BOOK CLUB
Friday, May 7, 7pm
THE LAZARUS PROJECT by Aleksandar Hemon (2008)—MacArthur fellowship recipient Hemon interweaves the stories of two Eastern European immigrants in Chicago: 19-year-old Lazarus Averbuch, who is shot in 1908 by the Chicago police chief when he delivers the chief a note, and Vladimir Brik, who travels from Chicago to Eastern Europe a century later to uncover the truth about Averbuch’s life and death. The Wolfsonian Book Club explores literary works whose subjects are relevant to current exhibitions and collection themes. To become a member or to RSVP: 305.535.2644 or lydia@thewolf.fiu.edu. Free.
PERFORMANCE/SPECIAL EVENT
Friday, May 14, 7pm
THE GIFTS OF AMERICAN OPERA & SONG—The Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Studio performs works by American composers: Kurt Weill, Carlisle Floyd, Gian Carlo Menotti, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim. Meet and mingle with the performers following the concert for a wine reception. Preceding the concert at 6pm, join us for a guided tour of the +5 exhibition, which highlights acquisitions from the last five years. For more information: 305.535.2644 or lydia@thewolf.fiu.edu. Free for members and students, $5 all others.
TOUR
Friday, May 21, 6pm
DECO AND DESIGN TOUR—This two-hour adventure begins with a walking tour of the Art Deco District, then moves inside to explore The Wolfsonian’s collection. The tour focuses on architecture and the exhibition Art and Design in the Modern Age. Presented with the Miami Design Preservation League. Limited to 20. RSVP required: 305.535.2644 or lydia@thewolf.fiu.edu. Tour begins and ends at The Wolfsonian, $10 for members; $20 all others.
BOOK TALK
Friday, May 21, 7pm
LAST CALL: THE RISE AND FALL OF PROHIBITION—Join author and former public editor of The New York Times Daniel Okrent for a discussion of his latest book, an exploration of the virtues, failures, and politics of Prohibition, “America’s noble experiment.” A starred review from Publishers Weekly calls this look at the years 1919-1933, during which the sale and consumption of alcohol was prohibited by a constitutional amendment, “assiduously researched, well-written, and continually eye-opening.” Book signing to follow in The Dynamo Café. For more information: 305.535.2644 or lydia@thewolf.fiu.edu. Free for members; $10 all others.
ON VIEW
+5: RECENT ACQUISITIONS FROM THE WOLFSONIAN COLLECTION
On the occasion of its fifteenth anniversary, The Wolfsonian presents an exhibition showcasing the dynamic growth of its collection over the past five years. The objects on view, acquired through donation or purchase since 2006, include decorative arts, architectural elements, books, posters, and printed ephemera. The new acquisitions strengthen and broaden the collection’s core themes, including design reform, urbanism, travel and transportation, advertising, and political propaganda. Highlights include rare works such as a tabletop sculpture by Gio Ponti and Tomaso Buzzi designed for the Italian Foreign Ministry and produced by Richard-Ginori; a large unusual Teco bottle vase with swirled base; a historically significant oak sideboard for the Oak Parlour in Old Heath Hall by Thomas Jeckyll; exceptional art moderne paintings, songbooks, and other works from the Mac Harshberger archive; and delicate watercolors of local scenes created during the New Deal as part of the Florida Art Project.
ADVERTISING FOR HEALTH
ONGOING AS PART OF ART AND DESIGN IN THE MODERN AGE
Advertising for Health explores nearly a century of advertising for medicine, pharmacy, and public health. The installation features rare advertisements, printed ephemera, and posters from a recent gift by William H. Helfand, a recognized author and print collector. Together with a selection of printed materials and objects from a rarely-exhibited segment of The Wolfsonian collection, these works reflect through their design strategies changing ideas about health in the Americas and Europe between the late nineteenth century and the Second World War.
Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
BERNARR MACFADDEN AND THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL CULTURE MOVEMENT: SELECTIONS FROM THE GIFT OF ROBERT J. YOUNG
ON VIEW IN THE MUSEUM’S RARE BOOK AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY VESTIBULE
This installation commemorates the recent passing of Robert J. Young, a long-time supporter of The Wolfsonian, with a selection of physical culture material he generously donated over the years. Young was an advocate of healthy living through attention to physical fitness, proper diet, sunbathing, and eschewing smoking. He was also a great admirer and collector of the publications of Bernarr Macfadden (1868–1955), a pioneer of the American physical culture movement, a body-builder, and a self-made millionaire. Macfadden used his publishing empire to distribute popular magazines and books that championed his crusade against Victorian prudery, exposed early twentieth-century medical establishment quackery, and advocated better living through a healthy diet and physical fitness.
ART AND DESIGN IN THE MODERN AGE: SELECTIONS FROM THE WOLFSONIAN COLLECTION
ONGOING
The Wolfsonian–FIU holds an astounding collection of modern objects—both the rare and the overlooked—from the 1885 to 1945 era, demonstrating the active role design plays in motivating actions, expressing ideas, creating desires, and shaping identities. Exhibition themes underscore designers’ responses to new materials and technologies, the role of graphic design as an instrument of political and commercial persuasion, and the nature of state-sponsored public art and architecture programs.
About The Wolfsonian–Florida International University
The Wolfsonian is a museum, library, and research center that uses objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design, to explore what it means to be modern, and to tell the story of social, historical, and technological changes that have transformed our world. The collections comprise approximately 120,000 objects from the period of 1885 to 1945—the height of the Industrial Revolution to the end of the Second World War—in a variety of media including furniture; industrial-design objects; works in glass, ceramics, and metal; rare books; periodicals; ephemera; works on paper; paintings; textiles; and medals.
The Wolfsonian is located at 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL. Admission is $7 for adults; $5 for seniors, students, and children age 6 -12; and free for Wolfsonian members, State University System of Florida staff and students with ID, and children under six. The Wolfsonian will begin its summer schedule May 1 and continue through September 15, 2010.
The Wolfsonian will be open Thursday from noon-6pm; Friday from noon to 9pm; Saturday and Sunday from noon-6pm; and will be closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Contact us at 305.531.1001 or visit online at www.wolfsonian.org for further information.
The Wolfsonian receives ongoing support from The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; the William J. and Tina Rosenberg Foundation; Continental Airlines, the Official Airline of The Wolfsonian–FIU; Bacardi USA, Inc.; and Arrowood Vineyards & Winery.