There is nothing like coming to know a great, eclectic museum in the heart of a university city (as a student working in the library of its 18th-century neighbor, the Taylorian Institute) to appreciate the importance of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. The galleries were jam packed with art and archaeological artifacts jostling for attention, but that was a major reason for its educational impact—and part of its charm. The idea of bringing an exhibition devoted solely to its collections for the instruction and delight of students at the University of Pennsylvania was first mooted after Cambridge University’s Fitzwilliam Museum sent its “Treasures” to the United States in 1989; might we not do something—on a more modest scale to be sure—involving the other “older English university?” It seemed like a good way to bring broader attention not only its superb collections but to one of the oldest and most interesting university museums in Europe. With the Ashmolean stretched to the seams and facing all the demands increasingly made on 21st century museums, it still seems so.
The project was first raised in Oxford in discussions with then Director Christopher White. The present exhibition was over ten years in the making and involved several cuts before permissible loans were finalized. Drawings are fragile, their availability hemmed around by restrictions on travel and length of exposure. So our first thanks go to the Ashmolean’s Board of Visitors for sanctioning passports for fifty-one nineteenth-century drawings from the Museum’s collections, and to its current Director, Christopher Brown, for his suggestions and encouragement. Once Jon Whiteley of the Department of Western Art expressed an interest and found the time to flesh out the subject matter, we were well on our way. He is most sincerely thanked for continuing to make himself available to enthusiastic overseas visitors. Registrar Geraldine Glyn was a pleasure to work with on the individual loans.
At an early stage, the Arthur Ross Foundation agreed to participate, awarding a crucial grant to defray the extraordinary cost of transporting such a loan to Philadelphia. At Penn the exhibition was mounted with help from longtime Gallery Friends, in particular the Baird Family Foundation, Mr. George J. Gillespie III, Mr. and Mrs. John J. Flemer, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard A. Lauder, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Mainwaring, Mr. Harry Pollak, and Mr. William T. Golden. Their interest in art and international education enhances the ambience of the University of Pennsylvania and its communities. The New York Offices of Oxford University, North America—Michael Cunningham, Kim Erskine, and Eugenia Warnock—provided ongoing counsel and were pleased to include Master Drawings (1800-1914) from the Ashmolean Museum as part of the April, 2004, North American Reunion in New York City. Augustus and Jenny Rose Carey agreed to spearhead arrangements for the opening events, a service to all Oxonians in the area.
The project received enthusiastic cooperation and appreciated support from Penn’s Department of Art History and its chair, David Brownlee. Under the tutelage of Susan Sidlauskas, the subject of the exhibition became the material for a seminar, in the course of which twelve graduate students and undergraduates studied the artists and had the further opportunity to examine the works “in person” in the Ashmolean’s Print Room. We are grateful for the hospitality and information provided our young scholars; their own varied viewpoints and appraisals are a lively contribution to the exhibition catalogue. This publication was produced with generous support from the Department’s James and Nan Farquhar Fund, the Hyde Foundation, and Peter S. Reed, along with support from the Arthur Ross Foundation.
Mentioned last but by no means least is the hard work of my colleagues: Dejáy Byrd shared in all the minutiae of arranging loans from abroad, while Sara Brady, who took Professor Sidlauskas’ course, provided an invaluable interface between the scholarly interests of the art historians and the work of assembling objects of art for exhibition, interpretation, and instruction in the Gallery. As always, the caliber of the display results from work by its consultants: John Taylor, Greg Tobias, Raymond Rorke, and Naomi Usher continue to do marvels with the opportunities offered to the Arthur Ross Gallery.
Dilys Pegler Winegrad
Arthur Ross Gallery