“Upcoming Programming Sheds Further Light on The Wyvern Collection”
By Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Diptych with Saint George, and the Virgin and Child, ca. 1500 (Virgin and Child wing possibly several decades earlier), Present-day Ethiopia (Virgin and Child wing likely produced in the Mediterranean, perhaps present-day Crete), wood, tempera. Wyvern Collection, 0472
During the month of March, the BCMA looks forward to presenting two exciting programs, both of which shed light on a fascinating dimension of the Wyvern Collection, now on long-term loan to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art: the historical connection it documents between the African and European continent. One of the most distinguished private collections of medieval art in the world, a significant portion of the Wyvern Collection reflects the growth and development of art in Europe for approximately a millennium, from roughly 500 to 1500 CE. This work has inspired the exhibition now installed at the BCMA: New Views of the Middle Ages: Highlights from the Wyvern Collection and now available to the public virtually. As numerous works in the exhibition demonstrate, trade routes linked Europe to Africa. This connection is evident through such works as Diptych with Saint George, and the Virgin and Child, which combines panels made by a European and an Ethiopian artist. It also manifests itself in ivories included in the show, such as that from the collection of the BCMA: Diptych with Virgin and Child attended by Angels, with Crucifixion (early 14th century).
At 1:00 pm on March 3rd, scholar Sarah Guérin, assistant professor in the Department of History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, will present "Ivory, Copper, and the Island of Gold: Medieval Trade between France and West Africa", a discussion of the development of trade networks linking medieval Europe and western Africa. Her talk will shed light on the profound effects that these trade networks had on artistic production in both regions. Register here.
Two weeks later, Allison Martino, Raymond and Laura Wielgu Curator of the Art of Africa, Oceania, and Indigenous Art of the Americas at the Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University Bloomington, and David Gordon, professor of history at Bowdoin College will provide an overview of On The Presence of the Past: Art from Central and West Africa. This exhibition, now available virtually to the public, benefits significantly from generous loans of African art from Central and West Africa, dating to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, also coming from the Wyvern Collection. Gordon and Martino will discuss how the exhibition provides new ways to understand Central and West African art through its juxtaposition of historic art with objects produced during the past century to explore ideas of power, gender, and cultural appropriation. Co-curated by Allison Martino and David Gordon, the show benefitted from the contributions of students in Professor Gordon’s fall 2019 course “The Powers of Central African Art.” Register here.
Each of these talks helps to shed further light on the historical and present-day interconnections between the art and culture of African communities and those situated in a Euro-American context. We are grateful to the lenders of the Wyvern collection for helping make such important research possible. These loans have not only helped to inspire new research and new perspectives on the BCMA’s permanent collection, but also have provided novel strategies for sharing the new insights. Please join us on March 3rd and 17th at 1:00 pm for the conversations.
Anne Collins Goodyear
Co-Director, Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Illustration: Diptych with Virgin and Child attended by Angels, and Crucifixion, early 14th century, Present-day France (Paris?), ivory, metal hinges. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 2005.3