Davis Museum at Wellesley College to Celebrate Shakespeare's Influence on Art

The Davis Museum at Wellesley College presents That Right Promethean Fire: Shakespeare Illustrated, an exhibition that celebrates the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death with works of art that explore Shakespeare's plays. Featuring works of art from the 17th to the 21st centuries, the exhibition will include masterpieces from John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, a project began in 1786 that included a collection of paintings by various artists, then translated into a large-format print series, and finally into an illustrated edition of Shakespeare's plays. The exhibition will be on view from February 10 through June 5, 2016.

Wellesley College's rich collection of Shakespeare-related works from the Davis Museum and Special Collections will illustrate the comprehensive nature of Boydell's project. In addition, works by Angelika Kaufmann, Eugène Delacroix, Arthur Rackham, Oskar Kokoschka, and Max Beckmann will demonstrate sustained artistic engagement with the Bard's remarkable stories.

"We are presenting pockets of time when artists referred to Shakespeare's stories to make their own creations," said exhibition curator Meredith Fluke, Kemper Curator of Academic Programs. "From gifts bestowed to the Davis Museum collection, as well as the collaborative efforts of the different facets of the College, the exhibition will highlight the artistic tradition of illustrating Shakespeare's treasures, as well as Wellesley's profound interest in Shakespeare over more than a century of time."

There will be an exhibition on view at the Wellesley College library in conjunction with Shakespeare Illustrated. The library will display books from the collection of the Wellesley College Shakespeare Society, which was founded in 1877 by the founder of the College, Henry Fowle Durant, and remains the oldest continuous society on campus.

William Cain, the Mary Jewett Gaiser Professor of English at Wellesley College, and Ruth Rogers, Curator of Special Collections at Clapp Library, served as advisors to the exhibition.

Shakespeare Illustrated and related programs are supported through the generosity of Wellesley College Friends of Art, now celebrating 50 years of giving. The Susan and Donald Newhouse Center for the Humanities festival is supported by The Robert E. Garis and Arthur Gold Fund, The Moffet Fund, and CLCE.