Exotic Encounters

"Exotic Encounters: Art, Travel and Modernity in the Collection of the Bruce Museum" is the latest exhibition at the Bruce in Greenwich. Basically the curator says he went into the stored permanent collection, and came out with the idea for this show. 

The items on display aren't typically pieces you'll see and point out, "oooh I know that artist." Instead they represent what tourists to Europe and the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East might have once bought to collect. 

(If you are looking for a well-known artist, 28-pieces of Alexander Calder's work is also on display at the Bruce- but only through the end of January.) I spoke with the curator of "Exotic Encounters," Bruce Museum Adjunct Curator Kenneth Silver.

We start by discussing a simple paper fan. He says it's from a cruise ship that only did tours for five years. He says this means that someone from Greenwich had gone on that ship, and left the Bruce with this souvenir. The exhibit also contains art inspired by travel. This oil on canvas, Palasso Contarine- House of Desdemona, Venice, is by George Wharton Edwards. Edwards moved to Greenwich in 1912 and was a member of the Cos Cob Art Colony. Heather Kovar 

HRKovar@News12.com