/ Kruizenga Art Museum

Past Present East West

Highlights from the Permanent Collection

September 9, 2015–May 14, 2016 

Past Present East West was the inaugural exhibition at the Kruizenga Art Museum and showcased approximately 70 works of art from the museum's founding collection. The exhibition was divided between the museum's two galleries, with artworks from Europe and the Americas displayed in one gallery, and artworks from Asia displayed in the other. The objects in the exhibition were selected to demonstrate the breadth and educational value of the collection. Most of the artworks were acquired by Hope College since 2010 and had never before been publicly exhibited.

Some of the artworks in the galleries were replaced by new selections in January 2016. Past Present East West was organized by the museum’s founding director Charles Mason with assistance from Hope students Kristin Underhill ’15 and Vicky Fang ’17.

European and American Gallery Highlights

 
  • An early 18th century oil painting titled The Death of Adonis by the French master Nicolas Bertin (1667-1736). The circular painting depicts Aphrodite grieving over the body of her handsome young paramour in a composition that recalls images of Mary lamenting the death of Jesus.
  • A 1972 drawing by pioneering feminist artist Judy Chicago (born 1939). Titled Through the Flower 2, the drawing represents the evolution of Chicago’s consciousness from a version of femininity constructed by a male-dominated society to a more liberated, independent conception of what it means to be a female artist.
  • A 1912 oil on canvas titled Two Shovels by Grand Rapids artist Gerrit Beneker (1882-1934). Beneker was famous in the 1910s and 20s for his stirring images of American workers; this is one of his most nuanced and powerful works.
  • A rare 16th century German oil on copper painting of the Nativity, possibly painted by a follower of Hans Baldung Grien (1484-1545). The painting belongs to a small group of images from the late 15th and 16th centuries illustrating St. Bridget of Sweden’s vision of Christ’s birth.
  • A 1999 photographic print by Rashid Johnson (born 1977), an important young African-American artist whose work addresses issues of class, race and history. George is based on a portrait of a homeless man that Johnson took while he was still an undergraduate and that helped launch his career after it was shown at Harlem’s Studio Museum in 2001.

Asian Gallery Highlights

  • A varied selection of late 19th and 20th century Japanese paintings, prints and ceramics that illustrate the emergence and evolution of modern art in Japan. These works reflect the Kruizenga Museum’s rich holdings of modern Japanese art.
  • A 16th or 17th century Chinese scroll painting depicting Shakyamuni Buddha as a humble monk. The painting is unsigned but belongs to an older art tradition associated with the Chan or Zen school of Buddhism.
  • Drawings from the 1990s by the neo-Mughal Pakistani master Bashir Ahmad (born 1954). The paintings recall classic Indian drawings and paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries, but with a decidedly modern tone.
  • 21st century Chinese lithographs by Wang Guangyi (born 1957), Yue Minjun (born 1962), Song Xue (born 1965) and Zhu Wei (born 1966) that address the rapidly changing nature of Chinese society and culture.
  • An extremely rare 18th century Mongolian sculpture of Palden Lhamo, a Buddhist guardian figure. The sculpture is made of compressed incense and is remarkable for its fine condition.
 

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