were in the exhibition and wrote wall texts for most of them,” Franits says. “While the exhibition was on view, I used it as a teaching tool for both my undergraduate and graduate courses.”

II. Examining the early 20th-century Black image
Two black men outside a cafe.
Natchez, Miss., 1947 by Todd Webb. Courtesy of the George R. Rinhart Collection. From the exhibition "Black Subjects in Modern Media Photography."

Professor Joan Bryant explored how media photographers represented Black life in the Jim Crow era in her exhibition titled “Black Subjects in Modern Media Photography: Works from the George R. Rinhart Collection.” Visitors considered how people and places were presented as Black subjects to mass audiences in newspapers, magazines, documentary projects, libraries and advertising. Examining photographs in widely circulated newspapers and magazines, Bryant says, offered the opportunity to explore how titles and captions inform people what they are supposed to see, sometimes limiting and altering the focus and content of an image.

As Bryant explains, “I hope the exhibition was an occasion to consider what counts as a modern Black image in the first half of the 20th century—a period marked by state-sponsored white supremacy and a growing push for Black self-determination and equality.”

III. The textbook narrative

For Julia Jessen G’20, her exhibition titled “Making History, Justifying Conquest: Depictions of Native Americans in American Book Company Textbooks” allowed her to simultaneously complete historical research and assemble a curated exhibition.

“My art historical research focuses on Native art and depictions of Native Americans by Western artists,” Jessen says. “I hoped to delve further into these topics while expanding my curatorial skills.”

Her exhibition examined how textbooks by the American Book Company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries depicted white heroism and Native so-called "savagery," creating a narrative of Euro-American superiority that justified the colonization of Native lands and the conquest of Indigenous peoples.

Sketch of a seated Native American chief.
Seated Indian Chief, 1889, by George de Forest Brush. Courtesy of the Syracuse University Art Collection. From the exhibition "Making History, Justifying Conquest: Depictions of Native Americans in American Book Company Textbooks."

“I hope the exhibition encouraged viewers to think about how art is used to construct and reinforce histories that support a dominant narrative of colonialism while marginalizing Indigenous peoples,” Jessen says. “I hope it allowed visitors to look more closely and think more critically about images that have become conventional.”

While all three exhibits featured vastly different subject matter, they all shared one common theme: representing different epochs in history. As Emily K. Dittman, associate director of SUArt Galleries, said of two of the exhibitions, “These shows encouraged visitors to think about ways they could help make America a more just and equitable place by providing historical context for honest discussions about race and social justice.”