ST. LOUIS — In conjunction with the 200th anniversary of Missouri’s statehood, the Saint Louis Art Museum will present “Art Along the Rivers: A Bicentennial Celebration.” The exhibition, which opens Oct. 3, will celebrate the St. Louis region’s vibrant cultural heritage.
“Art Along the Rivers” focuses on the extraordinary objects made or collected within the confluence region that surrounds St. Louis. On the Missouri side, it extends north to Hannibal, west to Hermann and south through the Old Mines area. Its eastern border runs through Illinois from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, north through Anna, Carbondale, Cahokia and Elsah.
A work by Aimee Shweig is included in the exhibition.
Aimee Schweig, American, 1891–1987; “Lime Works in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri”, 1936; oil on Masonite panel; 24 x 30 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Collection of GFWC Woman’s Club of Ste. Genevieve 2021.91; Courtesy of Suzanne Langsdorf and Alexandra Langsdorf Shoemaker, granddaughters of Aimee Schweig
The exhibition brings together 156 objects produced or collected over 1,000 years and originating from cultures that include the ancient Mississippian, Osage (Wazhazhe), French, African American and German, among many others. These communities each developed rich artistic traditions that have vibrant legacies for artists and designers today.
“This region played an outsized role in the history of North America as a place where major rivers, trails, rail lines and highways converged,” said Melissa Wolfe, curator of American art. “What we want to show in ‘Art Along the Rivers’ are the complex, and sometime competing, artistic narratives that resulted from these powerful elements and the communities they attracted.”
The exhibition presents a wide range of objects, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, furniture, ceramics, metals, textiles and more. Though these objects have rarely been considered in connection with one another, the exhibition aims to bring them into vibrant and often surprising dialogues.
“By pulling together this seemingly disparate group of objects, the exhibition aims to amplify the many perspectives represented in these works of art,” said Amy Torbert, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator of American Art.
Highlights of the exhibition include a buffalo robe painted by the Mandan leader Mató-Tópe, Adelaide Robineau’s “Scarab Vase,” and the spectacular punch bowl created for the St. Louis World’s Fair by Libbey Glass. The oldest works in the show are 12th century Mississippian sculpture while the most contemporary—Dripping World by the Osage Nation artist Norman Akers—was made in 2020.
To demonstrate relationships among these objects, “Art Along the Rivers” is arranged thematically, rather than by culture or chronology. Themes reveal how geological and cultural confluence shaped the content and form of the region’s cultural output and highlight the remarkable variety of works of art created, collected and exhibited in the area.
Sections of the show address how artisans over centuries used the region’s natural resources to produce both luxury and utilitarian commercial objects. The exhibition also explores the area’s artistic communities as well as how objects have been used to advocate for political, social and environmental points of view. Contemporary art is brought into the thematic sections as a dynamic response to the exhibition’s historic objects and contexts.
“Art Along the Rivers” will be on view in the main exhibition galleries from Oct. 3 through Jan. 9, 2022. The exhibition is organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum and curated by Wolfe and Torbert, who also edited the 224-page, fully illustrated catalogue that accompanies the show.
The exhibition is presented by the William T. Kemper Foundation. It is supported by the Edward L. Bakewell Jr. Endowment for Special Exhibitions and the Trio Foundation of St. Louis.
Tickets are available starting Aug. 31 in person at the museum, or through MetroTix, which charges a service fee. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $6 for children aged 6 to 12. Tickets are free for museum members.