On May 13, the Vilcek Foundation will open its new headquarters with its inaugural exhibition, Ralston Crawford: Torn Signs.
Featuring works from the Vilcek Foundation’s American Modernism Collection, alongside loans from John Crawford, one of the artist’s sons, Ralston Crawford: Torn Signs presents an important but lesser-known aspect of the modernist painter’s oeuvre.
The exhibition examines the confluence of two seemingly disparate series completed later in Crawford’s life: Torn Signs, inspired by ragged advertisements on the streets of New York, and Semana Santa, which depicts observers of Holy Week in Seville, Spain, and the ways in which they are connected through the artist’s visual memory, working method, and sense of spatial organization.
To complement the exhibition, the foundation has partnered with Merrell Publishers to release a catalogue, now available in bookstores and online.
The illustrated catalogue features reproductions of drawings, paintings, and photographs from the exhibition, as well as original scholarship on the artist and the series, including essays by Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel; art historian and professor William C. Agee; sculptor John Crawford; and Vilcek Foundation Curator Emily Schuchardt Navratil.
The exhibition will run from May 13 through November 13, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and select Saturdays. Admission is free but requires advanced registration. Head to our calendar to sign up for a tour now!