Goya: The Disasters of War and Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013 Open February 28, 2014
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 7, 2014)—Through the pairing of the exhibitions Goya: The Disasters of War, and Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts offers two powerful artistic portrayals of conflict and life in a combat zone. In The Disasters of War, the eminent Spanish painter and printmaker Goya graphically depicts the ravages of war as a means of expressing his horror with humanity’s capacity to inflict harm, whereas the contemporary American artist Steve Mumford takes a more journalistic approach to his paintings of 21st Century combat. Both exhibitions will be on view in the Frist Center’s Upper-Level Galleries from February 28 through June 8, 2014.
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828), widely considered the last of the Spanish “old masters” as well as the first modernist, created the eighty prints that comprise The Disasters of War in reaction to the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in the Peninsular War (1808–14) and the ensuing political turmoil. “Unlike previous works of ‘war art,’ these prints were not commissioned by ‘the winner,’” explains Frist Center Curator Katie Delmez. “Therefore, they provide insight into the artist’s unbiased private feelings about the historical events, and do not glorify individual leaders. Rather, they are brutally frank reflections of the impact conflicts have on ordinary individuals, soldiers and civilians alike. In this way, Goya can be seen as one of the first truly modern artists.”
Still relevant after 200 years, the prints have inspired artists from Édouard Manet and Pablo Picasso to Leon Golub and the Chapman brothers; they have been reformatted to serve as a cover for Susan Sontag’s book, Regarding the Pain of OthersThe Disasters of War are not easy to look at, and have rarely been exhibited in their entirety. “Perhaps because of their criticism of both France and the Spanish crown, or the acknowledgement that such gruesome images would not find buyers, the etchings were not published until 1863, thirty-five years after the Goya’s death,” says Ms. Delmez. A collaboration of the Pomona College Museum of Art and the University Museums, University of Delaware, this exhibition and the accompanying catalogue present all eighty prints of the first edition from the collection of the Pomona College Museum of Art.
Curated by Goya scholar Janis Tomlinson, director of the University Museums, University of Delaware, the exhibition proposes a departure from the traditional installation that follows the sequence of etchings imposed some years after they were created and standardized in the first edition of 1863. Tomlinson invites us to consider Goya’s endeavor within its historical context by presenting the etchings in five groups: Carnage, Atrocity, Martyrdom, Famine and Emphatic Caprices. This organization reveals Goya’s clear stylistic evolution over the four years (1810–14) during which he etched these plates.
While Goya concentrates on war’s inhumanity, Steve Mumford (b. 1960) explores the humanity of day to day life, especially the routine downtime, in combat zones. Trained as a painter and strongly influenced by Winslow Homer, Mr. Mumford has worked since 2003 as an artist with a press pass embedded in occupied Iraq and the war zones of Afghanistan. Frist Center Chief Curator Mark Scala explains, “His intention was to capture—in drawings, watercolors and written journals—the experiences of American troops and the people living and working in the areas he visited.” Throughout his extended trips, Mr. Mumford observed and depicted scenes that are rarely shown in the news. “Among Mumford’s most affecting images are those that show wounded soldiers receiving therapy at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.,” says Mr. Scala. “It’s clear that the works do not just portray individual traumas, but are also universal symbols for the damage of war and the healing—physical or emotional, personal and cultural—that now must follow.”
A different perspective on the nature of the conflict appears in the last gallery of the exhibition, which contains scenes from the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, which Mr. Mumford created in 2013 to illustrate a story in Harper’s magazine on the trial of an accused terrorist.
Addressing the conscious decision to paint rather than to photograph, Mr. Mumford says: “Making a drawing is more about lingering with a place and editing the scene in a wholly subjective way. It’s never comprehensive of the visual facts, which are filtered through one’s senses, selected, exaggerated, or left out over the hour or so it takes to make a drawing… . For me, the act of drawing slowed down the war, recording the spaces in between the bombs.”
