The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas was an idea long before it was a reality. Many artworks, therefore, had been purchased and earmarked for the collection before its eventual incarnation in 2003. The Bahamian National Collection, now housed with us in the magnificently restored Villa Doyle, was originally founded on the purchase of 25 Amos Ferguson works.
This month’s selected artwork is a woodcut print on paper entitled “Pulling Nr. 1,” (1982) by Maxwell Taylor—a painter, printmaker, sculptor, ceramicist and draughtsman. The work is currently on show alongside other Taylor drawings and prints, as well as many other artists, in the exhibition “From Columbus to Junkanoo” curated by Jodi Minnis and Averia Wright.
Scraped up from the beds. Uprooted. Carefully picked and collected. Transported by boat. Beaten. Sun-dried. Clipped and polished. Sold to the highest bidder. The sponge industry of the colonial Bahamas as represented in Jacob F. Coonley’s ‘The Sponge Yard’, an albumen print circa 1870, shows neat rows of sponges laid out to dry, to be clipped, to have the animal remains eroded away by hours in the sun
Brent Malone’s “Metamorphosis” (1979), part of the NAGB’s National Collection, is on view in the R. Brent Malone Reincarnation exhibition. The work was donated to the National Collection by Jean Cookson.
Though we are nine days into the new year, excitement from the recent Boxing Day and New Year’s Day Junkanoo parades is still in the air. It isn’t difficult to see why the tradition resonated so much with Brent Malone.
For many at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB), Brent Malone’s “Balinese Woman with Flamingoes” is a favorite from the National Collection. An original Malone, the painting is considered one of the gems that has been graciously gifted to the gallery over the years (in this case, by the kindness of Jean Cookson). Painted in the last decade of his life, “Balinese Woman with Flamingoes” resulted from the intersection of several events and factors in Malone’s life at the time.
“What to Do?”, a woodcut by Bahamian master printmaker Maxwell Taylor, is this month’s Art Work of the Month.
This month, the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) had the pleasure of a visit by renowned Bahamian artist Max Taylor. Called one of the country’s foremost ‘master artists’, multimedia artist Taylor has been an invaluable member of the country’s visual arts community for decades. During that time, he has produced exquisite prints, paintings and ceramic works, many of which are on display at the NAGB and for sale in its Mixed Media gift shop.
“The Queen Staircase” is easily one of Bahamian Domestic’s most recognizable works.
