Open June 2–October 17
Mary Cassatt’s Impressions: Assembling the Havemeyer Art Collection explores the enduring friendship between Cassatt and the Havemeyers and highlights archival anecdotes and primary sources detailing their acquisitions of Impressionist paintings, drawings, and sculptures based on Cassatt’s advice.
Drawn from Shelburne Museum’s extensive permanent collection, Pattern & Purpose brings together twenty masterpiece quilts made between the first decades of the 1800s and the turn of the twenty- first century, ranging from carefully-pieced Lemoyne stars and embroidered “best quilts” to more recent “art quilts” by contemporary makers.
A. Elmer Crowell: Sculptor, Painter, Decoy Maker explores the artistry and innovation of the acclaimed carver’s ornamental birds. Drawing from Shelburne Museum’s renowned decoy collection, the exhibition features important milestones that chart the development of Crowell’s prolific artistic career, from the earliest miniature goose he carved in 1894 to the very last bird he made before retiring in the early 1940s.
Drawing heavily from Shelburne Museum’s permanent collection and supplemented by strategic loans from contemporary artists and private collectors, this exhibition will explore the creative ways animal forms have been adapted to create a wide range of beautiful and functional household objects. Ranging in date from the 18th century to the present day, the selected decorative art objects explore complex themes related to animal/human bonds, including domestication, emotional connections, and ethical treatment.
