Past Exhibition

An Archaeologist's Eye: The Parthenon Drawings of Katherine A. Schwab

November 7, 2015 – January 31, 2016

Study Gallery and Print Study Center

Over time, the Parthenon (completed 432 BCE) in Athens, Greece, has suffered abrupt and violent destruction by human hands as well as slow degradation through the corrosive effects of air pollution. Originally 92 relief sculptures, called metopes, depicted mythological battles and formed a decorative band that occurred above the building’s columns. These once exquisite and extraordinary works of art now provide only shadowy hints of the intense scenes they once depicted. Archaeologists, scholars and viewers have had to rely heavily upon their imaginations to fill in what time has erased.

In 2005, the American art historian and archaeologist Katherine A. Schwab, from Fairfield University in Connecticut, began experimenting with graphite and pastel on paper as she developed a new method to record her observations of the east and north metopes. With these drawings she was able to make new observations and scholarly discoveries, which have contributed to our larger understanding of these sculptures that once depicted the fight for supremacy on Mount Olympus between the gods and the Titans, as well as the sacking of Troy.

This collection of 35 drawings by Schwab forms the first exhibition of her work to travel in the United States. Venues have included the Consulate General of Greece in New York City, the Greek Embassy, Washington, DC; and the Georgia Museum of Art (GMOA), Athens, GA. Future venues include the Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA; and the Nashville Parthenon, Nashville, TN. Her drawings can also be found in the interpretive displays at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.

This exhibition has been organized by the Bellarmine Museum of Art at Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT; Creighton University, Omaha, NE; and the Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA.

EXHIBITION RELATED EVENTS

In conjunction with the exhibition, a major lecture series, Taking the Long View: Art and Cultural Heritage in an Age of Terror, has been planned. This lecture series will explore the legacy of conquest and colonization, while considering the urgent questions posed by the deliberate destruction of World Heritage sites and cultural objects by present-day iconoclasts and terrorists in the Middle East.

LECTURE
The Present Acropolis: Classical Antiquity in Modern-Day Athens
Dr. Eleana Yalouri, Department of Social Anthropology, Panteion University, Athens
Thursday, September 3 | 7:30 pm
Paulus Lecture Hall, Willamette University College of Law
| More Information |

LECTURE
The Monumental Contexts of the Periclean Acropolis
Dr. Robin Rhodes, Department of Art, Art History, and Design, University of Notre Dame
Thursday September 17 | 7:30 pm
Paulus Lecture Hall, Willamette University College of Law
| More Information |

FILM SHOWING
The Rape of Europa (2 hours)
Tuesday, September 29 | 7 pm
Roger Hull Lecture Hall, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University
| More Information |

LECTURE
A History of the Parthenon Marbles: An Earth Science Perspective
Dr. Scott Pike, Associate Professor of Environmental Science,
Geology and Archaeology, Environmental and Earth Sciences
Department, Willamette University
Thursday, October 1, 2015 | 7:30 pm 
Paulus Lecture Hall, Willamette University College of Law
| More Information |

FILM SHOWING
The Rape of Europa (2 hours)
Tuesday, October 13, | 7 pm
Roger Hull Lecture Hall, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University
| More Information |

ATKINSON LECTURE
Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures from the Nazis
Mr. Robert Edsel, director of the Monuments Men Foundation for
the Preservation of Art in Dallas, Texas and a New York Times best-selling author and producer
Thursday, October 15 | 7:30 pm
The Historic Elsinore Theatre, 170 High Street SE, Salem, Oregon
Note: Reserved seating is available for HFMA members. Call 503-370-6867
Robert Edsel’s lecture is a partnership between Willamette University’s Atkinson Lecture Series and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.
| More Information |

LECTURE
Marbles and Monuments in an Age of Terrorism
Prof. James A.R. Nafziger, College of Law, Willamette University
Prof. Robert K. Paterson, Peter A. Allard School of Law,
University of British Columbia
Thursday, October 22 | 7:30 pm
Paulus Lecture Hall, Willamette University College of Law
| More Information |

LECTURE
ISIS and the Threat to Our Cultural Heritage: What Can the World Do?
Dr. James Cuno, President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust
Thursday, November 5 | 7:30 pm
Hudson Concert Hall, Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center, Willamette University
| More Information |

LECTURE
Drawing the Parthenon Sculpture
Dr. Katherine A. Schwab, Fairfield University
Thursday, November 12 | 7:30 pm
Roger Hull Lecture Hall, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University
| More Information |

LECTURE SERIES FINANCIAL SUPPORT

This lecture series is sponsored by the Verda Karen McCracken Young Fund of the Department of Art History, the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology, and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University. Robert Edsel’s lecture is a partnership between Willamette University’s Atkinson Lecture Series and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

Robert Edsel’s lecture is a partnership between Willamette University’s Atkinson Lecture Series and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. Financial support for this lecture has been provided by funds from Caroline Rubio, mother of Melvin Henderson-Rubio ‘74. Additional funds have been provided by the Atkinson Endowment Fund, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art and the Sponenburgh Fund of the Department of Art History at Willamette University; the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds; and the Oregon Arts Commission. Special thanks to the Historic Elsinore Theatre.

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Exhibition Related Publication

Financial support for this exhibition has been provided by general operating support grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission. Additional support has been provided by the Verda Karen McCracken Young Fund of the Department of Art History, the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology, and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.