CHRYSLER MUSEUM ACQUIRES 19th-CENTURY GLASS CAMEO PLAQUE
BY GEORGE AND THOMAS WOODALL
Acquisition Reunites The Attack with Its Companion Piece The Intruders
for the First Time in Decades
NORFOLK, Va. – (July 11, 2013) – The Chrysler Museum of Art today announced the
acquisition of an exceptional 17-inch glass cameo plaque created by George and
Thomas Woodall. Entitled The Attack, the piece dates from the late 19th century and is
the Woodall brothers’ last artistic collaboration. English cameo glass was some of the
most expensive glass ever produced. Large plaques like The Attack were difficult and
time-consuming to create and a piece the size and quality of The Attack is especially
rare.
The Chrysler Museum of Art’s acquisition of The Attack marks the reunion of this piece
with its companion, The Intruders, from which it has been separated for decades. When
the Museum acquired The Intruders in 1999, the pair of works had already been
separated for many years. The Museum’s glass collection, considered to be one of the
finest in the world, also includes a set of pendant vases by the Woodall brothers, Before
The Race and The Race.
“The addition of this significant plaque enhances our outstanding collection of glass, and
we’re excited to reunite these two long-separated works,” said Museum Director William
Hennessey. “We’re looking forward to presenting these visually stunning masterpieces
together in our expanded and renovated galleries opening in the spring of 2014.”
The Attack features a scene of a female figure dressed in diaphanous drapery fending
off an “attack” by intruders—flying putti. The figures are under a canopy of drapes, with
landscapes framing classical architectural elements. The Attack and The Intruders
represent the height of the Woodall brothers’ skill and contributed considerably to their
reputation as England’s most important carvers of cameo glass. Remarkably,
photographs of the work in process survive and provide important historical
documentation of the intricate process of cameo carving.
The Chrysler Museum is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion project that
is enabling the Museum to completely reinstall its collection and develop new exhibition
and interpretive strategies. The acquisition of The Attack marks the continuing growth of
the Chrysler's nationally recognized permanent collection.
About the Chrysler Museum of Art
The core of the Chrysler’s collection was given to the Museum by Walter Chrysler, Jr.,
an avid art collector who donated thousands of objects from his private collection to the
Museum.
Walter Chrysler, Jr. was born in 1909 into one of the 20th century’s most prominent
industrial families—his father, Walter, Sr., founded the Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler
collected prodigiously, acquiring Old Masters, decorative arts, American art from
colonial portraiture to post-war works by Pollock, Rothko, and Warhol; as well as
European painting from Veronese to Delacroix to Degas. Chrysler’s greatest passion
(beyond paintings) was glass, and he built one of the country’s premier collections of
this material. Known for following his own instincts regardless of prevailing fashion,
Chrysler amassed works that reflected his diverse taste and unique eye.
In the years since Chrysler’s death, the Museum has dramatically expanded its
collection and extended its ties with the Norfolk community. The Museum now has
rapidly growing collections, especially of contemporary glass and 21st-century works. In
2011, the Chrysler opened a state-of-the-art glass studio with a 560 pound capacity
glass furnace, full hot shop, a flameworking studio, nine annealing ovens, and a
coldworking area. The Glass Studio complements the Museum’s glass collection and
enables visitors to watch demonstrations and participate in workshops and classes in
glass making. The Studio has become a center of activity for the Museum and the glass
community nationally, with free daily demonstrations, programs of performance art and
music, and guest artist residencies.
In addition to its main building and Glass Studio, the Chrysler Museum of Art
administers the historic Willoughby-Baylor House and the Moses Myers House. The
Willoughby-Baylor House currently features an exhibition of iconic paintings from the
Museum’s American collection while the main Museum is closed for the renovation. The
Moses Myers House, dating from 1792, presents a look into the life of a prosperous
early-19th-century merchant and his family, the first Jewish permanent residents of
Norfolk. More than 70 percent of the Federal period furnishings and paintings on view in
the Moses Myers House are original to the home.
The Chrysler Museum of Art campus is located at One Memorial Place, in Norfolk,
VA. While the Museum is closed during construction, the Chrysler Museum Glass
Studio and its two historic houses are open. The Glass Studio, located at 745 Duke St.,
Norfolk, is open Wednesday to Sunday with free glass demonstrations at noon. The
Willoughby-Baylor House, 601 E. Freemason St., and the Moses Myers House, 323 E.
Freemason St., Norfolk are open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Admission is free at these venues.
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