ARTS & CULTURE
A century of arts comes alive (literally) at MFA
46 StPeteLifeMag.com March/April 2020
PHOTOS/MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ST. PETERSBURG
It may be the most dramatic exhibit
yet for the Museum of Fine Arts St.
Petersburg, and rightly so. Art of the
Stage: Picasso to Hockney is all about
drama. The expansive show features
more than 100 scene, costume, stage
and program designs created by
noted artists from the 19th century
to the present. Complementing
those visuals is a diverse program
featuring dozens of dance, music,
opera and theater performances.
Two years in the planning, this
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impressive in its depth and diversity.
The exhibition is culled from the
McNay Art Museum’s prestigious
Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts in
San Antonio, Texas, and includes
works by Henri Matisse, Natalia
Goncharova, Pablo Picasso, David
Hockney, Robert Indiana, and Lesley
Dill. These artists contributed
greatly to world-renowned
plays, operas, and ballets, such as
Pulcinella, La Création du Monde (The
Creation of the World), King Arthur,
and The Mother of Us All.
For MFA Executive Director Kristen
Shepherd, the opportunity to pair
live performances was part of the
appeal for presenting Art of the
Stage. “This is an unprecedented
collaboration of visual and
performance arts, a chance for
our community and visitors to
experience how these practices
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opening.
To bring Art of the Stage to life, a
theater stage was built inside the
exhibition space. Live classical
music, opera, dance, theater and
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lectures will continue on select days
throughout the run of the exhibition
which ends May 10.
Exhibition designer Rush Jenkins
of WRJ Designs (who wowed us
with Jewels of the Imagination: Jean
Schlumberger) had a challenge in
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Art of the Stage
y
BY MARCIA BIGGS
Left, Red Ecstasy Dress from Divide Light by Lesley Dill (2008). Right, Scene design for Le Coq d’Or (The Golden Cockerel), Natalia
Goncharova (1913)
/StPeteLifeMag.com
