HERB RITTS: L.A. Style

February 23, 2013 – May 19, 2013

Herb Ritts (American, 1952–2002) was a Los Angeles-based photographer who established an international reputation for his distinctive photographs of fashion models, nudes, and celebrities. From the late 1970s until his untimely death from AIDS in 2002, Ritts's ability to create photographs that successfully bridged the gap between art and commerce was not only a testament to the power of his imagination and technical skill but also marked the synergy between art, popular culture, and business that followed in the wake of the Pop Art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This exhibition features a selection of Ritts's vintage prints and magazine covers.

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Paolo Veronese

December 7, 2012 - April 14, 2013

Paolo Veronese (1528–1588) was one of the giants of Venetian painting, the most elegant of the triumvirate that also included Titian and Tintoretto. Veronese is perhaps best known for his grand ceiling paintings and large scenes of Biblical feasts. Yet throughout his prodigious and successful career, he and his bustling workshop also created imposing altarpieces and smaller religious paintings for private devotion or collectors, striking portraits, depictions of sensual episodes drawn from the classical tradition, and majestic allegories glorifying the Venetian state.

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PETER PAUL RUBENS: Impressions of a Master

February 17, 2012 - June 3, 2012

Peter Paul Rubens: Impressions of a Master showcases the work of one of the greatest and most influential artists of all time: the Flemish Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).  The exhibition features more than 75 magnificent engravings of the highest artistic standards after compositions by Rubens; these are drawn from the extraordinary collection of the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp), the repository of the largest group of prints after the artist in the world, and from the holdings of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. The prints will be displayed alongside several important paintings by Rubens from the Ringling collection, perhaps the premier collection of works by the artist in America.

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ZIMOUN: Sculpting Sound

October 11, 2011 - February 19, 2012

The Swiss artist Zimoun blends elements of sound, sculpture, mechanics, and engineering into unique sensory experiences redefining traditional notions of sculpture and sonic performance.  The opening of the exhibition will coincide with the Ringling International Arts Festival (RIAF), a five-day festival featuring performing artists from around the world and will complement the diverse offering of international performing artists featured. 

Josef Albers: Color

October 1, 2011 - January 16, 2012

This installation of Albers’ work is comprised of color studies which reflect his investigations into how colors interact with and alter one another when placed together.

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The Amazing American Circus Poster: The Strobridge Lithographing Company

September 17, 2011 - January 29, 2012

Celebrating our fascinating circus heritage, The Amazing American Circus Poster showcases 80 brilliantly colored, boldly bombastic posters advertising the feature attractions from all corners of the globe and peerless performers of the big top.  The Cincinnati-based Strobridge Lithographing Company was one of the country’s leading printers for the circuses. 

Beyond Bling: Voices of Hip-Hop in Art

May 21, 2011 - August 14, 2011

Beyond Bling: Voices of Hip-Hop in Art is the first exhibition to take a focused look at the work of ten artists who all operate within and are informed by hip-hop culture.  They are a diverse mix of African American, Latino/a, Japanese American, British, Caucasian, gay, male and female. Hip-hop’s appeal, today, comes from this diversity and inclusiveness. Like all of us, these artists live in a world infused with hip-hop flavors.

Crosscurrents of Design: Asian Export Ceramics

February 19 - October 30, 2011

Asian ceramics have captivated collectors for centuries because of their exquisite forms, patterns and materials.  Originally, they were created for the domestic market.  Advancements in sailing and navigation in the 15th century made ceramic export feasible and economically viable.

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Gardens in Perpetual Bloom: Botanical Illustration in Europe and America 1600-1850

January 29, 2011 - April 24, 2011

Comprised of more than 100 flower prints, Gardens in Perpetual Bloom features the products of a fruitful collaboration of botanists, horticulturists, painters, and printmakers from the 17th to 19th centuries. Requiring technical virtuosity and complex techniques to achieve an amazing range of line and tone, these colorful works reveal the detail, structure, texture, tone, and lifelike appearance of a magnificent iris, an exotic lily, or a single elegant rose executed with an originality of design and composition.

Tumbling & Twisting Talents Under the Big Top

December 15, 2010 - April 11, 2011

Tumbling & Twisting Talents Under the Big Top is an exhibition of posters and ephemera that illustrate some of the amazing ground acts featured with American circuses. 

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20th Century Abstract Art from the Ringling Collection

June 12, 2010 - March 18, 2012

Abstract works by artists such as Alexander Calder, Yves Tanguy, and Kay Sage among others will be on view inviting visitors to explore this modernist paradigm.

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HEYDAY: Photographs of Frederick W. Glasier

May 15, 2010 - September 6, 2010

HEYDAY: Photographs of Frederick W. Glasier offers a glimpse into the most dynamic period of the American circus through the rarely seen photographs of Frederick W. Glasier (1866-1950). Drawn from the collections of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the exhibition was organized by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the Eakins Press Foundation.

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Splendid Treasures of the Turkomen Tribes from Central Asia

April 24, 2010 - February 6, 2011

The Turkomen tribes of Central Asia live in a harsh and arid physical environment, yet the beauty of their ornamentation reflects their rich spiritual beliefs and customs.  The Turkomen tribes migrated with the seasons, reflecting the necessities of pasturing their livestock and protecting themselves from the elements.  A nomadic lifestyle meant that wealth had to be easily portable, so richly decorated jewelry crafted from precious metals and semi-precious stones met their social, spiritual and economic needs.

