- Special Event
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Four Seasons: Autumn: Vintage Scene (detail), designed c. 1535, woven mid- to late 1600s. Possibly by Gobelins Manufactory (France, Paris, est. 1662). Wool, silk, and gold filé: tapestry weave; overall: 263 x 370 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Francis Ginn, Marian Ginn Jones, Barbara Ginn Griesinger, and Alexander Ginn in memory of Frank Hadley Ginn and Cornelia Root Ginn, 1952.544.3
Exhibition Talk: Cycles of Life: The Four Seasons Tapestries
Arlene M. and Arthur S. Holden Gallery
About The Event
Affinity and affiliate group members are invited to an exhibition talk with Robin Hanson, associate conservator of textiles, and Sarah Scaturro, Eric and Jane Nord Chief Conservator. Following the talk, members are invited to view the exhibition in the Arlene M. and Arthur S. Holden Textile Gallery, where our conservators will be available for questions.
Cycles of Life: The Four Seasons Tapestries offers visitors an in-depth look at a rare, complete set of tapestries in the museum’s collection that has not been displayed since 1953 because of the tapestries’ fragile condition. Each tapestry depicts seasonal activities: fishing and gardening (Spring), grain harvesting (Summer), wine making (Autumn), and ice skating (Winter). When viewed together, the tapestries represent a full cycle of life. The tapestries were recently cleaned and conserved by tapestry specialists in Belgium, made possible through principal support by the late Emma Lincoln. The exhibition also offers an in-depth look at the difficult craft of tapestry conservation, including its ethics, techniques, and concerns.
Column & Stripe, Textile Art Alliance, and Womens Council members will receive a digital invitation.
To join affinity groups and to learn more, click here.
Art historical research for this exhibition was a collaboration with Case Western Reserve University graduate students in the museum's joint art history graduate program.
Generous support is provided by the Thompson Family Foundation.
All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Generous annual support is provided by an anonymous supporter, Dick Blum* and Harriet Warm, Dr. Ben H. and Julia Brouhard, Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Chapman Jr., the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Michael Frank in memory of Patricia Snyder, the Sam J. Frankino Foundation, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, William S. and Margaret F. Lipscomb, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Anne H. Weil, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The conservation of the Four Seasons tapestries was made possible with support from Emma Lincoln.*
*Deceased