Director Bruce Boucher to Lead The Fralin Museum Saturday Tour on Nov. 24

Bruce Boucher, director of The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, will give a Saturday Special Tour of the exhibition “The Valley of Shadow: American Landscapes in the Time of the Civil War” on Nov. 24 from 2 to 3 p.m.

“The Valley of the Shadow” addresses a central problem faced by artists who depicted the American landscape during the period of the Civil War: how to represent a nation that was ruthlessly divided by political tensions and, by the 1860s, a site of unprecedented violence and trauma. This guided tour will consider different responses to representing the landscape of a country at war, from high art to contemporary prints and photography of actual battlefields. It will also trace the movement away from the ideal landscape of the Romantic tradition to a more particularized study of the land.

The exhibition, curated by Jill Baskin, former Luzak-Lindner Graduate Fellow, will be on view through Dec. 16.

Boucher's career as an architectural historian, educator and museum curator spans more than 35 years. Before coming to U.Va., he taught art history at University College London for 24 years, and was the curator of European sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago for seven years.

The Fralin Museum of Art offers its Saturday Special Tours on the third or fourth Saturday of every month. These tours offer the opportunity to join faculty, curators and scholars as they explore a variety of focused topics related to museum collections and exhibitions.

The tours are free and open to the public. For information, call 434-243-2050 or e-mail museumoutreach@virginia.edu. The museum is located at 155 Rugby Road, one block from the Rotunda.

Media Contact

Jane Ford

U.Va. Media Relations