Recent Acquisitions
Exhibition Overview
The diverse works assembled in this exhibition are all recent additions to the Spencer's permanent collection, brought into the fold by purchase, by gift, by bequest. From paintings to photographs, from lithographs to DVDs, from the 1500s to today, they bring greater variety, depth and definition to a collection that now surpasses 25,000 objects. The opportunity to share them for the first time with the public is the primary reason they are hung in the same gallery--why a 1930 Japanese color woodcut shares space with a 1559 Flemish etching, why a 1914 French lithograph hangs near a 2004 German photograph. But their newness to our collection is not the only compelling reason to see these works together.
Viewed collectively, juxtaposed against one another in an intimate space, these disparate works reframe the human condition. Their conversations in contrast ultimately become more about connections than disparities. From their discussions in diversity we may divine our own questions. What can they tell us about ourselves? Seeing them side by side, observing them across from one another, our eyes discern their differences and also their similarities. Through these observations, we may breathe the breath of new possibilities, of fresh interpretations, of deeper meanings.
![Shastokovich [sic], Paul Harbaugh; Boris Ignatovich (1899–1976)](https://sma-search-api.ku.edu/ea4208842c08996bda056e641cd793b4b74066379b42086fda0a837d677233f8/2004.0203.01.jpg)
