AT THE ALLEN / FALL 2024 / 5 ON VIEW / NORD & WILLARD-NEWELL GALLERIES / ONGOING GOLDEN LEGACIES: THE ART OF LUXURY The newly reinstalled Nord andWillard-Newell Galleries challenge modern perceptions that rank painting, sculpture, and architecture above the so-called “decorative arts,” emphasizing that luxury objects were integral to the artistic, political, and social landscapes of early modern Europe. The galleries reveal how these objects reflected power, reinforced social order, and adorned both public and domestic spaces. Visitors are invited to consider the complex histories behind the production of luxury goods and their lasting cultural impacts. Nord: Luxury andArt Turned-ivory, enameled silver, tapestries, illuminated codices, ephemeral courtly spectacles, and polychromed sculpture are all examples of Medieval and Renaissance luxuries. Today, many people think of functional luxury objects—known as the “decorative arts”—as a “minor” art form and hold painting, sculpture, and architecture in higher esteem. This dismissive hierarchical distinction between “luxury” and “art,” however, is a modern inclination that did not exist for early modern audiences. In most Medieval and Renaissance buildings—whether a palace, church, or civic structure—painting, sculpture, and decorative arts often occupied the same space. These artworks worked together as multisensorial ensembles. To isolate and rank one art form above A student examines a Peruvian cross from the 18th century. Students discuss works on view in a newly-installed case. MIKE CRUPI another, is to misunderstand the function of early modern art. Throughout Europe, wealthy patrons used luxury arts as symbols of their magnificenza (an Aristotelian virtue and a noble expression of a ruler’s power and generosity through the commissioning of art, architecture, and ephemeral spectacles). Luxury was far from superfluous. These art forms were used to establish political allegiances and reinforce social order. Willard-Newell: Shades of Gold This gallery highlights European traditions in art spanning the 17th and 18th centuries. Historically, many museums have referred to this period of artistic production as a “Golden Age.” Utilizing this term, however, romanticizes and perpetuates harmful rhetoric about this period and the role that early modern Europe played in colonialism, enslavement, and inequity. During this time European consumers clamored for imported spices and luxury objects made of rare and expensive materials like porcelain, mahogany, and ivory. Highlighting the preciousness of these goods, they commonly called porcelain—initially imported fromChina and Japan— “White Gold,” whereas ebony wood—imported fromDutch colonies in modern-day Sri Lanka, India, and Indonesia—was colloquially called “Black Gold.” These coveted luxury objects, however, were often made possible by despotic rulers and contributed to imbalanced and exploitative systems of commerce and labor. “Shades of Gold” asks viewers to consider each artwork’s opulence and technical mastery while questioning why these luxury goods were produced, what labor was exploited, and what narratives were celebrated.
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