Saint Mary's College Museum of Art

Let's take a closer look at the symbolism and meanings in this six-sided painting. The painting creates a trompe l'oeil effect of three-dimensionality to an empty room with blue walls and black and white parquet floor. In the room, the viewer encounters a chair and a piano accompanied by two portraits of men on the opposing walls. Suspended centrally in the air is a whirling object reminiscent of an atom, perhaps the spiritual child itself, since there is clearly a brain and... a heart contained within its structure? Sabina Speilrein was misdiagnosed as schizophrenic and became a patient of Carl Jung. Jung "cured her" and had an affair with her. She eventually became a psychiatrist herself and worked with Freud. She is considered to be a bridge between the two men, who were at odds with each other professionally. The portrait on the left is Freud, and the one on the right is Jung. There are several sheets of paper attached to the "spiritual child." One contains the catalog numbers referencing a letter describing the differences between Freud and Jung from a book of Sabina's letters published with accompanying biography (A Secret Symmetry: The Story of Sabina Spielrein, Jung and Freud, by Aldo Carotenuto). Another sheet of paper is a music score referencing Sabina's work as a musical composer, visually symbolized through the piano. The walls bear portraits of the famous psychiatrists at an intense face-off. Hovered at an intersection above is the "child" a splayed schematic diagram of the nervous system from the brain down. Research papers surround it with numbers corresponding to the Freud-Jung letters. We seek Sabina through the child and the interior displayed with its ornaments and props rather than through a picture of her face. [ Laura Lawsworth, The Spiritual Child of Sabina, oil on board, 1986 Gift of G. Stephen Lenci, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection]

Can you find the turkeys? Happy Thanksgiving Deborah Oropallo (1954-) Turkeys, oil on canvas, 1992 Gift of Joan Roebuck, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection [2014.3.1] #smcmoa #omgsmc #artoftheday #turkeys

On this day, November 20th, 1855, Mary McHenry Keith was born in San Francisco, CA. As a leader in the right to coeducation, women's suffrage, and a founding archivist for the William Keith Collection, Mary McHenry Keith represents a powerful voice in our regional history that has yet to be acknowledged. As museums across the United States are reexamining their collections and how their institutional histories are told, SMCMoA has examined our own history. This fall we creat...ed a platform to reflect on this unsung and unheard voice that contributed to our museum's foundation and place. We hope that through this platform opportunities to examine social justice and history will evoke a new approach to cultivating wonder and engagement with our collections and exhibitions. [Carrie Anderson (1858-1945) Mary McHenry Keith, n.d., oil on board, 15 x 12 inches, Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art Permanent Collection, 0-2] https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/marymchenrykeith

For our on-campus students, faculty, and staff -come check out artisan gifts including but not limited to herstory socks, custom jewelry, ceramic mugs, and whimsical wind chimes at the MoA Pop-Up Holiday Store Sale! Open exclusively on Thursday 11/19 and Friday 11/20 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for students, faculty, and staff only. Items are 10% off for our SMC Community! In guidance of current county and campus restrictions will have a maximum occupancy of 2 in the museum store. Make sure to wear your mask and practice social distancing. Both cash and cards will be accepted. #smcmoa #omgsmc

Celebrating 100 years of this national treasure! #OnthisDay, California artist and legend #waynethiebaud was born. Thiebaud is most known for his pastel pop art paintings depicting commonplace objects such as cakes and gumball machines. He is a master California landscape and figural painter as well! Check out @crockerart to see their online exhibition celebrating 100 years of Wayne. Wayne Thiebaud at home in Sacramento in 1961. Photo by Betty Jean Thiebaud. Artwork Wayn...e Thiebaud/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Wayne Thiebaud, Big Field (2007). Wayne Thiebaud/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York] #omgsmc #californialandscape #smcmoa #arthistory

As a cautionary measure in response to COVID-19, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art is temporarily closed until further notice. All programs are postponed or canceled through this time. Stay well friends!

