Exhibition ~ "Piranesi's Rome: Views of the Eternal City"

The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington, in collaboration with the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery at George Washington University, presents “Piranesi’s Rome: Views of the Eternal City“, an exhibition curated by Professor Rachel Pollack and Olivia Kohler-Maga, Assistant Director of the Brady Art Gallery, showcasing Giovanni Battista Piranesi‘s 18th century masterful etchings in The George Washington University Collection.

Piranesi was more than a mere printmaker. He was a visionary architect and proto-archaeologist who set the tone for how successive generations comprehend ancient Rome. He was also a visionary artist whose cinemagraphic sensibilities inspired artists such as M.C. Escher (1898-1972), Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978), and the expressionist filmmaker Fritz Lang (1890-1976). Piranesi’s sphere of influence is far reaching and resonates across time and the boundaries of Italy.

Come see this exhibition and learn more about Piranesi’s position in the canon of western art, the ways in which his art anticipates nineteenth century Romanticism and even twentieth century Modernism, and how his vast oeuvre of over 1000 individual etchings continue to shape our vision of both ancient and modern Rome.

Dates may be subject to change. Please check your email before coming on the day of your appointment to make sure last minute changes were not necessary due to unforeseeable circumstances.

LOCATION : Embassy of Italy - 3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

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ABOUT THE CURATORS

ABOUT DR. RACHEL POLLACK

Dr. Rachel Pollack is a professor at George Washington University’s University Writing Program and has taught courses for the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and the University Honors Program. She has a PhD in Art History from the University of Maryland where she specialized in Northern Baroque art with a subspecialty in Greco-Roman sculpture. She has authored catalogue entries for exhibitions related to 17th century Dutch masters, as well as for The Leiden Collection in New York and the George and Linda Kaufman Collection. Most recently, she curated two micro-exhibitions at the The Textile Museum and published an article in the Textile Museum Journal on 17th century English embroidery in the museum’s collection. Her most recent exhibition at the Luther W. Brady Gallery, Piranesi’s Rome: Views of the Eternal City, is co-curated by her students at GW and her Summer 2024 GW class ‘Discovering the Romans’. Pollack is also a watercolor artist and is an active contributor to Arte Studio Ginestrelle in Assisi, Italy, where she exhibits her work at their Annual Fall Show (2018-Present).

ABOUT DR. OLIVIA KOHLER-MAGA

Olivia Kohler-Maga is the Assistant Director of the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery at the George Washington University. She organizes exhibitions using and related to the GW Collection with a particular interest in prints and sculpture. She is interested in unexpected juxtapositions between media and collaborators and has recently produced crossover projects between the GW Collection and the Department of Theater and Dance and a local theater company and another with the GW Medical School.

ABOUT THE LUTHER W. BRADY ART GALLERY

The Luther W. Brady Art Gallery is an educational art gallery whose mission to collect, preserve, and exhibit the George Washington University’s art collection is augmented by quality exhibitions of contemporary and historic art that activate and complement the GW Collection and reflect the greater Washington, D.C. region.

The Brady Art Gallery has staged groundbreaking solo exhibitions of artists such as Jules Olitski, Howard Hodgkin, and Sean Scully. Exhibitions such as Along the Eastern Road: Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido and The Art of Collection: Gifts of the Luther W. Brady Estate offer global visions. The Brady Art Gallery provides numerous opportunities for collaboration and integration into the university’s academic programs by working with students and the GW Collection.

The GW Collection, a dynamic and varied collection of over 5,000 works, has been growing since 1821 and serves curriculum-based learning and provides the basis for public programs for the wider community. The addition of the Corcoran Study Collection has provided even more resources for the display and study of art in the Corcoran Flagg building to engage with students and faculty.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Embassy of Italy, 3000 Whitehaven Street Northwest, Washington, United States