A Panorama of Pittsburgh
at the Frick through 10/5
Learn about Pittsburgh's past by viewing more than 130 printed views of the city.
Meissonier masterpiece
now on view at the Frick
1806, Jena is on view at the Frick through May 31, 2009.
This Sunday is
RADical Day at the Frick
Visit the Frick on 10/5 for a full day of activities and fun!
Rob Rogers discusses
political cartooning on 10/12
The Post-Gazette's award-winning editorial cartoonist will discuss his experiences covering the 2008 presidential campaign and conventions.
Music for Exhibitions
begins new season 11/18
Join Katherine Soroka and Chatham Baroque for an evening of memorable music.
View photos from the 2008 H. C. Frick Horseless Carriage Tour
Twenty-six teams of drivers made it a day of fun.
Sign up for the
Frick e-newsletter
Each month, receive the latest information about exhibitions; programs for adults, families, children, and teachers; events; specials at The Café and the Museum Shop; and more.
at the Frick through 10/5
Learn about Pittsburgh's past by viewing more than 130 printed views of the city.
Meissonier masterpiece
now on view at the Frick
1806, Jena is on view at the Frick through May 31, 2009.
This Sunday is
RADical Day at the Frick
Visit the Frick on 10/5 for a full day of activities and fun!
Rob Rogers discusses
political cartooning on 10/12
The Post-Gazette's award-winning editorial cartoonist will discuss his experiences covering the 2008 presidential campaign and conventions.
Music for Exhibitions
begins new season 11/18
Join Katherine Soroka and Chatham Baroque for an evening of memorable music.
View photos from the 2008 H. C. Frick Horseless Carriage Tour
Twenty-six teams of drivers made it a day of fun.
Sign up for the
Frick e-newsletter
Each month, receive the latest information about exhibitions; programs for adults, families, children, and teachers; events; specials at The Café and the Museum Shop; and more.
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June 28, 2002 - September 22, 2002 |
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The Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh, presents a major new body of work by contemporary French artist Christian Milovanoff. The exhibition, christian milovanoff/conversation pieces, comprises 48 large-format color photographs created during the last half of 2001 and early 2002 as part of the Frick’s Artist-in-Residence program. The exhibition is on view at The Frick Art Museum from June 28 through September 22, 2002. christian milovanoff/conversation pieces is Mr. Milovanoff’s first solo exhibition in the United States. Widely known and exhibited in Europe, his work was most recently seen in the United States in 1999, in The Museum as Muse at The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and in Premises, Invested Spaces in Visual Arts, Architecture, and Design from France 1958-1998 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim, New York. As the Frick Art & Historical Center’s second Artist in Residence, Mr. Milovanoff was invited to respond to the collections of the Center. His explorations also led him to photograph in the city of Pittsburgh and The Frick Collection in New York. The resulting work is an installation of exquisite large-scale color prints that include details of eighteenth-century portraits, architectural views of Pittsburgh, and candid images of contemporary figures absorbed in urban daily life. Collectively, the photographs express a provocative view of the modern American city. According to Danforth P. Fales, Acting Executive Director of the Frick Art & Historical Center, the juxtaposition of figures from the past with contemporary images is an ongoing theme in Mr. Milovanoff’s work. “It is the dialogue that Mr. Milovanoff creates between the past and present that led us to approach him for the residency in the first place,” he says. “We are thrilled that the Frick collections, both here and in New York, inspired an exhibition that allows viewers to experience the American city in an entirely new way.” The reference to “conversation pieces” in the installation’s title alludes to a genre of painting that flourished in eighteenth-century England. This genre is characterized by informal group portraits, in which the subjects appear engaged in activity and conversation. The figures are usually set in a landscape or interior portrayed with greater detail than in formal portraiture. The collection of The Frick Art Museum contains an outstanding example of the genre, Arthur Devis’ Sir Joshua Vanneck and His Family of Roehampton House, Putney (1752). According to Pierre-Lin Renié, guest curator of the 2001-2002 Artist-in-Residence program and curator of the Musée-Goupil in Bordeaux, France, Mr. Milovanoff appropriates the model of the “conversation piece” genre and transforms it into a contemporary work. “Christian’s interest in ‘conversation pieces’ parallels his longtime interests in narrative and art history, especially the history of painting,” he says. “He is intrigued by how the genre combines aspects of both documentary and fiction. The portraits depict actual people in a specific setting, with poses and attitudes that