How can one express the overwhelming sensations and feelings associated with Friday the 13th in 2020? With Abstract Expressionism, of course! We're going to leave this work here, respectively, named No. 13. Luigi Pericle (1916-2001) No. 13, 1962, oil on canvas, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet H. Korn, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection [85.12]

Being empowered to voice and advocate for a better tomorrow is just one of our many privileges as American citizens. To celebrate Election Day, here's a historical insight into a leading voice and advocate in SMCMoA's foundation, Mary McHenry Keith. Who is Mary McHenry Keith? Mary McHenry Keith (1855-1947) was an American social justice advocate. She is most known for her work leveraging women's rights through the passing of the Sixth Star in California (1911) and securing hu...mane treatment of animals with the Humane Society and Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). As the first woman to graduate from Hastings Law School (University of California) in 1882, Mary's fluency of the law contributed to her public speaking and work with the Berkeley Political Equality Club. In 1895, Mary organized the Woman's Congress (held in Berkeley) at which time she met Susan B. Anthony and began a regular correspondence about suffrage and women's rights. As noted by historians Mae Silver and Sue Cazaly, Mary’s leadership in Northern California provided a key role in securing the passage of the sixth star in the following 1911 state election. After the dismissal of the campaign in 1896, Mary revamped and retargeted the movement; publicly speaking to the right and need for co-education, centralizing suffrage as a primary cause in women organizations across the state, and integrating modern devices, such as cars and telephones as a way to reach and democratize rural areas. In 1912, Mary was elected president of California’s Equal Suffrage Association. In this role, she expanded her experience and suffrage support to other states, such work contributed to the 19th amendment's ratification in 1920. 1911 Amendment 8 campaign gathering in San Francisco. Mary McHenry Keith is front and center. Original photo courtesy of Found SF and Mae Silver Read more! https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/sain/mary-mchenry-keith-suffrage

Beatrice Turner (American, born Philadelphia - died 1948). Miss Turner was from a "Main Line" Philadelphia family and enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy when she was 18 years old. Her family forced her to drop the course because of nude models posing in the figure drawing classes. As a result, she became a recluse who dressed in Victorian clothing, painted her house black, and obsessively did self-portraits. Life magazine had a feature article on her in 1950 with the title ..."Lonely Spinster Paints 1,000 Self Portraits of Herself." She lived primarily at the family home in Newport, RI, and when she died she left a large amount of money to the Philadelphia Museum for the purchase of art by living artists. In 1948, the executors of her estate burned most of her own 3,000 paintings at the city dump. The small number of surviving works are in Newport at the family home, now the Cliffside Inn. In 1993, a special exhibition of these pieces was held there. SMCMoA is fortunate to care for one of her self-portraits. Learn more about Beatrice Turner: https://www.nytimes.com//preserving-an-artist-s-legacy.html Image: Beatrice Turner, Self Portrait, 1907, work on paper, Gift of Stuart and Beverly Denenberg, Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art Permanent Collection [2011.16.6]

"Every girl needs a little black cat." Gwen Cooper, The Animal Rescue Site Happy National Cat Day everyone! Helen Hyde (1868-1919) A Mexican Coquette, 1912, color woodcut, Gift of Tim and Lynn Mason, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection [99.6.4]

On this day, October 21, 1907, social-documentary photographer Marion Palfi was born in Berlin, Germany. In 1940, Marion left Germany and relocated to the USA. As a photographer, Marion used her work to influence social change. Over three decades, she traveled across the United States to document various communities and expose the connection between racism and poverty. Marion's work appeared in several American periodicals, including Ebony and The New York Times. In the image above, taken in 1946, Marion challenges the idea of the American Dream by capturing the conflicting realities of the human condition and the symbols of justice. [Marion Palfi, In the Shadow of the Capitol, c. 1946, Gelatin silver print. Gift of Susan E. Hochberg, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection, 96.35.4]

Today is the Day! 1 Day SMC is here! As 2021 approaches, SMCMoA looks forward to opening our physical doors and inviting you to engage with new exhibitions and programs. We ask for your support during this challenging time. For Fall 2020, we have set the goal of $1,000 to be allocated to future program expenses in the coming calendar year. These free programs include but are not limited to artist lectures, student activities, and community engagement. Making a gift donatio...n, whether large or small, ensures we can continue to cultivate discovery, bringing people and art together. Give Today at http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/museumgives

"I am not concerned with capturing the outward image of nature, but rather those powers or forces of nature which play such an important part or basis for the way things are. A concept of reality drawn from spontaneous abstractions, and controlled with the subtlety I wield as the creator. ~Earl Biss On this day, September 29, 1947 contemporary Native American artist Earl Biss, Absaroke (Crow) was born. image: Earl Biss (1947-1998) A Day for Wild Flowers, 1979, serigraph, ed. 19/60, 29 1/2 x 22 1/14 inches, gift of Dr. Edward and Marjorie Cahn, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection [2012.8.3]

