By Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD

One of the things that I enjoy most as a curator is discovering and learning about artists and works of art that are new to me, and then sharing what I’ve found with museum visitors. The exhibition Southern/Modern is the result of this curiosity. 

Nell Choate Jones (1879-1981). Georgia Red Clay, 1946, oil on canvas. Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA. 1989.01094

While the South’s contributions to American literature and music during the first half of the 20th century have long been recognized, the region’s visual arts have remained underappreciated. A curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art famously scoffed in 1949, “little of artistic merit was made south of Baltimore.” To date there have been very few major exhibitions to survey the region’s art, and none that have focused on the modern period during which the South has traditionally been seen, as noted by The Met’s curator, as a kind of artistic backwater.

The inception of an exhibition

While the general public likely does not consider the time it takes to bring a special exhibition to life, the fact is that most are the product of years of behind-the-scenes work. This can involve visits to other museums and private collections, preparing grant applications, creating object checklists, drafting loan requests, working with authors and publishers, and more — and that’s all before the art even arrives in the building! A typical exhibition containing numerous loans like Southern/Modern likely takes a minimum of three to four years to develop. Southern/Modern, however, has been in the works for over a decade!

Elaine Kooning (1918-89). Black Mountain #6, 1948, enamel on paper mounted on canvas. The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY. Museum purchase. 1991.20.

I began thinking about this exhibition in 2008 as I got to know the Mint’s collection in depth in preparation for its reinstallation at the soon-to-open Mint Museum Uptown. As I dug into the Mint’s holdings and began to meet other colleagues at museums in the region, I found myself constantly surprised to encounter outstanding works of art by artists from the South who I had not heard of and who were not part of the mainstream history of American art. I thought that the best way to share this knowledge would be to organize an exhibition that brought together the best of this work, which had been studied and exhibited within the region but not benefitted from being brought together and seen as a whole.

To ensure that we were creating an inclusive and comprehensive survey, co-curator Martha Severens and I crowdsourced colleagues across the Southeast asking for feedback on our initial checklist to see what was missing. We also decided that while the majority of the artists in the exhibition lived, worked, and taught in the South, it also would be important to include the work of others from outside the region who created meaningful bodies of work based on their experiences and time in the South, such as Thomas Hart Benton, Jacob Lawrence, and Eldzier Cortor. We also included artists like Romare Bearden, who left the South at an early age but whose work consistently referred to his memories and experiences in the South. With many conversations and a great deal of research, Southern/Modern came together. 

While some of the work in Southern/Modern shows artists engaging with modernism by pushing their works towards simplification of form, bold coloration, and ultimately abstraction, many of the artists focused on addressing topics relevant to the era. Their works were “modern” in the progressive sense of calling attention to contemporary issues and often advocating for social change. Race, gender, urban growth, industrial development, land use and the environment, religion, family, social change, class differences … all of these topics can be found throughout the exhibition.

A painting of a woman in a black dress in a field of white, flanked by trees with a yellow sky background, staring at a black panther in the distance.

Carroll Cloar (1913-93). “A Story Told by My Mother,” 1955, casein tempura on Masonite. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN. Bequest of Mrs. C.M. Gooch. 80.3.16. ©Estate of Carroll Cloar.

The exhibition not only depicts life in the South then, but makes apparent how relevant these same issues in the South are today. It features 100 paintings, prints, and drawings, gathered from over 50 public and private collections, which are significant for both their artistic merit and subject matter. We hope that after visiting Southern/Modern you will have a better appreciation for the powerful art created in the South during the first half of the 20th century and be inspired to think more about your own relationship to the South and what it means to be a “modern” Southerner in 2024.

Southern/Modern is generously presented in Charlotte by Wells Fargo and the Dowd Foundation. Major support for the tour and exhibition catalogue are provided by the Henry Luce Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Betsy and Alfred Brand Fund at The Mint Museum. Individual sponsorship is kindly provided by Julie Boldt and Dhruv Yadav, Lucy and Hooper Hardison, Posey and Mark Mealy, and Rocky and Curtis Trenkelbach.

Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, is the senior curator of American Art at The Mint Museum.

This article originally appeared in the fall 2024 issue of Inspired magazine, the Mint’s member magazine.

Carroll Cloar (1913-93).A Story Told by My Mother, 1955, casein tempera onMasonite. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN. Bequest of Mrs.C.M. Gooch. 80.3.16© Estate of Carroll Cloar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | IMAGES HERE

The Mint Museum announces Southern/Modern, the first exhibition to present a comprehensive survey of works by artists working in the American South in the first half of the 20th century

Charlotte, North Carolina (June 25, 2024) — The Mint Museum is proud to present the exhibition Southern/Modern, opening October 26 at Mint Museum Uptown. The exhibition is the first to provide a comprehensive survey of progressive art created in the American South during the first half of the 20th century.

Created in collaboration with Georgia Museum of Art, the exhibition includes more than 100 paintings and works on paper by artists working in states below the Mason-Dixon line and as far west as those bordering the Mississippi River, as well as some artists living outside of the region who made significant bodies of work during visits.

Curated by the Mint’s Senior Curator of American Art Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, and independent scholar Martha Severens, Southern/Modern takes a broad view of the South and is structured around key themes that traverse geographic regions, including time and place, race, family ties, and social struggles. It also takes a broad, inclusive view of the art of the region, incorporating the creativity and talent of women artists and artists of color across its various thematic sections to provide a fuller, richer, and more accurate overview of the artistic activity in the American South at the time.

“The vision for Southern/Modern to include works by artists working in the South in the early 20th century, including works by women and artists of color, opens the door for honest conversation about Southern culture during this period of time,” says Todd Herman, president and CEO at The Mint Museum. “This exhibition is a continuation of the Mint’s commitment to give space to artists with diverse backgrounds, stories, and talent that have been overshadowed in the past.”

Artists in the exhibition include Romare Bearden, John Biggers, Dusti Bonge, Carroll Cloar, Marie Hull, Jacob Lawrence, Blanche Lazzell, John McCrady, Will Henry Stevens, Hale Woodruff, “among many others both well-known and awaiting further discovery,” Stuhlman says.

Southern/Modern began as an idea over a decade ago as I came to know our collection and other collections in the region and gained a deep appreciation for the art that I was discovering. It has truly been a pleasure and an enriching journey of discovery to bring this exhibition to life and I am both excited to share it with the public and deeply appreciative of all the private collectors and museums who generously lent their works to us,” Stuhlman says. “It was also a pleasure to work with the scholars who lent their time, talent, and insight to the informative and beautifully designed publication accompanying the show.”

Southern/Modern debuted at Georgia Museum of Art June 17-December 10, 2023 and traveled to the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee in January 2024, then to Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee in July 2024 before opening October 26 at The Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, published by the University of North Carolina Press, containing more than 175 rich illustrations and a dozen essays by contributing curators and leading art scholars.

Southern/Modern in Charlotte is generously presented by Wells Fargo, with additional support from the Dowd Foundation. Lead grant support for the exhibition is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation with additional funding from the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Andrew Wyeth Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Betsy and Alfred Brand Fund at The Mint Museum.

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The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

 

Contacts:
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clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c)

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications
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