OBERLIN.- Oberlin College’s Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) has been awarded a $45,000 "Access to Artistic Excellence" grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the exhibition The Splendor of Ruins in French Landscape Painting, 1630-1800 (March 19 – June 19, 2005) with accompanying catalogue and education programs.

The exhibition will explore various interpretations of classical architectural ruins as envisaged by French painters of the 17th and 18th centuries, a period spanning the careers of two of the greatest French landscape painters, Claude Lorrain and Hubert Robert. Ruins were an integral part of landscapes of the era, and their presence signified a rich array of both aesthetic and iconographic elements. The Splendor of Ruins will offer new perspectives on the works and the context in which they were created.

Extensive programming is planned in conjunction with the exhibition, including guest lectures, concerts, gallery talks, a symposium and public classes and outreach for adults and children. The project intersects a number of humanities disciplines, including art history, archaeology, literature, and music history.

AMAM Director Stephanie Wiles says, “This exhibition builds on the strengths of the Allen’s permanent collection and is a wonderful opportunity for the public to see a wide range of first-rate French paintings from important public collections across the United States and Canada.”

Curator of Western Art Stephen Borys, organizing curator for the exhibition, notes, “The NEA grant along with other national and state grants has made it possible for the museum to mount the first major Old Master paintings exhibition at Oberlin in over a decade.”

The National Endowment for the Arts award will help fund the costs of the exhibition, catalogue, related concerts, and educational programming.

The exhibition will be on view at the Allen Memorial Art Museum March 19 – June 19, 2005. Following its Oberlin presentation, the exhibition will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (July 17 – October 16, 2005).