Planting Fields Foundation opens Everett Shinn: Operatics

The Island Now

Planting Fields Foundation (“Planting Fields” or “the Foundation”) announced today that its first exhibition of 2021, Everett Shinn: Operatics, will open on Saturday, May 8 for a limited-capacity preview, followed by the public opening on Wednesday, May 12, led by guided tours.

On view through Nov. 14, the exhibition will present paintings, drawings, decorative murals, furnishings, objects, and musical instruments by Everett Shinn (1876-1953) from the Foundation’s collection, in addition to works from local public and private collections, some of which will be on view to the public for the first time. The exhibition tours include access inside the Teahouse in the Italian Garden which was last open to the public in 2014.

Organized in four “acts” Everett Shinn: Operatics opens with Act I in Coe Hall where visitors will be introduced to the artist and his career in the second-floor gallery through nine paintings and works on paper made between 1908 and 1933.

Act II follows in Mai Coe’s dressing room, featuring a collection of murals commissioned from Shinn by Planting Fields creators, W.R. and Mai Coe, who built a legacy of artistic patronage by supporting modern artists of their time.

Act III in the Reception Room develops the story of Shinn’s decorative style through the Steinway piano he painted for Broadway playwright Clyde Fitch in 1906, along with two small painted studies for his murals in the Stuyvesant Theatre, commissioned by another Broadway producer and playwright, David Belasco, in 1907. The theatricality of Shinn’s work culminates in Act IV in the 1915 Teahouse, one of Planting Fields’s architectural treasures, where visitors will encounter a unified ensemble of the artist’s murals, furnishings, and objects in a space designed in its totality by Shinn for Mai Coe.

“Everett Shinn was a man of many talents, with a love for the dramatic at the core of all his work. In his long and prolific career, he produced illustrations for major Philadelphia and New York newspapers, challenged the artistic status quo with the urban realism of the Ashcan School, wrote and produced his own theatrical plays, designed sets for Hollywood films, and created commissioned paintings and interiors for some of New York’s most exclusive spaces,” said Meredith A. Brown, director of Museum Affairs and Chief Curator. “Planting Fields Foundation is fortunate not only to have several excellent examples of Shinn’s early paste and chalk drawings in our collection, but also to serve as steward of two of very few remaining private commissions designed and painted by Shinn. We are excited to be able to share these with the public.”

A member of The Eight – a group of American modernists at the turn of the century dedicated to artistic individuality and a philosophical commitment to creativity – Everett Shinn is best known for his paintings of gritty scenes of urban poor and vaudeville stages. While the metropolitan vision of The Eight and what has become known as the Ashcan School helped to usher in the Progressive era, Shinn’s artistic oeuvre was more complex and varied than the traditional narrative of American modernism has allowed.

A lover of theater, music, and performance of all kinds, Shinn embraced the decorative alongside the debased, and throughout his long career he created works on paper, canvas, furnishings, architecture, even pianos and stage sets, that engaged with a raucous decorative aesthetic often termed Rococo revival.

Throughout the spring and summer Planting Fields Foundation will host a variety of public programs in conjunction with the exhibition. Guided tours will be offered through November 14.

All Planting Fields Foundation public programs and tours adhere to Covid-19 safety protocols and mandated capacity limits established in accordance with the New York Forward plan administered by the State of New York for the safety of visitors, volunteers, and staff.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING AND GUIDED TOURS

Exhibition Preview, Saturday, May 8, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
All are invited to celebrate the opening of the new spring exhibition, Everett Shinn: Operatics, with an early access preview. Coe Hall will be closed to the public while preview guests experience the exhibition, with introductory remarks and Q&A led by Chief Curator and Director of Museum Affairs, Meredith A. Brown. Hear live music played by Long Island Chamber Orchestra while enjoying tea from Clipper Ship Tea Co. and baked goods by Youngs Farm in the Cloister Garden.
Tickets: $36 for Members, $45 for Non-members. Capacity is limited, RSVP required.

Mother’s Day Tea in the Garden, Sunday, May 9, 11:00AM – 1:00PM
Celebrate the mother figures in your life this Mother’s Day with a special visit to Planting Fields. Explore what is in bloom and enjoy a small variety of hot tea paired with individually packaged cookies outside in the Cloister Garden. Guests will have access to the interior of the Teahouse in the Italian Garden, included in the ongoing exhibition, Everett Shinn: Operatics. The space features murals and furnishings commissioned from Shinn by Planting Fields creators W.R. and Mai Coe.
Tickets: $24 Members, $30 Non-members.

Everett Shinn: Operatics Exhibition Tours, May 12 – November 14
Offered during normal Visitor Center hours for up to 10 people at a time.
Wednesday – 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Thursday – Sunday 10:00 AM – 2:30 PM
Tickets: Adults: $10 / Seniors 62+: $9 / Youth 11-17: $5. FREE for Members, and kids 10 and under.

Panorama: Everett Shinn and the Ashcan School, Wednesday, May 19, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Panorama is the virtual programming platform, now for Planting Fields Foundation members only, where invited artists, academics, and special guests offer dynamic virtual presentations that explore subjects relevant to the site’s distinctive history and innovative current programming. Members are invited to join this scholarly discussion of Everett Shinn and his place within the history of American art.
Tickets: Free for Members.

Tea in the Garden, May 16, June 13, July 18, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Experience the spring and summer seasons at Planting Fields while sipping a small variety of hot teas paired with individually bagged cookies outside in the Cloister Garden and alongside the West Portico. Guests will have access to the interior of the Teahouse in the Italian Garden, included in the ongoing exhibition, Everett Shinn: Operatics. The space features murals and furnishings commissioned from Shinn by Planting Fields creators W.R. and Mai Coe.
Tickets: $24 Members, $30 Non-members.

Long Island Chamber Orchestra, Friday, June 4, 5:30 – 7:30PM (June 5 rain date)
Long Island Chamber Orchestra presents a program for violin and cello inspired by artist Everett Shinn’s renderings of theater scenes. Featuring Gergana Haralampieva on violin and Sarah Ghandour on cello, the program will showcase a diverse set of composers from the Baroque era to present day who are widely known for their work composing opera and ballet music.
Tickets: $32 Members, $40 Non-members.

East Line Theatre, Friday, August 6 and Friday, August 13, 5:30 – 7:30PM
The East Line Theatre company will perform The Truth outdoors at Planting Fields, a play in four acts written by American dramatist Clyde Fitch (1865 – 1909) in 1906.
Tickets: $32 Members, $40 Non-members.

 

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