Old Masters of the Reformation
Westmont’s Reynolds Gallery hosts “Dutch Prints in the Age of Reformation: Highlights from the Dewayne and Faith Perry Collection” Feb. 19 through March 12. The opening reception on Thursday, Feb. 19, 4-6 p.m., will include a lecture at 5:30 p.m. by Lisa DeBoer, associate professor of art history and chair of the art department, on “Prints as Pedagogy in the Age of the Reformation.” The reception and lecture are free and open to the public.
“These prints are beautiful to look at,” DeBoer says, “and small in size so they invite close, intimate viewing. They underscore how important and persuasive pictures were during the 16th and 17th centuries, and how they continue to engage us today.” The exhibition includes more than 45 images of biblical stories and saints, each smaller than 18 inches by 20 inches.
Dewayne and Faith Perry are Westmont alumni from the class of 1962 and live in Austin, Texas, where Dewayne holds the Motorola Regents Chair of Software Engineering at the University of Texas. They have promised their extensive print collection to Westmont.
Judy L. Larson, director of the Reynolds Gallery, visited the Perrys in Texas and viewed the entire collection last year. “The Perrys’ collection is strong in Italian prints as well as German, French and English works. Together we chose to exhibit the Dutch prints because they so beautifully tell the story of the Reformation and the Catholic Reformation that followed,” Larson says.
The prints will help form the core of the permanent collection to be housed in Westmont’s new art facility, currently under construction. “We are excited about the new gallery in the Adams Center for the Visual Arts as a study facility, where the collection will be used rather than collecting dust,” Dewayne says. “We are happy to be able to contribute these prints as a legacy for Westmont students.”
Reynolds Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. For directions to campus, visit the college’s Web site at www.westmont.edu. For more information, contact (805) 565-7140 or nprice@westmont.edu.