are created—fictionalized, if you will—by the painter.” “Similarly,” Mr. Renié continues, “christian milovanoff/conversation pieces attempts to organize the world using images taken from reality, but never disguising the fact that they are organized as fiction.” During two trips to Pittsburgh and New York, Mr. Milovanoff took more than 800 photographs, shooting in such locations as Oakland, Polish Hill, the South Side and Beltzhoover. In France, he built a scale model of The Frick Art Museum’s galleries and organized his installation with reduced color copies of his images. In the museum’s first gallery, Mr. Milovanoff creates the setting or background for his work. Architectural views surround the viewer, creating the sense of a nearly empty public plaza. Then, Mr. Milovanoff introduces characters into the setting, with figures appropriated from Arthur Devis and Sir Joshua Reynolds paintings, as well as contemporary figures shot on location in Pittsburgh. Gradually, Mr. Milovanoff’s view of the modern American city emerges, with historical and contemporary images interacting against the background of the urban plaza. “It is a view that must be seen as a cohesive whole,” according to DeCourcy E. McIntosh, Founding Director of the Frick Art & Historical Center. In the spring of 2001, while Mr. McIntosh was Executive Director, the Frick Art & Historical Center selected Mr. Milovanoff for the residency program. “While Christian’s images are aesthetically beautiful,” he says, “the force of the installation rests in the narrative that unfolds as the visitor journeys through the galleries.” Exhibition Catalogue christian milovanoff/conversation pieces is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue (English/French), featuring an essay by Pierre-Lin Renié, guest curator of the 2001-2002 Artist-in-Residence program and curator of the Musée Goupil in Bordeaux, France. Co-published by the Frick Art & Historical Center and French publishing company Actes Sud, the 64-page, soft-cover catalogue includes 44 color images from the exhibition as well as 12 photographs from previous works. The publication will be available for $24.95 at the Museum Shop. About the Artist Christian Milovanoff was born in Nîmes, France, in 1948. In 1979, after studying sociology and art history at Aix-Marseille University and Urbino University (Italy), he launched his career as a photographer. Since 1983, he has also been a professor at the École Nationale de la Photographie in Arles. Mr. Milovanoff’s work is included in numerous collections, including the Musée national d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris; the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; the Musée Cantini, Marseille; the Palau de la Vierina, Barcelona; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, among others. He has also had solo exhibitions throughout France, as well as in Austria and Germany. One of Mr. Milovanoff’s best-known works is Le Louvre revisité, 1981-1986, a series of black-and-white photographs that express a contemporary vision of the Louvre’s Old Masters. In other series, Mr. Milovanoff has photographed antique spaces in Rome, office interiors, and displays of merchandise in supermarkets. Mr. Milovanoff has published two works of fiction, as well as numerous essays on the subjects of contemporary art, photography, and documentary film. Artist-in-Residence Program The residency program was established in 2000 in order to provide a contemporary perspective on the collections of the Frick Art & Historical Center. Mr. Milovanoff is the second Artist in Residence. The previous artist was Vik Muniz, whose work inspired by his experience, Clayton Days. Picture Stories by Vik Muniz, was on view at The Frick Art Museum in the fall of 2000. Frick Art & Historical Center The Frick Art & Historical Center is located at 7227 Reynolds Street in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The Center includes The Frick Art Museum, containing the fine and decorative arts collection of Helen Clay Frick; Clayton, the restored Victorian home of Henry Clay Frick; the Car and Carriage Museum; and extensive gardens and grounds. In addition to exhibiting its permanent collection, The Frick Art Museum has an active program of temporary exhibitions. Following christian milovanoff/conversation pieces, the museum will host Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century French Drawings from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen (October 18, 2002 – January 4, 2003), the third exhibition in a yearlong focus on master drawings. The Frick Art Museum is open Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and Sunday 12:00–6:00 p.m. Free docent-led tours of temporary exhibitions are offered Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The public may call 412-371-0600 Monday – Sunday between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for information or visit the Frick online at www.frickart.org. For further information or images, contact Greg Langel at the Frick Art & Historical Center at 412-371-0600, ext. 524, or at glangel@frickart.org. |
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