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| Robert S. Neuman, Ship to Paradise - 4, 1980 Color lithograph, Edition of 50, 34 x 25 inches |
The Heckscher Museum of Art is pleased to present
Robert S. Neuman's Ship to Paradise. On view from August 18 through November 25, this exhibition focuses
on the artist’s surrealist illustrations for an edition of Sebastian Brandt’s The
Shyp of Fooles, a 15th century allegory on the foibles and folly
of man. In speaking about the
exhibition, Lisa Chalif, Museum Curator, said “It is a privilege for The
Heckscher Museum to present this exhibition of Neuman’s Ship to Paradise works which include etchings, lithographs,
mixed-media drawings, and printing plates. And, we are fortunate to be able to
include the two-volume Shyp of
Fooles/Ship to Paradise produced by a direct descendent of the Museum’s
founder, August Heckscher.”
Robert S. Neuman’s Ship to Paradise is the artist’s personal exploration of a theme
that dates back to the Middle Ages.
Reflecting on the modern day world around him and informed by knowledge
of seafaring and shipbuilding intrinsic to life in Maine, Neuman’s fantastical
compositions are a metaphor for the human condition and man’s quest for a
better life. Neuman’s exploration of the
theme was realized in print as a portfolio of etchings commissioned by August
Heckscher, grandson of the Museum’s founder and a fellow summer resident of
Mount Desert Island, to accompany a fine facsimile edition of humanist
Sebastian Brandt’s best-selling medieval satire Shyp of Fooles, which outlines in 112 chapters the vices and
worldly conceits of man that prevent him from reaching godly salvation in
paradise. Robert S. Neuman’s Ship to Paradise will travel to the Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston, Maine where it will be on view from January 18 through March 22, 2013. A color catalogue with essays by Philip Heckscher, Carl Little, and John C. Olin accompanies the exhibition.
