NEW YORK CITY – Contemporary pottery and African masks, Pucci dresses and Kewpie dolls are among the eclectic cultural treasures in the new exhibition “The Morris Museum: A Collected Century,” on view at the PaineWebber Art Gallery from July 6 to September 8. From family heirlooms to souvenirs from world travels, the exhibition features highlights from The Morris Museum’s encyclopedic holdings and explores the collecting philosophy behind a community institution dedicated to the arts, sciences and humanities.
The Morris Museum’s collection has grown from an early Twentieth Century curio cabinet into New Jersey’s third largest museum, with objects that have, over time, become the collection.
The exhibit features fine and decorative arts from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries; international costumes and textiles; children’s toys; ethnographic objects; geological samples and paleontological finds; and natural science specimens. Highlights include: an elaborately decorated ancestral figure from the Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea; a vibrant landscape by Wolf Kahn (born 1927), the prominent contemporary artist renowned for his use of color; fashion dolls from the museum’s collection, which currently features more than 3,000 dolls and accessories; and a delicate, late Nineteenth Century bronze statue of Pan by Frederick William MacMonnies.
The installation is uniquely designed, combining hidden or over looked connections between objects and collections. For example, while the similarities between studio glass pieces by Dale Chihuly and New Jersey mineral samples many not be readily apparent, the geological links between these rdf_Descriptions creates a compelling viewing experience.
The Morris Museum is located at 6 Normandy Heights Road. The museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 am to 8 pm on Thursday; and 1 to 5 pm on Sunday. For information, 973/538-0454.
