Four hundred years after Galileo Galilei became the first astronomer to look through a telescope, this exhibition uses early lunar maps, star charts, and groundbreaking treatises by scientists such as Galileo, Johannes Kepler, and Sir Isaac Newton to examine the necessity of close observation and illustration in the development of astronomy.

The works on view, drawn entirely from the Allen Memorial Art Museum and the Oberlin College Library, equally explore the allure of the sky across diverse times and cultures, from the omnipresent full moon in Japanese prints to the imaginative, personalized cosmologies of modern and contemporary artists such as Joseph Cornell, Ansel Adams, James Rosenquist, and Vija Celmins.

The exhibition demonstrates how two distinct disciplines converge as both astronomers and artists struggle— as the earliest scientists and stargazers did—with fundamental questions about space, time, and the human place in an expanding universe.

Funding for the exhibition was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Curated by Anna-Claire Stinebring ’09