Guest curated by Paul F. Miller, Curator, The Preservation Society of Newport County
Paintings of interior rooms, in addition to being a record of worldly possessions and architecture, are a relatively new chapter in art history. In the best of these works a genre becomes evident; the rooms are conveyed unoccupied but as if the residents have only just stepped into the next room, their presence and taste is suggested through the artist’s observation of the arrangement of inanimate objects. This exhibition in the Van Alen Gallery included interior landscapes of Newport houses by Walter Gay, David Mode Payne, and Mstislav Dobujinsky as well as contemporary artists working in and continuing the legacy of this genre. To further appreciate the settings evoked, two vignettes containing decorative arts directly from or in the spirit of works were on display.
