An Enthusiastic Response to Nature
Three new exhibitions to open at Museum of Art - DeLand
Lisa Habermehl, Director of Marketing
From Thanksgiving to the first week of January, the holiday
season puts many of us into a joyful, yet stressful, whirlwind,
only to return to the grind facing a heap of deadlines, gift
returns, tax preparations and more. Well, let your local
Museum help you.
Step off the vocational treadmill for a short period and escape
into a serene, natural world of mountains, oceans, gardens and
streams, under bright blue and midnight starry skies.
Regenerate yourself with abundant views of tranquil works of
art by numerous gifted plein air artists from the past 150 years.
This Friday evening, January 15, 2016, visitors to the Museum of
Art – DeLand will be intrigued by secluded dreamlike forms
created by graphic artist Will Barnet (1911 - 2012) and be
Joseph Kleitsch (1882-1931)
reintroduced to the vast bold landscapes of artist Jim Couper
Red and Green, oil on canvas, 36” x 40”
California Impressionism: Selections from the Irvine Museum
(1937 - ) whose work first appeared in DeLand in the exhibition
Museum of Art – DeLand, January 22 - April 10, 2016
Florida Masters during the 2013-14 winter season. Opening at 5
p.m. at 600 N. Woodland Blvd., will be a reception for the exhibitions Will Barnet: Graphic Retrospective (70
Years) and Jim Couper: There are no other Everglades in the world. Couper, professor emeritus in the Department
of Art and Art History at Florida International University (FIU) and founding
director of the Art Museum at FIU, plans to attend the opening and will return to
the Museum in February for a Gallery Talk (date TBD).
“Couper’s paintings tell us how exciting and good life is - how deeply moving it
can be,” said Museum CEO, George Bolge. “His extraordinary skill at transcribing
emotion and sensation into a brilliantly effective and universally comprehensible
form allows us to share a great deal of what he saw and felt during his career.”
Another exceptional distraction from your daily mill awaits you one week later,
on Friday, January 22, six blocks south. Presenting oils on canvas dating back to
1842 in the Museum’s downtown galleries at 100 N. Woodland Blvd., will be the
remarkable exhibition California Impressionism: Selections from the Irvine
Museum. The opening reception is between 5 and 7 p.m.
Jim Couper, Sawgrass Prairie (Detail), 2013
oil on canvas, 60“ x 96”
Jim Couper: There are no other Everglades
in the World, Museum of Art – DeLand
January 15 – April 3, 2016
In the early 20th century, California produced a unique artistic style that
combined several distinctive aspects of American and European art. The style –
often called California Impressionism or California plein air painting, after the
French term “in the open air” – concerned itself with light and color.
Museum of Art - DeLand, Florida
600 N. Woodland Blvd. DeLand, FL 32720
100 N. Woodland Blvd, Ste 1, DeLand, FL 32720
P 386. 734.4371
F 386. 734.7697
P 386. 279.7534
F 386. 734.7697
www.moartdeland.org
Joan Irvine Smith, former president of The Irvine Museum, said that California Impressionist paintings, “with their
beauty, their significance as artworks and historical records, and their reverence for nature… stand in silent
testament to our regard for the environment, and their elegant account must not go unheeded.” View these
masterpieces firsthand at Museum of Art – DeLand and be as moved as she and countless others have been
through the years.
An additional highlight to this exhibition is that the current president of The Irvine, James Irvine Swinden, will
attend the opening and will be hosting a one-hour gallery talk the next evening, on Saturday, January 23, between
5 and 6 p.m. by RSVP (386.734.4371). Space is limited and the event will close once capacity has been met.
Swinden gives lectures regarding the artistic and environmental significance of The Irvine Museum’s collection. He
holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a Juris Doctor
from the Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
Opening Night Receptions, and the Special Gallery Talk with Mr. Swinden, are $10 (free to Museum Members);
New memberships are offered at a discount opening night. The Museum continues to offer its 1-2-3 Promotion:
One $5 admission to tour two Museums for three days. All three exhibits continue through the first week of April.
To experience other inspiring, hassle-free getaways, and obtain programming details related to the popular Rebel
of the Modern Lecture Series, a two-day watercolor workshop in February and two Calls for Artists (for Wearable
Art 5 and Exposed: A Body of Art), please visit the Museum’s website at MoArtDeLand.org.
Established in 1951, the Museum of Art - DeLand, Florida, is a vital and interactive nonprofit community visual arts museum
dedicated to the collecting, preservation, study, display and educational use of the fine arts. The Museum of Art - DeLand,
Florida, is a 501(c)3 organization incorporated in the State of Florida and is a member of the American Alliance of Museums
and the Florida Association of Museums.
Museum of Art - DeLand, Florida
600 N. Woodland Blvd. DeLand, FL 32720
100 N. Woodland Blvd, Ste 1, DeLand, FL 32720
P 386. 734.4371
F 386. 734.7697
P 386. 279.7534
F 386. 734.7697
www.moartdeland.org