UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 27, Page 1
April 16, 1992
Faculty expertise showcased in Guercino symposium

     Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1591-1661), better known as Guercino
or the "Squinter," a renowned Italian painter and one of the most
brilliant draftsmen in Western art, will be the subject of a public
symposium, jointly sponsored by the University of Delaware, the
Delaware Art Museum and the National Gallery of Art on April 24-25.
     Part of the 400th anniversary commemoration of Guercino's birth,
the symposium will begin at 10 a.m., April 24, with a day-long session
at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, which received a grant for
the speakers from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. That evening, from
6-7, there will be a reception and the opening of the exhibition
"Mostly Baroque: Italian Paintings and Drawings from the Carlo Croce
Collection." Admission is free, but registration is required. To
register, call 571-9590 before April 17.
     On April 25, participants are invited to view the exhibitions,
"Guercino: Master Painter of the Baroque" and "Guercino: Drawings from
Windsor Castle," beginning at 10 a.m., at the National Gallery in
Washington, D.C. The afternoon session of the symposium will begin at
2 p.m. there. Registration is not required.
     According to William I. Homer, H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Art
History and chairperson of the department, "Although the University
has collaborated with its neighboring institution, the Delaware Art
Museum, this is its first professional involvement with the National
Gallery. Through this event, we wish to demonstrate that the
department is committed to European art as well American art--its
traditional strength," he said.
     David Stone, assistant professor of art history at the
University, and a Guercino expert, has been largely responsible for
initiating the symposium and for the University's participation, Homer
said.
     Stone has studied Guercino for many years and wrote his
dissertation on him and art theory for his doctorate at Harvard
University.
     In 1991, he organized a major exhibition of Guercino's drawings,
"Guercino, Master Draftsman: Work from the North American
Collections," which was shown at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at
Harvard University, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the
Cleveland Museum of Art. Stone also wrote the exhibition's 254-page
catalog, with 300 illustrations.
     Recently, he completed a catalog of the complete works of
Guercino, which was published in Italy.
     He is serving as guest curator for the Delaware Art Museum
exhibition.
     Acting as a consultant for the National Gallery in mounting the
Guercino exhibitions, Stone wrote the brochure to accompany Guercino's
paintings and gave a lecture there March 15, on "Color and Narrative
in the Art of Guercino." He will speak on Guercino's preparatory
drawings April 25th at the National Gallery.
     Other participants include Stephen T. Bruni, Delaware Art Museum,
who will open the conference; Louise Rice, Columbia University;
Carolyn Wood, University of Georgia; Ann Sutherland Harris, University
of Pittsburg; Stephane Loire, Musee du Louvre, Paris; Giovanna Perini,
Accademia Clementina, Bologna; Richard E. Spear, Oberlin College; Gail
Feigenbaum and Diane De Grazia, National Gallery of Art.
     The exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum will run from April
24-June 14. The exhibitions at the National Gallery, will run until
May 17.
     -Sue Swyers Moncure