Coming into View showcases sixteen oil paintings from the museum’s permanent collection—half landscapes and half portraits. These paintings highlight the incredible collaborative work that goes on every day behind the scenes at this university museum.

Many of these paintings have never been displayed to the public before. Some had incomplete information, and others needed special care and conservation. However, class research assignments, intern projects, and graduate assistant work have uncovered fascinating details and even allowed us to correct misinformation about the painting or artist. Course visits—where students engage personally with these works of art—highlight their importance. Scholarship has led to specialty conservation, and collaborations have brought new perspectives to bear on the techniques, meaning, and relevance of each piece.

This exhibition underlines how students and academics are a vital part of our museum’s mission to share new stories and gain better understanding of our collection.
Header Image: Lloyd Branson, “Landscape with Stream,” 1906. Oil on panel. 1962.20.1

Masterful Mammals showcases the breadth of the McClung’s natural history print collection by highlighting works from John James Audubon’s folio Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America.

The prints, taken from Volumes 1 through 3 of Audubon’s books, were completed with the help of his son John Woodhouse Audubon. They highlight the new standard of zoological documentation that occurred during the mid-nineteenth century as artists moved away from observing specimens, taxidermy animals, or animals in captivity, and began to illustrate live animals and plants in the field.

The mini exhibition features eighteen prints from Audubon’s portfolio along with seven selected texts. These prints depict a range of North American mammals in their natural habitat, at times incorporating native flora and male and female specimens to contextualize the animals. Many of the prints in this exhibition will be on display for the first time.

Curated by Sadie Counts, McClung Museum Exhibitions and Curatorial Graduate Assistant