Recent Acquisitions

Jack Leigh
(American, 1948-2004)
Farm Family on Porch, 1971; printed 2007
Gelatin silver print
22 x 28 in.
7 in edition of 50
Museum purchase with funds provided by the William Jay Society, 2007.24.2

This classic image of a rural farm family is one of nine works by Savannah photographer Jack Leigh acquired for the Telfair’s permanent collection in the fall of 2007. Leigh’s ability to capture poignant images of the rapidly-changing landscape and way of life in the rural South was unmatched, and his work documents four decades of Southern life, particularly in his beloved Low Country. The acquisition of these pieces brings the Telfair’s collection of Jack Leigh photographs to 31 works, the largest collection of the artist’s images in any public museum.

Käthe Kollwitz
(German, 1867-1945)
Die Gefangenen (The Prisoners), 1908
Etching and softground
12 9/10 x 16 7/10 in.
Gift of Mr. Alan S. Gaynor, 2007.22.2
© 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Käthe Kollwitz’s melancholy and politically charged prints have caused many to number her among the greatest printmakers of all time. Working in a vigorous style that prefigured the German Expressionist movement, she never shied from the difficult subjects of death, warfare, and social iniquity. Die Gefangenen (The Prisoners) is plate 7 of Kollwitz’s Peasants’ War series, the artist’s interpretation of the German Peasant War of 1525. This rich, luminous impression, recently donated to the Telfair by Mr. Alan S. Gaynor, was printed during the artist’s lifetime and bears her signature in pencil.

Dan Christensen
(American, 1942-2007)

Decator, 1969
6 ¼ x 60 ¾ in.

Bloodline, 1970
7 ½ x 60 in.

Montauk Line, 1970
6 ¼ x 60 in.

Enamel on canvas
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Dwight H. Emanuelson, 2007.21.1-3

Dan Christensen was active on the East End of Long Island and worked in a wide variety of abstract, painterly styles. Over the course of his career, Christensen had more than 60 solo exhibitions, participated in important group shows around the world, and won numerous awards. His paintings are found in many major museum collections, including those of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Decator, Bloodline, and Montauk Line were exhibited in the Telfair’s fall 2007 exhibition East End Artists, Past and Present and were subsequently donated to the museum by Mr. and Mrs. Dwight H. Emanuelson. They are the first examples of Christensen’s work to be acquired by the Telfair.

Saturday, September 06, 2008