NEW EXHIBIT OPENS IN CAMPUS GALLERY

KATIE HIRV, STAFF WRITER

“What’s really fascinating about this collection is that there’s a lot of great artworks by people that many people are familiar with, like they hear the name ‘Picasso,” they hear the name ‘Matisse,’ there’s a print by Dali … to have something like that here is kind of a great way to give an all-encompassing look at artwork,” Kramer-Weston said.

The new collection within the gallery, a selection from the artwork collection of Robert H. Knox, exposes viewers to a wide variety of art styles from various time periods.

“The title, ‘Shifting Definitions of Beauty,’ is kind of roughly how artwork changed over time and to different kinds of styles,” Johanna Kramer-Weston, Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery director, said.

Knox is a guest lecturer of art history at Wartburg College. The artwork on display is from Knox’s personal collection.

As an art historian, Knox has completed an immense amount of research. The pieces on display vary and include German expressionists, which were primarily pieces that were created before World War II, Kramer-Weston said.

“To hear about the stories that led up to World War II and the Holocaust and everything and how those pieces of artwork kind of embedded themselves into history like that … I like the idea that artwork can infuse itself and intertwines with history,” Kramer-Weston said. “Artists find a way to express and interpret the world that’s around them all the time.”

The Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery is located on the ground floor of the Bachman Fine Arts Center on campus. The current exhibit will remain on display until Oct. 27 with a new display will open in November. The gallery is free and open to the public.

“To have works by Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and other incredible artists in our small gallery is just impressive,” Emma Williams, a third-year graphic design and studio art major at Wartburg, said. “This space is something every student on campus needs to go and see.”