Sense of Humor exhibit open at National Gallery of Art

Sense of Humor

July 15, 2018 – January 6, 2019

West Building, Ground Floor

https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2018/sense-of-humor.html

James Gillray, Midas, Transmuting All into Paper, 1797, etching with hand-coloring in watercolor on laid paper, Wright and Evans 1851, no. 168, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Purchased as an Anonymous Gift

Humor may be fundamental to human experience, but its expression in painting and sculpture has been limited. Instead, prints, as the most widely distributed medium, and drawings, as the most private, have been the natural vehicles for comic content. Drawn from the National Gallery of Art's collection, Sense of Humor celebrates this incredibly rich though easily overlooked tradition through works including Renaissance caricatures, biting English satires, and 20th-century comics. The exhibition includes major works by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Jacques Callot, William Hogarth, James Gillray, Francisco Goya, and Honoré Daumier, as well as later examples by Alexander Calder, Red Grooms, Saul Steinberg, Art Spiegelman, and the Guerrilla Girls.

The exhibition is curated by Jonathan Bober, Andrew W. Mellon senior curator of prints and drawings; Judith Brodie, curator and head of the department of American and modern prints and drawings; and Stacey Sell, associate curator, department of old master drawings, all National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Organization: Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington
Passes: Admission is always free and passes are not required

About the Artists

Bruegel the Elder, Pieter

Flemish

, 1525 - 1569

Calder, Alexander

American

, 1898 - 1976

Callot, Jacques

French

, 1592 - 1635

Daumier, Honoré

French

, 1808 - 1879

Gillray, James

British

, 1757 - 1815

Goya, Francisco de

Spanish

, 1746 - 1828

Grooms, Red

American

, 1937 -

Guerrilla Girls

1985 -

Hogarth, William

British

, 1697 - 1764

Spiegelman, Art

American

, 1948 -

Steinberg, Saul

American

, 1914 - 1999

Press Event: Sense of Humor

https://www.nga.gov/audio-video/press/press-sense-of-humor.html

At the press preview for Sense of Humor on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, remarks were given by Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. Following that, a tour of the exhibition was given by Jonathan Bober, Andrew W. Mellon senior curator of prints and drawings; Stacey Sell, associate curator, department of old master drawings; and Judith Brodie, curator and head of the department of American and modern prints and drawings.

Released: July 10, 2018