Today, September 21, marks the last day of summer and so we are sharing the last and final fold of Passage of Summer: A four-fold seasonal storytelling of selected works from the Collection. This final fold revisits artwork made in the Cape Dorset community, exploring the stonecut print Summer Hunter created by Lucy Qinnuayuak (1915-1982) in 1969. Lucy was born in Salluit, Northern Quebec in 1915. As a young child with her mother and sister, she journeyed to Baffin Island, ...North West Territories, where they cycled through several outpost camps. Lucy began to draw in her thirties while living at the Supujauk camp. During resupply trips to Kinngait, she would take these drawings to James Houston, a government stationed artist and graphic designer, who would appraise her work. Lucy moved to Kinngait as her interest in graphic arts expanded. In Kinngait, she joined the printmaking program, becoming one of the first graphic artists to create works through the Kinngait Studios. The featured stonecut, Summer Hunter, exemplifies Lucy’s earlier artistic style. Over time her work shifted away from stonecuts, and in the 1970s, she started experimenting with acrylics and mixed media. Learn more about this print and Lucy's artistic practice in the final fold in the link: https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-mary/lucy-qinnuauyuak-post Image: Summer Hunter, Lucy Qinnuayuak (1915-1982) 17 x 24 inches, stonecut ed. 17/50,1969. Gift in memory of Barbara Allen, Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art Permanent Collection. [2008.11.29]

Happy Birthday California! It turns out Tonalism wasn't just a late 19th century artistic movement expressing mood through dark, dramatic hues and atmosphere tones, but rather a realistic rendering of what the California landscape would look like over a hundred years later. Who knew? Images below: William Keith Twilight Hour, 1891, oil on canvas, 21 x 40 inches, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art California Birthday Landscape September 9, 2020 aka "tonalism today"

What are some objects you associate with summer? Perhaps a pair of flip-flop sandals? A parasol to block the sun? The artist Helen Hyde attended San Francisco School of Design (San Francisco Art Institute) and later continued her studies in Berlin and Paris. During her studies in Paris, Helen was exposed to Japanese woodblock prints called ukiyo-e, or pictures of the floating world. These prints greatly impacted her artistic practice. In 1899, she traveled to Tokyo with ...her etching press and sought out Japanese language lessons. She began studying ink painting from Kano Tomonobu (1843-1912) for two years. Later, she moved to the scenic village of Nikko. For the next fifteen years, Helen spent her time between San Francisco and Japan learning and then practicing the traditional woodblock technique. A Summer Girl, created during her time in Japan conjures sentimental thoughts of the season and pre-industrial Japan. Learn more about this print and Helen's artistic practice in the third fold of a four-fold series: The Passage of Summer: https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-marys-coll/helen-hyde-post [A Summer Girl, Helen Hyde (1868-1919) 1906, Woodblock, 7 x 2 5/16 inches. Gift of Tim and Lynn Mason. Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art Permanent Collection, 91.23.2]

Happy National Dog Day! Wishing all our fur pal canines a splendid day! [Judy Dater, Edo Redux V: Dog in Basket 20 x 13 inches, one of a diptych, 1976, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection 2014.2.3.1]

A new school year is a blank slate -just like our galleries right now!

Is it time to harvest fruit from the tree? ] SMCMoA has paired Elizabeth Emerson Keith fruit still lifes with period recipes and baking ideas. We hope these pairings will keep your mind full of ways to share the season's abundance. Explore pairings: https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-marys-/still-life-pairings [Elizabeth Emerson Keith (1838-1882) Still Life with Tazza and Fruit, n.d. oil on canvas, Saint Mary’s Collge Museum of Art Permanent Collection, 2014.4

The second story of our four-fold series "Passage of Summer" is out! This fold explores the print, Birds of Summer, created by the Cape Dorset Inuit artist Pitseolak Ashoona. We hope Pitseolak's birds will lift your spirits and keep you inspired. Link to the full story: https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-mar/pitseolak-ashoona-post [ Birds of Summer, Pitseolak Ashoona (1904-1983), work on paper, ed. 37/50, Gift in memory of Barbara Allen Burns, Collection of Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art Permanent Collection 2008.11.35]

On this day, August 1, 1859 Mary Elizabeth Parsons was born. Mary Elizabeth moved to the Bay Area and studied in San Francisco at the John Hopkins Institute of Art. During her studies in the 1890s, Parsons sketched plants and flora alongside fellow artists Alice Brown Chittenden and Margaret Warriner Buck. During this period, Mary Elizabeth began a project with Margaret to record and catalog the flowers encountered. This resulted in the 1897 publication of The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits. Check out the link below to learn more about the guide and download wildflower coloring pages. Image Mary Elizabeth Parsons (1859-1947) Untitled, promised gift of Naomi Schwartz and Jack Marshall. https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/wild-flowers-of-california