Executive Director Ross Mitchell at Glen Foerd in Philadelphia, PA reported that they had a very successful third Slow Art Day, featuring four works of art for an hour and a half of slow looking, followed by a group discussion.
“An Archive of Desire” by Jenifer Johnson (2020, Mixed Media, Porcelain. American)
“The Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist” by Girolamo da Santa Croce (1480-1556, Tempera on wood. Venetian)
“The Letter” by Hobson Pitman, (1899-1972, Oil on Canvas. American)
“Lady Russell” by Sir Peter Lely, (1617 – 1680, Oil on Panel. Dutch, Active in England)
The following prompts were printed out and provided to partcipants to consider during their slow looking:
Look not only at what is pictured, but how it is pictured.
What kind of colors has the artist used? Are they bright, muted, or somewhere in between?
Can you see how the color has been applied or is the color smooth and blended?
Is there a sense of deep, moderate, shallow, or indeterminate space? Is that space consistent throughout the picture?
Is space clear and well defined or atmospheric? What about how the picture was painted gives it that quality?
Is there the suggestion of a directional light source, of light coming from a one side or the other?
Can you see lines anywhere, whether painted lines or strong edges created by color-to-color areas? Where are lines used and how?
What other observations can you make?
How is the installation piece different from the paintings?
What is the unifying theme of the installation?
Glen Foerd participated in a Philadelphia-wide Slow Art Day along with these other museums:
Slow Art Day is but *2* days away and more than 185 museums have registered their events, including five in Philadelphia, making that city part of a growing number of cities hosting 5, 10 or more events.
[Remember to register your Slow Art Day with us so we can write-up a report about your work and feature you in our next Annual Report, which has become the Bible of the slow looking movement.]
For the educators and curators reading our blog, here’s a quick summary of the design of the five events.
1. The Barnes Foundation With a lot of support from Bill Perthes, the foundation’s Bernard C. Watson director of adult education, The Barnes Foundation has participated in Slow Art Day since 2017. This year visitors will have an hour to observe four works of art, including pieces by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Honoré Daumier, and Pablo Picasso. Participants will then gather for a 30-minute conversation with Michael Williamson, a member of the Barnes faculty and former Germantown Friends School art history teacher.
2. Corridor Contemporary Corridor Contemporary will showcase their exhibition, “Printed Perspectives,” which features printmaking techniques such as silk screening and lithography. Visitors can visit the gallery for free between 6 and 9 pm and observe each piece.
3. Glen Foerd Glen Foerd, primarily known as a historic site and arboretum, will provide participants with a chance to observe four works of art: a portrait by Sir Peter Lely, Poppies in Vase by Hobson Pittman, The Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist by Girolamo da Santacroce, and An Archive of Desire by Jennifer Johnson. Participants will then gather for a conversation with executive director Ross Mitchell, discussing aesthetics and themes of each artwork.
4. Philadelphia Magic Gardens This year, the Magic Gardens will observe four pre-selected, untitled terracotta sculptures by the Garcia family of Oaxaca. The gardens anticipate 15 to 20 participants, and the conversation will be guided by educator Samantha Eusebio, focusing on folk art and the importance of passing down family traditions.
5. Philadelphia Museum of Art The museum’s Slow Art Day event is a guided walk around the Anne d’Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden, led by mindfulness instructor Grady Bates. Visitors will observe Bronze Bowl with Lace by Ursula von Rydingsvard and other works of art.
Wherever you are in the world – Philadephia, Prague (Czech Republic), Pamplona (Spain), Pecs (Hungary), Parkes (Australia), or Provo, UT (U.S.), we hope you have a GOOD and Slow Art Day 2023.
Best,
Phyl and the volunteer Slow Art Day team
P.S. If you need the Slow Art Day logo for use in your print or digital efforts, or any of the tools and tips from our Annual Reports, then go to the host tools section of our Slow Art Day website.
