Mr. Pergolesi's Curious Things
This exhibition was on display from October 01, 2022 to January 29, 2023.
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In Western architecture and design, the term “ornament” refers to purely decorative embellishment, compelling patterns and motifs that add visual interest to whatever they adorn. As with any art form, different styles of ornament go in and out of fashion, responding to popular tastes and trends. In late 18th-century Britain, innovative architects and designers, energized by archaeological discoveries at sites like Pompeii, embraced a neoclassical style that employed ornament inspired by artifacts from ancient Greece and Rome. This exhibition showcases fanciful drawings and prints by Michel Angelo Pergolesi (died 1801), an Italian-born artist whose professional specialty, in his words, was “the ornaments of the ancients.” In the early 1760s, Pergolesi moved to London, England, where he helped popularize a visual vocabulary of elegant, airy decoration inflected with the art of antiquity that came to define British neoclassicism. Today, the best representation of his work is found in New York City: drawings and prints held at Cooper Hewitt and the Morgan Library & Museum show how Pergolesi transformed ancient relics—what he called “curious things”—into charming decorative motifs. Although his name is now largely forgotten, these rarely seen works call attention to Pergolesi’s legacy, to the Beaux-Arts neoclassical decoration of Cooper Hewitt’s historic mansion (built 1897–1902), and to the ways in which ornament of all kinds enlivens our built environment.
Mr. Pergolesi’s Curious Things: Ornament in 18th-Century Britain is made possible with generous support from the Marks Family Foundation Endowment Fund.
This exhibition is organized by Julia Siemon, Assistant Curator of Drawings, Prints & Grpahic Design.
Exhibition design by Field Guide Architecture. Graphic design by Kelly Sung.
We are thankful to all who directly or indirectly made this exhibition possible.
- Drawing, Study for Plate 2 (nos. 4-6) in "Designs for Various Ornaments"
- pen and brown ink, pen and black ink, graphite, red chalk with three....
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York.
- 2.2022.1
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Study for Plate 39 (nos. 204-217) in "Designs for Various Ornaments"
- pen and black ink, pen and brown ink, graphite, rectangle of laid paper and....
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York.
- 2.2022.2
- Drawing, Ornament Scrapbook Page
- pen and brown ink, pen and black ink, graphite, on five rectangles of paper....
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York.
- 2.2022.3
- There are 3 images of this object.
- Drawing, Elevation of a Closet at Syon House, Middlesex. Study for Plate 64...
- pen and black ink and wash, graphite on laid paper, red chalk on verso. lined....
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York.
- 2.2022.4
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Interior Elevation with Chimney and Benches
- pen and brown ink, graphite, pen and blue-gray ink, red chalk on verso on....
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York.
- 2.2022.5
- Bound Volume, Designs for various ornaments : vases, figures, medallions,...
- 70 plates, engravings on laid paper, bound in 3/4 black morocco, in black....
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York. Gift of Henry S. Morgan, 1965.
- 2.2022.6
- Box Of Unbound Prints, Collection of original designs of vases, figures,...
- 60 engraved plates in 12 fascicles in original purple wrappers, plus one....
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York. Purchased as the gift of Mrs. Christian H.....
- 2.2022.7
- There are 3 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Rinceau Panel between Roman Standards
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor, over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1418
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 4 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Roman Shield, Panels, and Lunette
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1421
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Patera and Roman Standards
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1430
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Shield and Roman Standards
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1432
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Roman Standards and Rinceau Panel with Griffons
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1436
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Two Panels and Urn with Vulcan
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1433
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Roman Altar Dedicated to Mars and Roman Standards
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1439
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Cameo of a Veiled Priest and Roman Standards
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1442
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Tripod and Roman Standards
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1443
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Urns and Lunette Panel with Swans
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1449
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design with Female Portrait Cameo
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1452
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Portland Vase and Cameos
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1463
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Copy of the Portland Vase Vase
- stoneware.
- Gift of Mrs. Frederick F. Thompson.
- 1915-30-1
- This object was made by Josiah Wedgwood and Sons.
- This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
- There are 7 images of this object.
- Side Chair (Probably Northern Italy)
- wood, paint, gilding, textile.
- Gift of the Countess Costantini.
- 1924-6-1
- This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
- There are 3 images of this object.
- Black Basalt Covered Urn Urn
- stoneware ("black basalt").
- Bequest of Erskine Hewitt.
- 1938-57-301-a/d
- This object was made by Wedgwood.
- This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
- There are 20 images of this object.
- Book Illustration, Collection of original designs of vases, figures,...
- 70 leaves of plates : all ill., engravings.
- Collection of Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
- 5.2022.3
- There are 55 images of this object.
- Bell Krater Krater
- earthenware.
- Gift of Mrs. Leo Wallerstein.
- 1957-23-2
- This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
- There are 7 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design, Anthemion Panel and Roman Standards
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1446
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Drawing, Ornament Design with Male Portrait Cameo
- pen and ink, brush and watercolor over graphite on laid paper.
- Gift of Unknown Donor.
- 1980-32-1453
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Book Illustration, L’antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures,...
- H x W: 45 × 61 cm (17 11/16 in. × 24 in.).
- 5.2022.2
- Bound Print, Interior View of the Library at Sion [Syon] House
- engraving on paper.
- Museum purchase from the Smithson Fund.
- 1981-36-3-2
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.