Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Number 51: Mannen Bridge and the Fukagawa District (1857)
Series: Meisho Yedo Hyakkei (One Hundred Famous Views of Edo)
Ink on paper
Tucked away in the far corner of the St. John’s College campus in Annapolis, sits The Mitchell Gallery. This handsome modern building, built in 1989 provides exhibition space for visiting shows from art museums from around the United States as well exhibitions vetted by local curators and art historians that highlight artists and craftsmen residing locally. Although visited by thousands of art lovers each year, the gallery is still a hidden treasure. Many local residents have no idea of its existence despite its 20 plus year presence.
This June, to honor its 20th Anniversary an event is being planned enittled “The Art of the Book” that will highlight art and literature. Save the date, June 25th, when authors and artists will be on hand to celebrate the Mitchell Gallery and provide an exhibition of art work inspired by books along with workshops and panel discussions and a silent auction to raise monies for the Mitchell Gallery.
Next week the March exhibit “The Floating World: Ukiyo-e Prints from the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art” will be opening on March 3rd and will hang until mid April. This exhibition of 50 Edo period (1603-1868) prints reveals an intimate history of Japanese print collecting in the South in the early 20th century. Internationally know ukiyo-e print expert Frederick Gookin, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art founder Wallace B. Rogers created a superb collection in the 1920’s. The prints encompass all of the ukiyo-e subjects: beautiful women, actors and the theater, landscapes, narrative scenes, and decorative themes.
The Gallery is open from noon to five, Tuesday through Sunday and Friday evenings from seven to eight. Admission is free. For more information call 410-626-2556.
If you are inspired to donate a collectible book to the Art of the Book silent auction in June, please contact me via this blog. Thank you!
Nadja Maril, Writer & Author 