(Posted February 17, 2020)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901). Mademoiselle Marcelle-Lender, en buste, 1895, color lithograph. Collection of Robert Wagoner.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901). Mademoiselle Marcelle-Lender, en buste, 1895, color lithograph. Collection of Robert Wagoner.

HUNTINGDON, Pa. –Juniata College Museum of Art (JCMA) will be displaying the first of two exhibitions from Robert Wagoner’s personal art collection beginning Thursday, Feb. 20,  and going through the end of summer, the. The first exhibit is titled “Art and Identity” and will feature a wide array of prints from the 15th to 21st centuries.

Kathryn Blake, the director of the JCMA said “part of the allure of this collection is its diversity in styles and eras of art, while largely being focused on the human face or body. It offers insight into how one can build a collection of objects, live with them, enjoy them for various reasons.” 

The pieces featured are parts of a promised gift to the museum and so displaying some now allows visitors to imagine the ways in which the objects might be presented in years to come. 

The pieces to be exhibited were hand chosen by Juniata students who took the Curatorial Studies course in fall 2019 from a short list determined by the museum curator and assistant professor of art Jennifer Streb, Blake, and Wagoner. They focused on choosing pieces that Wagoner is “is particularly pleased to own, ones that fascinate him, and groups of objects that he often compares and contrasts.” 

Students taking the Museum Practicum course in spring 2020 are now organizing the presentation of the gallery. According to the JCMA website, the pieces are arranged as to “spark conversation about human nature.” 

Some of the pieces on display will be a Jean-Michel Basquiat (2014), which Dr. Wagoner acquired in 2017 featuring a set of three skateboard decks. Other artists include Rembrandt (1635), Henri Matisse, Francis Bacon (1955), Kathe Kollwitz (1897), Elizabeth Catlett (1986), Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1895), Pablo Picasso (1948), and Edvard Munch (1908-9).

The Juniata College Museum of Art is open from 2-8 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday; and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays. 

--Written by Isabella Bennett ’20—

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.