Explore the Exhibition
Virtual Tour
Browse Selected Images
This exhibition presents a group of woodcuts, engravings, and etchings from the late 15th through late 18th centuries drawn from the Wetmore Collection at Connecticut College. The collection was assembled in the early 20th century by Fanny S. Wetmore, and bequeathed to the College in 1930. From familiar favorites like Dürer’s Adam and Eve and Rembrandt’s Three Trees to hidden gems like the gold-sprinkled surface of Maria Katharina Prestel’s Virtue Overcoming Vice, the show explores more than three centuries of artistic innovation on paper.
Although little is known of Wetmore herself, her collecting activities place her within a tradition dating back to the rise of printmaking in early modern Europe. The surging production of prints by the beginning of the 16th century represented a sea change for both artists and consumers. For artists, prints provided additional revenue, increased their personal fame, and offered greater latitude for experimentation outside the traditional patronage structure. For consumers, prints represented access to visual art on an unprecedented scale; even those who would never have been able to commission an independent work from a great artist could now readily obtain an engraving or an etching. Prints were easily transported, could be pasted up on walls or into albums, and even large collections of them took up relatively little room. And, with the rise of reproductive printmaking, even geographically distant or physically inaccessible artworks could be added to the collector’s “paper museum.”
This exhibition is the second in the Museum’s history to have been co-curated with Fairfield University students, and has been supported by generous funding from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
Curator:
Michelle DiMarzo, PhD
Curatorial assistants:
Image: Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve, 1504, engraving
Katherine Antico ‘25
Priya Banerjee ‘25
Caleigh Hopkins ‘24
Arabella Resto ‘24
Blessed Stephen ‘26
Virtual Tour
Browse Selected Images
Events listed below with a location are live, in-person programs. When possible, those events will also be streamed on thequicklive.com and the recordings posted to our YouTube channel.
Art in Focus: Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve, 1504
Thursday, September 19, 12 noon in-person, 1 p.m. streaming on thequicklive.com
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Hall Galleries
This event is currently sold out. To be added to the waitlist, please contact museum@fairfield.edu
Opening Night Lecture: Michelle DiMarzo, PhD, Exhibition Curator
Thursday, September 26, 5 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room and streaming on thequicklive.com
This event is currently sold out. To be added to the waitlist, please contact museum@fairfield.edu
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 26, 6-8 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Great Hall
Art in Focus: Marcantonio Raimondi and Raphael, Massacre of the Innocents, ca. 1511-1514
Thursday, October 10, 12 noon in-person, 1 p.m. streaming
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Hall Galleries and streaming on thequicklive.com
Lecture: Shirley Mueller, MD, author of Inside the Head of a Collector (2019)
Tuesday, October 22, 5 p.m.
Barone Campus Center, Dogwood Room and streaming on Vimeo
Presented in partnership with the Arts Institute and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Art in Focus: Rembrandt, Three Trees, 1643
Thursday, November 14, 12 noon in-person, 1 p.m. streaming
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Hall Galleries and streaming on thequicklive.com
Lecture: Rare and Everywhere: Making and Selling Prints in the Age of Rembrandt
Tuesday, November 19, 5 p.m.
Nadine Orenstein, PhD, Drue Heinz Curator in Charge of the Department of Drawings and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Barone Campus Center, Dogwood Room, and streaming on thequicklive.com
Art in Focus: Maria Katharina Prestel, Triumph of Truth over Envy, 1780
Thursday, December 12, 12 noon in-person, 1 p.m. streaming
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Hall Galleries and streaming on thequicklive.com
Concert: Sacred Music a cappella
Tuesday, December 17, 6:30 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Lobby and Great Hall
Space is limited and registration is required.
Printmaking Gallery Demonstrations
One-hour demonstration and discussion of materials and techniques with Master Printer Chris Shore of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk.
Space is limited and registration is required.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries
Woodcut
Thursday, October 10, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (two sessions)
Etching and Engraving
Tuesday, October 29, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (two sessions)
Printmaking Hands-on Workshops
Three-hour workshops led by Master Printer Chris Shore of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk. Supplies provided. Space is limited and registration is required.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries
Making Relief Prints
Thursday, November 7, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
This event is currently sold out. To be added to the waitlist, please contact museum@fairfield.edu
Making Engraved Prints
Thursday, November 14, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
This event is currently sold out. To be added to the waitlist, please contact museum@fairfield.edu
Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Thursday until 8 p.m.) - We are closed for national and university holidays and during inclement weather.
Location:
The FUAM's main galleries are located on the lower level of Bellarmine Hall. For GPS please use the following address: 200 Barlow Road, Fairfield, CT 06824 (or click the map at right for directions).
Parking:
Free parking is available in front of Bellarmine Hall. Handicap parking is available next to the museum’s service and classroom entrance on the lower level of Bellarmine Hall.
Admission:
The museum is open to the public and admission is free.
Tours:
Private tours with a curator are available for a fee; please contact museum@fairfield.edu or 203-254-4046.
Reach Us By train:
Take Metro-North, New Haven Line, to Fairfield Station (approximately 70 minutes from Grand Central Station).
www.mta.info/mnr
800-638-7646
For further information or to schedule a visit or tour, please contact
Fairfield University Art Museum
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 254-4046
museum@fairfield.edu