For their second Slow Art Day, Glen Foerd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, selected the following four works from their collection for participants to enjoy in-person over the course of 2 hours.
Manifestation with Wings (1958) by Benton Murdoch Spruance (1904-1967. Oil on canvas. Collection of Glen Foerd.Flowers in Gold Vase by (Mary) Elizabeth Price (American, 1875-1960). Oil on panel. Collection of Glen Foerd.Lady Trimleston by Sir Thomas Lawrence (British 1769 – 1830). Oil on canvas. Collection of Glen Foerd.An Archive of Desire (2020) by Jennifer Johnson (American). Mixed Media, Porcelain. Archive of Desire Installation, property of Jennifer Johnson.
Participants were provided with a flyer that included images of the pieces, and the following prompts:
Look not only at what is pictured, but how it is pictured.
What kind of colors has the artist used? Are they bright, muted, or somewhere in between?
Can you see how the color has been applied or is the color smooth and blended?
Is there a sense of deep, moderate, shallow, or indeterminate space? Is that space consistent throughout the picture?
Is space clear and well defined or atmospheric? What about how the picture was painted gives it that quality?
Is there the suggestion of a directional light source, of light coming from a one side or the other?
Can you see lines anywhere, whether painted lines or strong edges created by color-to-color areas? Where are lines used and how?
What other observations can you make?
How is the installation piece different from the paintings?
What is the unifying theme of the installation?
Afterwards, Director Ross Mitchell invited participants to the art gallery where he led a discussion on the aesthetic qualities of the pieces. The event was promoted on Glen Foerd’s website and their Instagram page a month in advance.
An Impromptu Slow Looking Session
As we at Slow Art Day HQ started to write this report, we also decided to take few moments to look slowly at all of the works and have our own discussion about them – and we encourage you all to do the same.
Before reading further, scroll back up and look… slowly. Then come back here to read a little about our thoughts.
….
We were immediately drawn to this work and to its great sense of movement. We debated whether we thought the two winged figures (angels, birds?) were drawn to the light or coming from the light. And we all enjoyed one of the rewards of slow looking at this painting – the eventual realization that there is a third figure. Overall, slowing down with this painting left us with a feeling of hope.
We debated the flatness of this painting, and whether it’s a painting of a painting. We also were drawn to, and discussed, the richness of the table – the wood is like droplets of water falling into a stream. One of us pointed out that the closely-cropped borders give a sense of tightness. And, in a lighter moment, we all agreed that we wanted to move the lit candlesticks away from the flowers. Ultimately, this work brought us feelings of autumn and a sense of sadness.
This several hundred year old painting brought up the most debate. Some of us do not like portraits of the elite, but the power of slowing down is that everyone gets to go beyond the superficial binary of “like / don’t like” – and discovers a new relationship to the artwork. As we looked and then talked, we noticed and discussed a number of things. Several of us were drawn to her facial expression. Is she smirking? We noticed her white dress, shoes, translucent sleeves, and colorful shawl (is that an LGBTQ flag?) and parasol – and also noticed how her ring is displayed prominently. Is the artist making a proto modern-day statement about gender, sexual orientation, marriage? Unlikely. We don’t know, but we are free to see what we see.
We were all immediately drawn to this piece, yet it took us to very different places. For some, this felt like a city at night, with the reflections in the table like lights in a river. For others, this was a library of mid-century modern shelves – the doors opening to reveal mirrors asking us to look deeply within ourselves.For yet others, each of these tiles represented the infinity of possibilities, including the unlimited number of genders.
….
We at Slow Art Day HQ are happy to see Glen Foerd’s participation for a second year, and look forward to whatever they come up with for Slow Art Day 2023.
Johanna, Jessica, Ashley, and Phyl
P.S. – The Slow Art Day HQ team is getting together this summer in the United States and we are planning to visit Glen Foerd in addition to other NY and Philadelphia museums.
