Upcoming VMFA exhibits to feature Napoleon, Portugal, notable black photographers, and more

With a variety of galleries and spaces to exhibit art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will hold host to a myriad of upcoming exhibits in the coming seasons. Here’s a look at what to expect from May through this fall at the museum.

Truthful Witnessing: The Black Photographers Annual, Volume 3 | May 12–Oct. 14, 2018

Truthful Witnessing is the third installation in a series of exhibitions exploring the four volumes of the Black Photographers Annual, published between 1973 and 1980, featuring a range of artists, including Anthony Barboza, Adger Cowans, Roy DeCarava, Beauford Smith and Ming Smith. This series of exhibitions is sponsored by Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher and Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher and is curated by Dr. Sarah Eckhardt, associate curator of modern and contemporary art at VMFA. Photography Gallery; free.

Contemporary Art from Portugal | May 19­–July 22, 2018

To commemorate the state visit of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of Portugal, in June 2018, this exhibition presents the work of six Portuguese artists, whose paintings, photographs and other works on paper were chosen to reflect the range and vitality of contemporary art in Portugal. The 20 featured works of art are coming on loan from the Fundação Luso-Americana (Luso-American Development Foundation), a private foundation created in 1986 with the mission of strengthening cultural and economic ties between Portugal and the United States. Curated by Dr. Michael Taylor, VMFA’s chief curator and deputy director for art and education. Works on Paper Gallery; free.

Napoleon: Power and Splendor | June 9–Sept. 3, 2018

More than 200 works of art—many of which have never before been exhibited in the United States—reveal the intricacies of Napoleon’s household and the role it played in crafting the Emperor’s image. Works from the Château de Fontainebleau, the Louvre, the Musée de l’Armée in Paris, and other collections are included in this international loan exhibition. Organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, with the participation of the Château de Fontainebleau and the exceptional support of Mobilier national de France. Curated by Sylvain Cordier, curator of early decorative arts at Montreal Musuem of Fine Arts. The curator for the VMFA venue of this exhibition is Dr. Mitchell Merling, Paul Mellon curator and head of the department of European art. The exhibition program at VMFA is supported by the Julia Louise Reynolds Fund. Lower Level Exhibition Galleries; free for VMFA members, children ages 6 and under, active-duty military personnel and their immediate families, and Commonwealth of Virginia employees and K-12 teachers with ID; $16 for adults, $12 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for youth ages 7-17 and college students with ID.

The Precisionist Impulse | July 28-Nov. 12, 2018

Precisionism typically characterizes American paintings and works on paper produced between the two World Wars that employ a linear aesthetic, pronounced contours and localized colors to depict architectural, infrastructural, mechanical and often urban imagery. This exhibition of 18 watercolors, prints, drawings, photographs and paintings from VMFA’s collection demonstrates that this term may also describe work produced before 1915 and after 1945, and that the “impulse” also plays out in rural and non-architectural imagery. The Precisionist Impulse shows that, much as the camera crops, distills angles and exaggerates planes, so the 20th-century landscape provokes awe in some unlikely places. Curated by Dr. Leo Mazow, Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane curator of American art at VMFA. Works on Paper Gallery; free.

Howardena Pindell: What Remains To Be Seen | Aug. 25–Nov. 25, 2018

For nearly five decades, Howardena Pindell has explored the intersection of art and activism. This groundbreaking exhibition looks at the arc of this African American artist’s career through the presentation of paintings, video art and works on paper that celebrate her singular vision and its imprint upon abstract painting and conceptual art since the 1960s. This exhibition was organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and co-curated by MCA Curator Naomi Beckwith and Valerie Cassel Oliver, Sydney and Frances Lewis curator of modern and contemporary art at VMFA. Evans Court Exhibition Gallery and 21st Century Gallery; free.

Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa | Nov. 10, 2018 ­–Feb. 18, 2019

This innovative and visually compelling exhibition presents more than 130 masks from the vast Congo region of Africa (known today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Drawn from the finest and most comprehensive collection in private hands, these masks from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries are combined with film footage, field photographs, maps and musical instruments to highlight the performative aspect of these extraordinary works of art. Organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Congo Basin Art History Research Center, Brussels, Belgium. The exhibition program at VMFA is supported by the Julia Louise Reynolds Fund. Lower Level Exhibiton Galleries; Free for VMFA members, children ages 6 and under, active-duty military personnel and their immediate families; $16 for adults, $12 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for youth ages 7-17 and college students with ID.

Learn more about these exhibits and more here.