As part of the exhibition planning process, the Frist Center invited a group of veterans and staff counselors from Soldiers and Families Embraced (SAFE), a Clarksville, Tenn.-based nonprofit organization offering free counseling for active duty, veterans and their families, to discuss the exhibition concepts and materials. The group provided insightful feedback on public programming, docent training and how to best accommodate visiting members of the military community. “These exhibitions will undoubtedly spur emotional responses, especially from members of the military who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan and may have witnessed the types of events shown by both artists, but especially by Steve Mumford,” says Mr. Scala. “We asked our focus group to weigh in with us on how Mumford’s works relate to their own experiences of the war zones, which reflect our own moment in history in a very different way than Goya did his.” The group noted that many returning service members are hesitant to speak openly about war time experiences and that the exhibitions could serve as a catalyst for conversation and a sharing of experiences and memories.
Exhibition Credit
Goya: The Disasters of War is a collaboration of the Pomona College Museum of Art and the University Museums of the University of Delaware. It is curated by Janis Tomlinson, Director, University Museums, and circulated by the Pomona College Museum of Art.
Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013 was organized by Mark Scala, chief curator, Frist Center for the Visual Arts.
Sponsor Acknowledgment
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts is supported in part by the Metro Nashville Arts Commission, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Exhibition Catalogue
Goya: The Disasters of War is accompanied by a fully-illustrated, 119-page catalogue. Published by Pomona College Museum of Art and University Museums, University of Delaware, the catalogue includes essays by Janis Tomlinson and Kathleen Stewart Howe, who discuss the persistence of Goya’s imagery in contemporary art.
Related Public Programs
Friday, February 28
12:00 p.m.
Curator’s Tour: Goya: The Disasters of War Presented by Janis Tomlinson, Ph.D., director, University Museums, University of Delaware
Meet at exhibition entrance
Gallery admission required; members free
Join exhibition curator Janis Tomlinson for a tour exploring Francisco Goya’s series of 80 aquatint etchings, The Disasters of War. Inspired by the Napoleonic invasion and occupation of Spain during the Peninsular War of the early 1800s, Goya gives form to the dehumanizing effects of conflict on both victors and victims. The series also includes scenes of the Madrid famine of 1811–12 and allegorical representations of the political turmoil that followed the war. Tomlinson discusses the creative evolution of this groundbreaking series that would inspire artists in centuries to come.
Friday, February 28
6:30 p.m.
Artist’s Perspective: Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013 Presented by Steve Mumford
Frist Center Auditorium
Gallery admission required; members free
Seating is first come, first seated
In 2003, artist Steve Mumford made his first trip abroad to record, in watercolor and with pen and ink, the experiences of American soldiers in Middle Eastern conflicts and the impact of those conflicts on civilians. He chose to digitally distribute his work for publication, preserving the immediacy of his impressions. In this lecture, Mumford explains how the experience of drawing in a war zone and his subjects’ reactions to being portrayed by an artist profoundly affected his sense of self as an artist and as a person.
Friday, March 21
7:00 p.m.
Film: Goya in Bordeaux
Frist Center Auditorium
Gallery admission required; members free
Seating is first come, first seated
This spring, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts offers a pair of films inspired by the exhibitions Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013 and Goya: The Disasters of War.
Spanish director Carlos Saura’s unconventional depiction of artist Francisco Goya’s life and work unfolds as a series of the aging painter’s fevered recollections of the intrigues of the court of King Carlos IV, his artistic awakening and the barbarism of Napoleon’s army during the Peninsular Wars. Goya’s reveries become living tableaux of the artist’s most famous works, including his series of etchings The Disasters of War. Starring Francisco Rabal, Jose Coronado, and Maribel Verdu. Directed by Carlos Saura. Spanish with English subtitles.105 minutes. DVD.
Thursday, April 10
6:30 p.m.
