New York, February 23, 2015 – The Dahesh Museum of Art has published a new book showcasing the masterworks within its holdings, Academic Splendor: 101 Masterpieces from the Dahesh Museum of Art Collection.  The book sheds new light on the treasures of the European Academic Tradition, an area of art history that is increasingly important to the general public, collectors and scholars alike.  The book is designed to foster a broader understanding of the Academy and its organized system of education, exhibitions and patronage, in addition to its role in the multifaceted 19^th-century art world.

101 Masterpieces is available in both hardcover and softcover editions, with a choice of one-of-two covers. The informative and entertaining text is by DMA curator Alia Nour, with a Foreword by Dahesh Museum Trustee Amira Zahid, and an Introduction by Dahesh Museum Director of Exhibitions, J. David Farmer.  It has 128 full-color illustrations, and presents works by more than 85 artists from both Europe and America.

Academic Splendor: 101 Masterpieces From the Dahesh Museum of Art succeeds the museum’s first handbook, Highlights from the Dahesh Museum Collection (1999), and presents the most current findings on a selection of its artists, in addition to accessible essays on the academic system and the history of the Dahesh Museum or Art.  The book is organized according to the academic hierarchy of subjects, with sections devoted to history, historical genre, portraiture, landscape and animals, Orientalism, and still life paintings.

“The Dahesh has recently been adding to the collection with a renewed fervor, and new information on these artists and their work is continually coming to light,” said J. David Farmer, Director of Exhibitions at the Dahesh Museum of Art.  “As the only museum devoted to the 19th- century Academic Tradition, it was essential that we update and upgrade our previous handbook.  We are delighted with the finished product.”

Hardcover editions of Academic Splendor are $75, and softcover editions are only $60.

About the Dahesh Museum of Art

The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only institution in the United States devoted to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting works by Europe and America’s academically trained artists of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The Dahesh serves a diverse audience by placing these artists in the broader context of 19th-century visual culture, and by offering a fresh appraisal of the role academies played in reinvigorating the classical ideals of beauty, humanism, and skill.  Visit the museum at:  http://www.daheshmuseum.org.

 

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