The new spring exhibitions at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum in Winter Park showcase the diversity of media present in its galleries. Known for its unique collection of stained glass and decorative pieces created by Louis Comfort Tiffany, the Morse Museum also provides context for the era that shaped Tiffany’s work. With its new galleries, the Museum is highlighting other works by Tiffany.
Though his stained glass work is varied and displayed in different ways in the museum, one new exhibit features paintings and sketches from the artist’s travels that showcase his interest in light, which is so present in the windows featured at the Morse.
(NICK D’ALESSANDRO)
In addition to the paintings, a new exhibit features the artistry of jewelry.
And another recreates a unique way of displaying paintings that began in 17th-century France, the salon-style.
All three exhibitions provide context to the massive collection of Tiffany windows that are the core of the Morse galleries.
Among works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, the new exhibitions feature paintings by American portraitist John Singer Sargent and landscape master George Inness, as well as jewelry from the legendary Tiffany and Co., founded by Louis Comfort Tiffany’s father, Charles.
All this is possible thanks to the varied collections curated at the Morse. “All of our exhibitions contain works from within our collection,” said Dr. Kayli R. Rideout, the Hugh F. McKean curator at the Morse. “We don’t build exhibitions that we would need to accept loans for, which is very different than most institutions.”
This means that when new exhibitions open at the Morse, you may be seeing something you’ve never seen before. This is a varied and vast collection. “It allows us to get objects out that maybe have never been out or have not been out in a long time,” Rideout said.
The idea for an exhibit can simply begin with an artifact or a topic, but the curators here build exhibits upon each other, with current exhibits serving to inspire the new ones. For example, in the fall, a new gallery will take over the place currently held by “Fascinating Clutter,” an exhibition focusing on Victorian art. Rideout calls the new show “a counter to the Victorian show,” with pieces dating all the way into the 1950s, an era not normally showcased at the Morse.
The curation and galleries at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum are always evolving, and in the fall, new exhibitions will tell news stories on the walls of this museum in Winter Park.
