Milwaukee Art Museum Displays Rarely Seen ‘Old Masters from Private Collections’

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Canvasses painted by the so-called “old masters”—European artists who flourished before the 19th century—are among the most coveted and costly works on the art market. Rembrandt van Rijn, Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, Leonardo Da Vinci et al. enjoy pride of place in prestigious European museums where flocks of tourists elbow their way to the cordon in order to snap blurry selfies. But many works by these venerable artists live a more peaceful existence safely ensconced in private collections.

The Milwaukee Art Museum’s exhibition “From Rembrandt to Parmigianino: Old Masters from Private Collections” borrows some of these rarely seen masterworks from lucky collectors residing within several hundred miles of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Deserving special mention among these collectors is Alfred Bader, the 91-year-old chemist, philanthropist and art collector specializing in 17th-century Dutch paintings. Bader has gifted two works to MAM by Jacopo Vignali (Italian, 1592-1664) and Onofrio Gabrielli (Italian, 1616-1706), which will be on long-term display in MAM’s Collection Galleries. “From Rembrandt to Parmigianino: Old Masters from Private Collections” is on display from July 29-Oct. 23.

“American Epics on the Silver Screen: The Searchers”

Milwaukee Art Museum

700 N. Art Museum Drive

In conjunction with “American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood,” the Milwaukee Art Museum has been screening cinema classics that inspired Benton. The final installment of the series is The Searchers, to be shown at 6:15 p.m. on Friday, July 29. Consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made, the 1956 Technicolor Western finds Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) searching for his young niece who has been abducted by Comanches. To the contemporary sensibility the film is complicated by the unabashed and uncensored racism of Wayne’s character. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese recalls the strong impression made by the film when he saw it as an impressionable 13 year old, describing Ethan Edwards as a “poet of hatred.” At once wowed by the cinematography and surprised by the depiction of prejudice, Scorsese has referred to the film as his all-time favorite. Although it’s unlikely that these days a major studio would produce a film with such a non-judgmental depiction of racism, our news cycle is certainly not without analogues to Ethan Edwards, even if their brand of hatred is much less poetic.