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In Search of Norman Rockwell's America

February 13 - April 25, 2010

In Search of Norman Rockwell's America is a groundbreaking exhibition that pairs the work of American icon Norman Rockwell with images by award-winning photojournalist Kevin Rivoli.  Unprecedented in concept, this exhibition features thirty-five black and white photographs alongside Rockwell originals: paintings, drawings, and limited artist’s prints. 

Gothic Art in the Gilded Age

December 19, 2009 - April 4, 2010

Comprising around 350 paintings, sculptures, and works of decorative art including metalwork, furniture, ceramics, cameos, timepieces, and wax miniatures made across the European continent chiefly between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, this group of objects belonged to three successive owners: Émile Gavet, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont and John Ringling.

Venice in the Age of Canaletto

October 8, 2009 - January 10, 2010

Venice in the Age of Canaletto will consider Canaletto in this Venetian context focusing upon the contrast between the artist’s paintings and the works of his contemporaries who were also active in the city.

August 22 - November 8, 2009

Buddhism is a religion to about 300 million people around the world. The word comes from the  term budhi, which means 'to awaken'. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gautama was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35 and became Buddha.

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Hold Your Horses The Circus is Coming

July 15 - November 8, 2009

With the difficult task of promoting a performance available for one day only, American circuses of the early twentieth century had to pull out all the stops in their advertising campaigns.

Dangerous Women

May  23 -  October 11, 2009

The visual consumption of woman has for centuries been at the cornerstone of art. This fascination—or even obsession—with women of all descriptions is perhaps nowhere more apparent than during the 16^th and 17^th centuries.

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Picturing Eden

May 9 - August 2, 2009

Picturing Eden, organized by George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, features the work of 37 artists from six countries —including well-known artists Mike and Doug Starn, Adam Fuss, Ruud van Empel, and Sally Mann, as well as emerging artists such as Gavin Hipkins, Alec Soth, and Lori Nix.

Language of the Nude

May 2 - July 26, 2009

This exhibition of sixty rarely seen drawings from the Crocker Art Museum examines the nude, its place in the artist's process and the ideals—and desires—it expressed in European art. 

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February  24 -  June 30, 2009

Examining how the graphic styles of the Polish artists came together to advertise the state backed circus, this exhibition includes twenty-one of the Cyrk posters, designed between 1965 and 1977.

The Triumph of Marriage: Painted Cassoni of the Renaissance 

February 14, 2009 - April 19, 2009

In Renaissance Italy, cassoni – Italian for ‘large chests’ – were an essential part of elite marriage rituals. Made in pairs and often painted with historical or allegorical scenes, these chests were paraded through the streets, very much like trophies, when the bride moved into the house of her new husband.

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You Be The Judge

January 17, 2009 - May 10, 2009

This exhibition aims to provide visitors with opportunities to develop skills in looking at works of art, with the ultimate goal of becoming more active viewers.

Fashioning Kimono: Art Deco and Modernism in Japan 

November 15, 2008 - February 8, 2009

This exhibition includes 100 kimono created in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries – one of the most dynamic periods in the history of Japan’s national costume. 

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Barnum, Ballyhoo and the Big Top



October 22, 2008- February 21, 2009

Barnum is widely recognized as one of the most brilliant showmen, who's impact on American culture is unrivalled.

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To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum 

October 18, 2008 - January 11, 2009

Belief in the afterlife, and that death was an enemy that could be vanquished, was fundamental to the ancient Egyptians.

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Modern Masters of the Japanese Print: Tradition and Transformation 

July 12, 2008 - January 4, 2009

The 20th century brought many changes to Japan – war and peace, industrialization, urbanization and globalization.  Nowhere are the traces of these changes more evident than in Japanese prints, particularly those made using woodblocks.

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Ringling Retro:Modern & Contemporary Works of Art from the Permanent Collection 

May 10 - October 26, 2008

Included in this provocative display of paintings and sculptures, are seminal works by Jules Olitski, Frank Stella, Trevor Bell, John Chamberlain, Robert Rauschenberg, Syd Solomon, Louise Nevelson, Jackie Ferrara, David Hockney, Barbara Kruger and Thomas Struth.

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May 24 - August 10, 2008

Mist, breath, and fog are often associated with mystery; in their double status as perceptible yet almost nonexistent phenomena, they suggest evanescence or absence.  

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Old Master Drawings from the Ringling Museum of Art

February 9 - May 4, 2008

The scope of the exhibition spans three centuries—late 15^th century to the late-18^th century—and contains approximately forty to fifty drawings. While by no means a chronological survey of styles and movements, the quality, scope of media, technique, and genre, conveys the enormous variety and invention of the Ringling’s works-on-paper.

Jacob Lawrence: Three Series of Prints

January 26 - May 4, 2008

A sampling of the work of Jacob Lawrence, among the best-known African-American artists of the 20th Century.

Grandma Moses: Grandmother to The Nation 

January 26 - April 18, 2008

Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation aims to contextualize Moses’ work so as to account for its immense popularity. When seen against the backdrop of the transition from the Great Depression and World War II to the prosperity and domesticity of the 1950s, her celebrity makes perfect sense.

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Focus on Asian Art: Guanyin Personified

December 15, 2007 - June 15, 2008

The Buddhist god of compassionate wisdom, Guanyin, takes on different guises throughout Asia. The Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt collection contains an important Vietnamese Guanyin.

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