Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Delftware Flower Pyramid
From the press release (9 July 2024). . .
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) announces the acquisition of six new pieces including a Dutch tin-glazed earthenware vase produced by the Greek A Factory; a pen and ink drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck; and drawings by Maarten van Heemskerck, Fernand Léger, Gustave Moreau, Joseph Stella, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
Flower Pyramid, ca. 1690, Adrianus Kocx (Dutch, active 1686–1701), De Grieksche A (The Greek A) Factory (Dutch, active 1658–1811), tin-glazed earthenware, painted in blue, 95 cm (The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2024.27).
A trademark of Dutch material culture, blue-and-white pottery had its heyday during the reign of William III and Mary II. Mary contributed to the international spread of the fashion for Delft ceramics. She commissioned pieces from the Greek A Factory—the most prestigious of 34 workshops and potteries active in Delft at the end of the 17th century. Among the most complex and luxurious forms made in Delft were flower pyramids, consisting of stacked tiers with spouts in which flowers were placed.
This piece represents a beautiful hexagonal type of pyramid and is marked by Adrianus Kocx, the owner of the Greek A Factory. It was likely produced for the English market—a desirable product for English aristocrats supporting the Dutch Stadtholder, later William III of England, and his wife Mary. It was acquired at TEFAF Maastricht from Aronson Delftware Antiquairs, Amsterdam.
Other acquisitions
• Maarten van Heemskerck, Jonah Cast Out by the Whale onto the Shore of Nineveh, 1566, pen and brown ink over indications in black chalk, within brown ink framing lines; indented for transfer, 20 × 25 cm.
• Gustave Moreau, The Good Samaritan, ca. 1865–70, watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper, 21 × 29 cm.
• Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Free Horizontal-Vertical Rhythms, 1919, gouache on paper, 30 × 22 cm.
• Fernand Léger, Still Life with Bottle, 1923, graphite on tan wove paper, 25 × 32 cm.
• Joseph Stella, Man Reading a Newspaper, 1918, charcoal and newspaper collage on modern laid paper, 39 × 40 cm.
The full press release is available here»
Exhibition | Imagination in the Age of Reason
Jean-Étienne Liotard, Portrait of François Tronchin, 1757, pastel on parchment; unframed: 38 × 46 cm
(The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.54)
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Opening this fall at The Cleveland Museum of Art:
Imagination in the Age of Reason
The Cleveland Museum of Art, 28 September 2024 — 2 March 2025
Although the Enlightenment period in Europe (about 1685–1815) has long been celebrated as ‘the age of reason’, it was also a time of imagination when artists across Europe incorporated elements of fantasy and folly into their work in creative new ways. Imagination in the Age of Reason, pulled from the CMA’s rich holdings of 18th-century European prints and drawings, explores the complex relationship between imagination and the Enlightenment’s ideals of truth and knowledge. During this unprecedented time, artists used their imaginations in multifaceted ways to depict, understand, and critique the world around them.
The Enlightenment adopted a revolutionary emphasis on individual liberty, direct observation, and rational thought. Enlightenment society valued learning and innovation, encouraging an unprecedented flowering of knowledge with major advances in fields as diverse as art, philosophy, politics, and science. Important thinkers of the time questioned long-held beliefs, instead using scientific reasoning to uncover new, objective principles on which to base a modern society, free from superstition, passion, and prejudice.
Filippo Morghen, Pumpkins Used as Dwellings To Be Secure against Wild Beasts, 1766–67, etching, image and plate: 28 × 39 cm (The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.19.8).
During this same period, a number of artists reveled in the power of the imagination to expose hidden truths, conjure strange worlds, or concoct illusions. François Boucher and Francisco de Goya, among others, drew on their imaginations to devise novel compositions, envision far-off places and people, attract new buyers for their art, and comment on society and its values. They also blurred the boundaries of fact and fantasy, incorporating real and invented elements into their compositions, often without distinguishing between the two. Imagination was a dynamic tool through which Enlightenment-era artists marketed their work, revealed or obscured truth, entertained or educated viewers, and supported or criticized systems of power.
The exhibition presents an exceptional opportunity to see exciting recent acquisitions on view for the first time as well as rarely shown collection highlights, including prints and drawings by Canaletto and Goya and a pastel portrait by Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard.
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