Connecting Conversations: Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013
Presented by Jodi McCullah,
Executive Director of Soldiers and Families
Embraced (SAFE), and Mark Scala, chief curator,
Frist Center for the Visual Arts
Upper-Level Galleries
Gallery admission required; members free
Artist Steve Mumford’s images of U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan give visual form to the lived experiences of our service men and women. Scenes of the aftermath of combat and of everyday interactions between soldiers and civilians record a reality that is often difficult to put into words. Join exhibition curator Mark Scala and Jodi McCullah, executive director SAFE, for a discussion of the nature of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how the visual arts can be a tool for healing and expression.
Thursday, April 24
6:30 p.m.
Curator’s Perspective: “Art and War: Propaganda, Conscience, and the Power of Objectivity” Presented by Frist Center Chief
Curator, Mark Scala
Frist Center Auditorium
Gallery admission required; members free
Seating is first come, first seated
This lecture will consider the historical representation of war in the context of the exhibitions Goya: The Disasters of War and Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013. While much war-related art has functioned as propaganda—diminishing the humanity of the enemy and emphasizing the glorious defense of homeland or ideology—other art employs extreme emotionalism to open eyes and hearts to the brutality of war. A third path, meant to dispassionately record the day-to-day reality of a war zone, avoids overt propagandizing or emotional manipulation. The artist-as-realist might say “I make no judgment. It is up to you to deduce a larger narrative, place blame, or probe more deeply into the causes of the conflict.” The lecture will raise questions: Why do artists depict conflict? How and by whom are their images used? Does their work change anything?
Saturday, May 3
12:00 p.m.
Connecting Conversations: Goya: The Disasters of War Presented by Katie Delmez, Frist Center curator, and Andres Zamora, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Vanderbilt University
Upper-Level Galleries
Gallery admission required; members free
While Francisco Goya’s images of the human suffering during Napoleon’s military campaign in Spain resonate through the ages, the historical and cultural context to which the artist was responding is largely lost to modern viewers of Goya’s series of etchings, The Disasters of War. Join Frist Center Curator Katie Delmez and Dr. Andres Zamora for an in-gallery discussion of Goya’s poignant print series and its relation to Spanish history, literature and culture.
Friday, May 16
7:00 p.m.
Film: Restrepo
Frist Center Auditorium
Gallery admission required; members free
Seating is first come, first seated
This spring, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts will screen a pair of films inspired by the exhibitions Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013 and Goya: The Disasters of War.
Restrepo is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, “Restrepo,” named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military. The film makers’ goal was to capture the lived experience of soldiers in a combat zone, including deadly firefights and moments of boredom, fear and camaraderie. Directed by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, 2010. 93 minutes. DVD. Rated R. This film contains adult language and documents military combat. While the violence in Restrepo is not excessively graphic, it does depict real events and may be disturbing to some viewers.
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About the Frist Center
Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit art exhibition center dedicated to presenting and originating high quality exhibitions with related educational programs and community outreach activities. The Frist Center offers the finest visual art from local, regional, national, and international sources in a program of changing exhibitions that inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways. Located at 919 Broadway in downtown Nashville, Tenn., the Frist Center’s Martin ArtQuest Gallery (open until 5:30 p.m. each day) features interactive stations relating to Frist Center exhibitions. Gallery admission to the Frist Center is free for visitors 18 and younger and to Frist Center members. Frist Center admission is $10.00 for adults and $7.00 for seniors, military and college students with ID. College students are admitted free Thursday and Friday evenings (with the exception of Frist Fridays), 5–9 p.m. Discounts are offered for groups of 10 or more with advance reservation by calling (615) 744-3247. The Frist Center galleries, Café and Gift Shop are open seven days a week: Mondays through Wednesdays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.–9 p.m. and Sundays, 1–5:30 p.m., with the Frist Center Café opening at noon. Additional information is available by calling (615) 244-3340 or by visiting our website at http://www.fristcenter.org.
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