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ETV Programs Highlight Upcoming "Turner to Cezanne" Exhibit
at the Columbia Museum of Art

For Immediate Release
February 23, 2009

Columbia, SC… Throughout March and into April, ETV is airing a full slate of television and radio programs that will give South Carolinians a unique perspective on what could arguably be called the biggest art exhibit to hit the state in years: "Turner to Cezanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection." The exhibit, which includes paintings by some of the world's most celebrated artists--Manet, Monet, Renoir and van Gogh, just to name a few--makes its American debut at the Columbia Museum of Art on March 6.

Thanks to a grant from Visit Wales (the National Wales Tourist Agency) and the Columbia Museum of Art, an ETV production crew traveled to Wales last October for a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most important collections of Impressionist paintings in existence, and Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, the Welsh women and avid art collectors who made it all possible. From Gregynog Hall, the center of the Davies sisters' philanthropic activities, to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, the permanent home of the collection, ETV introduces viewers to the remarkable women who used their wealth not only to amass these master works of art, but to also take on many of the cultural, educational and social causes of their day.

Abounding with footage from the trip, ETV's crew members returned to produce a lineup of television and radio programs, as well as a special Web site that includes a photo gallery of some of the collection's most famous paintings and a series of audio and video podcasts about the exhibit.

Coverage includes:

TELEVISION

On Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m., ETV premieres "Turner to Cezanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection," a half-hour documentary that profiles the Davies' sisters, and their many achievements both in the art world, and on the world stage. Their philanthropic efforts ranged from helping educate their countrymen through support of the University of Wales, to running a canteen for French troops in World War I, and allowing Gregynog Hall to become a convalescent home in World War II. They founded the Gregynog Music Festival and the Gregynog Press, both of which are still going strong today.

But it was their efforts in collecting Impressionist and post- Impressionist art that was their greatest contribution. From 1908 to 1923, Gwendoline and Margaret Davies brought together an extensive and amazing collection of Realist, Impressionist and post- Impressionist artworks, from Romantic naturalism through the pre-cursors of what we now call abstract art. Their collection, bequeathed to the National Museum in Wales, helped establish the character of the museum and continues to provide critical insight into the development of modern art in Europe.

This ETV program also samples some of the 53 works that are part of the Columbia Museum of Art's exhibit, guided by Oliver Fairclough, Keeper of the Art Collections at the National Museum of Wales, and Dr. Bradford Collins of the USC Art Department.

Encore presentations of this program will air on:

• Sunday, Mar. 29 at 3:30 p.m. (ETV)
• Thursday, April 2 at 5:30 p.m. (South Carolina Channel)
• Thursday, April 16 at 10:30 p.m. (ETV)
• Thrusday, April 23 at 4:30 a.m. (ETV)

Purchase a copy of the program

In April, The Big Picture will feature the exhibit as part of its show dedicated to South Carolina's burgeoning arts scene. The Big Picture airs every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (Date TBA)

RADIO:

"Your Day," a co-production of ETV Radio and Clemson University, will interview Karen Brosius, executive director of the Columbia Museum of Art, just prior to the exhibit's grand opening (Date TBA).

"Your Day" will feature another segment about this groundbreaking exhibit on Monday, March 23 at noon, and will include interviews with Todd Herman, chief curator at the Columbia Museum of Art, and Oliver Fairclough, "Keeper of Art" at the National Museum Wales.

On Friday, March 13 at noon, historian Walter Edgar will provide his unique perspectives as he also interviews Herman about the Turner to Cezanne exhibit, and about the Impressionist art movement of the 19th century on Walter Edgar's Journal.

In April, The Big Picture on the Radio, the companion program to the television show, will continue its conversation about the arts in South Carolina. The Big Picture on the Radio can be heard Fridays at 1 p.m. on ETV Radio's NPR news formats. (Date TBA)

WEB:

ETV and the Columbia Museum of Art have partnered on creating a joint Web site (www.myetv.org/turnertocezanne) that will feature a photo gallery of selected works contained in the exhibit, and of the Davies' sisters.

The site will also include video and audio podcasts that can be used to enhance viewers' enjoyment and understanding of the paintings, and that have been designed to work equally well as a supplement to the Web site, or downloaded and used during a visit to the Columbia museum's exhibit.

Additionally, visitors can stream on demand any of the television or radio programs after their initial broadcast date.

The exhibition is organized by the American Federation for the Arts and the National Museum Wales. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.

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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.

La Parisienne, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Image courtesy of the American Federation of Arts.

Waterlilies, by Claude Monet. Image courtesy of the American Federation of Arts.

Margaret Davies. Photo courtesy of Lord Davies.

Gwendoline Davies. Photo courtesy of Lord Davies.