The Art Gallery At Saint Joseph College Is Celebrating Some Of Its ‘Recent Acquisitions’

WEST HARTFORD — Through March 25, the Saint Joseph College art gallery is presenting “Recent Acquisitions.”

The exhibition, drawn from additions to the permanent collection acquired recently through gift or purchase, includes works ranging from the 19th to the 21st century. Among the highlights is a painting by the American Impressionist George Gardner Symons, who maintained studios in New York and in Laguna Beach, Calif. It depicts the interior of the church of San Xavier del Bac, a famous mission church just outside Tucson, Ariz. The painting was a gift of the Reverend Thomas J. Barry in honor of his father.

Also on view is a print by David Shapiro, which was purchased with funds given in memory of Vincenza A. Uccello ’56, Professor Emerita and the founding Director of the Saint Joseph College Art Gallery. Like all of Shapiro’s work, the print is meditative and infused with a deep appreciation of Asian art.

A relief print in brown ink on yellow paper by the non-objective painter Rolph Scarlett (1897-1984), who was the subject of an exhibition presented by the Saint Joseph College Art Gallery in summer 2005, is also on view. Although the print was not included in that exhibition, it relates closely to the artist’s geometric abstractions from circa 1940 that were seen in the show.

Other gifts on view include works by Clare Leighton and Miklos Pogany, a Thomas Nast political cartoon, and works by 20th Century artists such as Walter DuBois Richards and Guy MacCoy.

The Saint Joseph College Art Gallery, which opened in 2001, is located in The Bruyette Athenaeum, part of The Carol Autorino Center for the Arts and Humanities.  The Art Gallery presents regular exhibitions drawn from its permanent collections as well as loan exhibitions of historic art or of contemporary work by artists of national and international prominence.

The art gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 11 am until 4 pm; Thursday, 11 am to 7 pm; and Sunday, 1 to 4 pm. Admission is free.

The college’s main entrance is at 1678 Asylum Avenue. For additional information contact its Office of College Relations at 860-231-5334.