Highly Anticipated Exhibit "Christ: Life, Death and Resurrection" Opens at Hoehn Galleries

The wait is over. Today, Sept. 13, is the official public opening of one of the University of San Diego's most highly anticipated art exhibits, "Christ: Life, Death and Resurrection," a collection of Italian Renaissance Drawings and Prints from The British Museum.

The more than 40 works on paper that date back to the 1400s to 1800s by more than 30 artists includes, for the first time in San Diego, an authentic Michelangelo drawing, "The Three Crosses." The exhibit, which will run through Dec. 13, 2019, will captivate attendees at the exhibit's homebase, the Hoehn Family Galleries two-room display within USD's Founders Hall.

"The opportunity for the University of San Diego to collaborate with one of the world's great institutions, The British Museum, on bringing this project to San Diego is an honor and privilege," says Derrick Cartwright, PhD, director of University Galleries and an associate professor of art history.

Hugo Chapman, keeper of prints and drawings at The British Museum, gave a rundown on Thursday night of the exhibit’s works and background on many of the artists who forged their vision of Christ's life from nativity to crucifixion and resurrection. He and his British Museum colleague, Sarah Vowles, curated the collection that’s at both USD and a smaller sample on display at the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego. Following Chapman's talk in Mother Rosalie Hill Hall’s Warren Auditorium, a reception took place in the Founders Hall foyer and attendees got their first chance to see the exhibit.

Many made a point to get up close to the drawings to really take in the detailed nature of these works, which include woodcuts, etchings and drawings in chalk and ink.

Chelsea Behle Fralick, an art history lecturer at USD, had her students zero in on one work each, examine it closely and write a review. Fralick was thrilled at the opportunity to have such an amazing art collection from which to utilize in her class and give students exposure to it.

Chapman expressed excitement, too, for the exhibit to give students, as well as visitors who’ll come from all over the Southern California community, free access, "to interact with it, to write about it, study it, think about it. It speaks to people differently in many ways."

The university looks forward to opening the exhibit to as many people as possible. While the exhibit admission is free, reservations are recommended. In addition to set gallery hours — noon to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday — privately hosted events and group tours are available and there will be special lecture programming.

Several USD faculty members from multiple disciplines will give a gallery talk on Thursdays from 5-6 p.m. in October and November. Scheduled faculty are: Susie Babka, PhD, Theology and Religious Studies, Oct. 3; Mike Kelly, PhD, Philosophy, Oct. 10; Paul Evans, PhD, Digital Humanities, Oct. 31; Molly McClain, PhD, History, Nov. 7; Brittany Asaro, PhD, Italian, 6-7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 12; and Abraham Stoll, PhD, English, Nov. 21. Reservations for these gallery talks are not required.

Other special events held in conjunction with the exhibit include Prints and Pinot on Thursday, Oct. 17 from 5:30-8 p.m., a lecture by Kevin Petti, PhD, founder of Anatomia Italiana, who will speak at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19 in the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Theatre. Petti's talk is followed by a 7:15 p.m. wine reception and private exhibit viewing opportunity. Register for both Prints and Pinot and Dr. Petti’s talk and reception through the links. The cost to attend either event is $25.

A third event scheduled is a lecture by Ohio State Professor Christian Kleinbub, speaking on “Michelangelo's Sacred Bodies” on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the new USD Mission and Ministry Center. The event is free to attend, but registration is recommended.

This is the third art exhibition from The British Museum to appear at USD’s Hoehn Galleries. The other two were Curious Beasts: Animal Prints from Dürer to Goya in Fall 2014 and British Modern Prints from the British Museum: From the Great War to the Grosvenor School in Spring 2017.

— Story by Ryan T. Blystone, Video by Allyson Meyer '16 and Photo by Barbara Ferguson

For more information about the exhibit, visit the University Galleries website. For sponsorships or private hosted events, please contact Coreen G. Petti at (619) 260-4690 or email cpetti@sandiego.edu. For gallery hours and general information, call (619) 260-7516 or email galleries@sandiego.edu.