> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Nichols
> Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 1998 8:44 AM
> To:   'Museumdiscussionlist<[log in to unmask]>'
> Subject:      William Sidney Mount Symposium in New York City
>
> For Immediate Release
>
> Contact:
> Stewart Desmond, New-York Historical Society 212-873-0509
> Jillian Slonim, The American Federation of Arts 212-988-7700 ext. 30
>
>
> SYMPOSIUM WILL EXPLORE DEPICTIONS OF AMERICAN CULTURE IN 19TH-CENTURY
> GENRE PAINTING
>
> Saturday, October 3, 1998 at The New-York Historical Society 12:30 to
> 4:00 p.m.
>
> William Sidney Mount (1807-1868) is widely credited as the inventor of
> American genre
> painting.  He was the first in this country to make ordinary people
> and scenes of everyday life
> the main subjects of painting.  His work presents a unique vantage on
> 19th-century American
> social relations and often provides sly political commentary on events
> of his day.
>
> In conjunction with a major retrospective of his work, organized by
> The American Federation of
> Arts and The Museums at Stony Brook, The American Federation of Arts
> and the New-York
> Historical Society are holding a symposium at which experts will
> consider Mount's depictions of American culture and his contributions
> to our nation's artistic heritage.
>
> The keynote address, "Representations of Urban and Rural Life in
> Pre-Civil War Genre
> Painting," will be delivered by noted art historian William H. Gerdts.
> (Please turn for program
> details.)
>
> This special event will take place on Saturday, October 3 at the
> New-York Historical Society
> (Two West 77th Street at Central Park West) from 12:30 to 4:00pm.  The
> symposium is open to
> the public for a registration fee of $10.00 that includes regular
> museum admission.
>
> To register in advance for William Sidney Mount--A Symposium, call
> 212-873-3400 ext. Zero
> or send a check, made payable to The New-York Historical Society, to:
> Programs Department,
> NYHS, Two West 77th Street, NY, NY 10024.
>
> The symposium is supported in part by a grant from the New York
> Council for the Humanities, a
> state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is
> part of State Humanities
> Month  (October 1998).
>
> The exhibition William Sidney Mount: Painter of American Life and its
> catalogue are made
> possible in part by a generous grant from The Henry Luce Foundation,
> Inc.  Funding has been
> received from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of
> Museum and Library
> Services, and the New York State Council on the Arts.  Additional
> support has been provided
> by The Brown Foundation, Inc., and the National Patrons of the AFA.
>
> The installation of the exhibition at The New-York Historical Society
> is generously sponsored
> by the David Schwartz Foundation and The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.
>
>
>  WILLIAM SIDNEY MOUNT--A SYMPOSIUM
>
>  Saturday, October 3, 1998 at The New-York Historical Society, 2 West
> 77th Street
>
>  PROGRAM
>
> 12:30 p.m. - Registration and coffee
>
> 1:00 p.m. - Introduction and welcome by Katey Brown, Head of Education
> , The American Federation of Arts
>
> Exhibition Overview by guest curator Deborah J. Johnson, President and
> CEO, The Museums at Stony Brook.
>
> 1:30 p.m. -  Keynote Address by William H. Gerdts, Professor of Art
> History, Graduate School of the City University of New York
>
> "Representations of Urban and Rural Life in Pre-Civil War Genre
> Painting"
>
> 2:30 p.m. Coffee break
>
> 2:45 p.m. - Panel Discussion
>
> Moderator:
>
> Grady Turner,  Curator of Education, The New-York Historical Society
>
> Panelists:
>
> Carrie Rebora Barratt, Associate Curator of American Paintings &
> Sculpture, The
> Metropolitan Museum of Art
>
> William H. Gerdts, Franklin Kelly Curator of American and British
> Paintings, The National Gallery of Art, exhibition catalogue essayist
>
> Bernard F. Reilly, Jr., Director of Research and Access, Chicago
> Historical Society, exhibition catalogue essayist
>
> The symposium is supported in part by a grant from the New York
> Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National
> Endowment for the Humanities, and is  part of State Humanities Month
> (October 1998).
>
> The exhibition William Sidney Mount: Painter of American Life is on
> view at The New-York Historical Society August 11-October 25, 1998.
> Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm.  Admission: $5 adults, $3 seniors
> and students.
>
>  # # #
>
>