Two Historic House Exhibitions to Open at Reynolda House

substrata: the spirit of collage in 76 years of art and Louise Nevelson: Architect of Light and Shadow

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (March 14, 2022)—Two historic house exhibitions will open at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in March and April. Substrata: the spirit of collage in 76 years of art will be on display in the West Bedroom Gallery from Mar. 18 until Jul. 31, and Louise Nevelson: Architect of Light and Shadow runs Apr. 22 through Sept. 18 and is in the Northwest Bedroom Gallery.

Substrata: the spirit of collage in 76 years of art examines the influence of collage. Beginning in 1912, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Juan Gris were the first artists to explore collage in a self-consciously modern way, in relation to both the history of art and to the culture of their time. Their Cubist collages were a radical break with the “window on the world” depictions of Renaissance painting. But after the Cubists’ defiant, “punk” attitude of those early years, they returned to painting.

With select works from Reynolda’s collection and several borrowed ones, substrata seeks to “peel back” some of their layers to see how collage, as an artistic approach, has formed the basis for artworks that are not collages. The exhibition includes work by Robert Motherwell, Romare Bearden, Robert Rauschenberg, Stuart Davis and Jasper Johns among others. Substrata has been curated by Paul Bright, Director of Art Galleries and Programming at Wake Forest University Art Galleries and Collections.

The Louise Nevelson exhibition was curated by Dr. Jennifer Finkel, the Acquavella Curator of Collections at Wake Forest University. In addition to works from Reynolda’s collection, the exhibition will include artworks from Wake Forest University’s art collection, the Weatherspoon Art Museum and two private collections.

Sculptor Louise Nevelson (1899–1988) described her artistic goals in this way: “My total conscious search in life has been for a new seeing, a new image, a new insight. This search not only includes the object, but the in-between places, the dawns and dusks, the objective world, the heavenly spheres, the places between the land and the sea.” This statement captures Nevelson’s strikingly personal iconography—often centered around celestial or earthly bodies or phenomena such as moons, night, dusk, dawn, tides, skies, rain, light, wind, shadows, and stars—as well as her interest in structure, exploring, in her large-scale wooden assemblage pieces, the “in-between places.”

Louise Nevelson: Architect of Light and Shadow is made possible in part by The Robert and Constance Emken Fund of the Winston-Salem Foundation and Richard D. Pardue in honor of Barbara Babcock Millhouse.

Hours and Admission 

Reynolda House Museum of American Art, located at 2250 Reynolda Rd., is open to visitors Tuesday-Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m

Admission is charged. Museum members, children 18 and under, students, active or retired military personnel with ID, EBT cardholders, employees of Wake Forest University and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center with valid ID receive free admission to the Museum. Passes to Reynolda House in English and Spanish are also available to check out from every branch of the Forsyth County Public Library free of charge. View all free admission opportunities.

Reynolda Gardens is open from dawn to dusk daily free of charge. The Greenhouse is currently closed. Reynolda Village merchant hours vary. No ticket is needed to shop at the Reynolda House Museum store. Explore reynolda.org for more information.

About Reynolda

Reynolda is set on 170 acres in Winston-Salem, N.C. and comprises Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village Shops and Restaurants. The Museum presents a renowned art collection in a historic and incomparable setting: the original 1917 interiors of Katharine and R. J. Reynolds’s 34,000-square-foot home. Its collection is a chronology of American art and featured exhibitions are offered in the Museum’s Babcock Wing Gallery and historic house bedrooms. The Gardens serve as a 134-acre outdoor horticultural oasis open to the public year-round, complete with colorful formal gardens, nature trails and a greenhouse. In the Village, the estate’s historic buildings are now home to a vibrant mix of boutiques, restaurants, shops and services. Plan your visit at reynolda.org and use the free mobile app Reynolda Revealed to self-tour the estate.