September 16, 1939
Ten exhibitions are already on the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition schedule for the 1939-1940 season. As an opener, in order to be current with the style news, an exhibition of a more or less preliminary character opened on Saturday, September 9th, called Style Foundations--Corsets and Fashions of Yesterday and Today, to run through October 1st.
The first exhibition of the season opens on Friday, September 22nd, and will be called “Long Island in the 70’s". It will be a showing of some 160 prints of Brooklyn and Long Island scenes taken from a collection of over 2000 negatives of scenes in Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and the Hudson Valley, taken by George B. Brainard and acquired by the Museum twenty years ago. Only recently these negatives were brought to light by the Photographic Department. It will exhibit a cross section of the Long Island subjects and will demonstrate the character of the hundreds of records that Brainard made during his busy photographing days. Closing date is October 8th.
In memory of William A. Putnam, who made possible the Museum’s Print Room, an exhibition will be arranged to be called “The Putnam Memorial Print Exhibition” to run from October 7th through the 29th. It will consist of prints by Rembrandt, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Putnam, and other graphic material from the Brooklyn Museum collection.
The year’s accessions will be put on view from Saturday, October 14th, through Sunday, the 29th.1 This will be followed by the first large comprehensive show of the season which will be as complete a collection as possible of masks, drawing for the most part from the Museum’s own possessions. The masks are to be shown in groups according to use. The exhibition will run from Tuesday, October 24th, to Monday, January 1st.
Following will be a watercolor exhibition which will form a memorial to both George Pearse Ennis and Paul L. Gill. This will be shown from Saturday, November 4th, through Sunday, November 26th. This is the last opening scheduled for the calendar year. After the first of the year on Wednesday, January 17th, there will be an extensive showing of the work of Eastman Johnson to run through Sunday, February 25th. Work has been under way for several months to collect examples of this painter that have not been shown before.
On February 9th an exhibition of etchings by Rodolphe Bresdin will be put on view through Sunday, March 31st.
The second large exhibition of the year will be a complete costume show, drawn, as the mask exhibition will be, principally from the Museum’s own collection. This exhibition will open on Tuesday, March 12th, and continue through Sunday, May 5th.
The last exhibition to open this season according to the present schedule will be that of Brooklyn Artists, which will be on view from Friday, April 5th, to Sunday, the 28th. From time to time there will be small special exhibitions that will take form during the season.
LIST BELOW, ABOVE INFORMATION IN TABULAR FORM
Style Foundations---Corsets and Fashions of Yesterday and Today. September 9th through October 1st.
Photographs by George B. Brainard. “Long Island in the 70s.” September 22nd through October 8th.
Putnam Memorial Print Exhibition. October 7th through October 29th.
Recent Accessions. October 14th through October 29th.
Masks, October 24th through January 1st.
George Pearse Ennis and Paul L. Gill Watercolor Exhibition. November 4th through November 26th.
Eastman Johnson Exhibition. January 17th through February 25th.
Rodolphe Bresdin Exhibition. February 9th through March 31st.
Costume Show. March 12th through May 5th.
Brooklyn Artists. April 5th through April 28th.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 07-09/1939, 204-5. View Original
April 6, 1940
The first exhibition of paintings by Brooklyn artists to be held at the Brooklyn Museum since 1935 will be shown this year between April 6 and 28.
Artists residing in Brooklyn, or with studios there, have been invited by the Museum to submit a maximum of three paintings, from which the jury of selection will choose the exhibition. The jury will be composed of Mr. Gordon W. Colton, President of the Brooklyn Society of Artists, Mr. Herbert B. Tschudy, former Curator of Contemporary Arts at the Brooklyn Museum, and Mr. John I. H. Baur, Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum.
The exhibition will open with a private view and tea for Museum members, artists and their friends on Friday, April 5, four to six o’clock.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 03-04/1940, 066. View Original
April 17, 1940
The Brooklyn Museum announces the first counting of the ballots of the public votes on the exhibition of Brooklyn Artists’ works, which opened on April 6 and closes April 28. On the first counting over 350 ballots were cast, with the following results:
First: “Betty and Jack” by J. Hy. Hintermeister
Second: “Bombardment” by Abraham Tobias
Third: “Conception” by George Recca
Some of the comments, which the Museum is posting on the ballot box, are:
on the first:
- “Genuine and true, yet not too sugary or photographic”
- “Because it is almost like a photograph”
" " second:
- “Dynamic, forceful, significant, expressive”
- “It has in it the ideal feeling and expression of War - women giving life just to see it destroyed”
- “It is the only picture that has any meaning”
" " third:
- “Lovely portrayal of the spiritual qualities”
- “Beautiful piece of work. Deserves more prominent place”
- “Because it’s by my Pop”
It is planned to announce the results of the balloting at the end of each week during the duration of the show.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 03-04/1940, 080. View Original
