The European Art Society was established in 2001 to further awareness and appreciation of thirteenth-century to early twentieth-century painting, sculpture, and works on paper. The group is devoted to the continued growth and development of the Museum’s collection, and to educating its members about European art in general, and the Museum’s collection specifically. Regular European Art Society events include the annual dinner, when members vote for an acquisition for the permanent collection; sneak previews and curator-led tours of all European art exhibitions and gallery reinstallations; enlightening connoisseurship sessions with leading experts; lunchtime lectures; and domestic and international travel opportunities.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP:
$500 per member
$250 per junior member (under 40)
Join us for an excursion to the High Museum's Annual Print Fair!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Join us for the second annual High Museum of Art Print Fair co-sponsored by the International Fine Print Dealers Association. This event is a rare opportunity to view fine original prints from a wide range of artists, from Old Masters including Rembrandt and Dürer to American artists such as John Sloan and Robert Rauschenberg to contemporary masters such as Kiki Smith and Chuck Close. All works are available for purchase.
The trip will be led by Jeannine O’Grody, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, and is open to all members of collection support groups, as well as Circle Level Museum members, the Members Board, and the Junior Patron Board.
We will be eating on the bus. You are free to pack your own lunch, or reserve a box lunch prepared by Oscar’s for $13.00. The cost of transportation will be approximately $40-$60 per person, depending on participation. To reserve your spot on this exciting trip and order a lunch, please contact Susan Powers at
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or 205-254-2567 no later than April 27, 2012
European Art Society Lunch and Learn
The Samuel H. Kress Lasting Legacy and the Birmingham Museum of Art
With Dario Zorza, student of Art History and History of Collecting, University of Padua; BMA intern
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sixty years after the inception of the BMA, we uncover the fascinating story that led to the Museum’s first large gift.
Gallery Tour with curators Jeannine O'Grody and Anne Forschler
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
European Art Society members were cordially invited to a private tour of our newly refurbished and expanded 18th-century European Galleries with curators Jeannine O'Grody and Anne Forschler.
Annual EAS Dinner
April 14, 2011
On Thursday, April 14, the European Art Society held its 8th Annual Dinner. Every two years members vote to spend the group’s accumulated dues on a work of art for the permanent collection. This year’s rousing vote was more competitive than ever before. In the end, a 17th century Dutch landscape by Allaert van Everdingen was chosen for purchase. A Mountainous River Landscape with Travelers, dating to the 1660s, is the Museum's first "traditional" Dutch landscape. Thanks to the generosity of loyal EAS member Patty McDonald, one of the other works under consideration was also able to stay at the Museum: an exceptional portrait of Hyacinthe Rigaud, engraved by Pierre Drevet in 1741.
Lunch and Learn
February 23, 2011
UAB Curatorial Fellow Nicole Jordan and Chief Curator and Curator of European Art Jeannine O'Grody discussed the Museum's Fall 2011 exhibition, Daumier: Art for the Masses, which will feature 150 prints from this master of 19th century art.
Trip to Spain's Basque Country and Madrid
September 21-29, 2010
In September 2010, European Art Society and upper level members joined Gail Andrews and Jeannine O’Grody on an eight-day trip to Spain. With stops in Bilbao, Segovia, Madrid, and Toledo, the group visited outstanding private collections including that of BBVA-Compass Bank; artists’ studios; and museums such as the Guggenheim Bilbao, Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Reina Sofia. During the evenings, discussions of the day’s highlights occurred while sampling tapas and txaktoli (a white wine from the Basque region). The travelers were obliged to spend an extra day in Madrid when a country-wide strike delayed their return to the U.S.!
A Celebration of Acquisitions: the Seventh Annual Dinner
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
European Art Society members enjoyed cocktails, a tour of the galleries by Chief Curator and Curator of European Art Jeannine O'Grody, and dinner with fellow EAS members.
Visit to frame maker Jose Manuel Garcia’s studio
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Did you catch the recent feature on José Manuel Garcia in the Black & White? We now have a master frame maker and conservator living in Birmingham. Spaniard Garcia moved from Madrid last year but continues to hand carve frames for museums such as the Prado, as well as private clients worldwide. Members of the European Art Society had the opportunity to visit his studio with curator Jeannine O’Grody and learned about the art of the frame.
Print connoisseurship with Armin Kunz, Director of C.G. Boerner in New York
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
European Art Society members enjoyed the rare opportunity to view 16th-19th century European prints “up close and personal” with no frames between them and the paper. Members learned how to spot a high quality print from one of the best eyes in the business.
All of the European Art Society membership dues support a purchase for the collection. The group holds an annual dinner in April when members vote on the acquisition. This exciting and festive event gives members a chance to voice their opinions and to celebrate the Museum’s growing collection of Old Master paintings, sculpture, and works on paper.
The group has purchased the following works for the Museum:
2004
The Finding of Moses
Cornelis van Poelenburgh, Dutch, (1594/95 - 1667)
Mid-seventeenth century
oil on copper
7 1/8 x 9 7/8 in. (18.1 x 25.1 cm)
Museum purchase with funds provided by the European Art Society
Considered the most important painter of the first generation of Dutch Italianate artists, Poelenburgh excelled at painting female nudes within biblical or mythological scenes set in Italianate landscapes bathed in warm southern light. Accordingly, although the title of our painting is "The Finding of Moses," clearly the subject is secondary to the depiction of the nudes in an Arcadian landscape with a panoramic view to the golden horizon. Poelenburgh lived in Italy from 1617-26 and was active both in Rome and in the Medici court in Florence. His paintings were among the most prized by the classically educated aristocracy of northern Europe.
2005
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Master i e, Germany, Colmar? (active 1480 - 1500)
End of the 15th century
engraving (single state)
8 1/2 x 5 9/16 in. (21.6 x 14.1 cm)
Museum purchase with funds provided by the European Art Society
The artist's name is derived from the inscribed monograph found on one of the fifty-five engravings attributed to this artist. Little is known of him, other than that he was a follower of the great early German engraver, Martin Schongauer (about 1450-1491).
This is an extremely rare print; only nine known impressions exist. An impression is a single printing from a plate. All of the prints by the Master i e are engravings. In this process the grooves that will hold the ink are cut into the copper or zinc plate with a sharp-pointed instrument called a burin. The strength of the line may be increased by cutting deeper into the plate. The elegant, controlled lines of this strong impression give the image its powerful simplicity.
2007
A Wooded Landscape with a Bacchic Scene
Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes, France, (1750 - 1819)
About 1810
oil on panel
15 15/16 x 21 7/8 in. (40.5 x 55.5 cm)
Museum purchase with funds provided by the European Art Society and Patty McDonald
This painting was made at an important time in the history of landscape painting. The artist, Valenciennes, was a leading proponent in the movement to elevate the significance and appreciation of landscape painting among artistic circles and the general public. Valenciennes's carefully ordered paintings reveal a commitment to the classical landscapes from centuries earlier. This painting is considered classicizing because it is organized with distinctly receding planes: there is a foreground, middle ground, and background, with the scale of the figures diminishing sharply to lead the viewer's eye to the indistinct hills in the distance. Also, the figures at the right probably depict a scene from the writings of the ancient Roman poet, Virgil. Soon after Valenciennes, landscape painters in nineteenth-century France became less influenced by the past, and more concerned with evoking a mood, thought, or impression.
