Art Museum’s Grand Tour opening exceeds expectations

The second floor of the IU Art Museum was crowded with people Friday for the opening of its new special exhibit, “The Grand Tour: Art and Travel, 1740-1914.”

“I am really pleased with the turnout,” said Jenny McComas, IU Art Museum’s curator of Western Art. “There are at least 100 chairs here.”

And all of the seats were full; in fact, there were not enough. People lined up against the walls and stood on the stairs leading up to the second floor atrium to listen to the opening concert.

“I thought I would just drop in for a concert, but it turned out to be a much bigger event,” said Bloomington resident Charlotte Zietlow.  

Zietlow’s main motive for coming was the opening concert by local chamber choir Voces Novae.

“I saw them do a concert a year ago, and it was fantastic,” Zietlow said.
Susan Swaney, a former director of the IU Children’s Choir program, is the current director of Voces Novae.

The opening concert featured a variety of classical music numbers by European composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Liszt.

The chamber’s music gave listeners a sense of travel, because the composers were inspired by real and imaginary lands in creating their pieces. This complemented the Grand Tour’s theme of travel.

“I thought the selection of repertoires was very innovated,” said Alana Murphy, who is earning her master’s degree at the Jacobs School of Music.

Although Voces Novae’s performance caused excitement, the main attraction of the night was a collection of the 90 works of art drawn from the IU Art Museum’s permanent collection and the Lilly Library.

McComas worked on putting together the Grand Tour for three years. The special exhibit will remain open until Dec. 21.

During the mid-18th and early-19th centuries, British, French and American artists were exhilarated by the concept of journeying to a faraway land. Much of this enthusiasm is alluded to in their works.

Not only did the artists portray the destinations to which they traveled in their works, but they also recreated the landscapes they traveled through on their way.

The topic of travel is interesting and directly relates to many students on campus through their study abroad experiences, said sophomore Julia Napolitano.

The Grand Tour showcased an array of art including paintings, photography, prints, sculpture, drawings, books and even currency.

“I just got back from Europe a few weeks ago,” said HaQuyen Pham, a graduate from University of Dayton who was visiting her friend at IU.  

While exploring the collection, Pham said she was able to put her own perspective on European travel.

Throughout the night, the museum offered free food along with a cash bar. The exhibit was open for browsing until the end of the reception.

“It is a perfect ending to a long week,” Napolitano said.

“There is really beautiful art, and it is a nice exhibit,” said Andrea Smith-Rippeon, a first-year graduate student at IU. “It takes you back to an older world.”