A Fortnight of Rembrandt Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Thanks to the generosity of philanthropists Drs. Tobia and Morton Mower of Baltimore, a unique, 60+ private collection of original etchings by the 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn will grace the lower gallery at the Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts during a special two-week exhibit that is free and open to the public.
Friday, September 20, 2013 at 9:00am, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held with Drs. Tobia and Mort Mower, Collectors to announce the opening of the Fortnight of Rembrandt exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. President Barron and VP Gary Ostrander thanked the Mowers for the incredible loan of their Rembrandt print collection and Curator Aaron Young spoke to a museum studies class.
“It was a lot of fun—big scissors don’t work, apparently, and Tobia switched to desk shears!” – Allys Palladino-Craig, MoFA
Weekend traffic was amazing. A lot of families and community visitors attended due to parking in the parking garage being more accessible on the weekend. Monday morning, the 23rd, the Mowers met students and art history faculty, giving everyone the chance to examine up close (with magnifying glasses and wearing gloves) prints by followers of Rembrandt. Today, the 24th, the Museum Education Curator hosted a 4th grade class on tour at the same time that a university painting class was making sketches from the prints. Professor Mark Messersmith joked that the classes (elementary and university) would have a critique and decide whose sketches were best: the fourth-graders or the undergraduates.
Sponsored by FSU’s Office of the Vice-President for Research, “A Fortnight of Rembrandt: Selected Etchings from the Mower Collection” opened to the public Friday, Sept. 20, and will be on display through Sunday, Oct. 6. Museum hours are M-F 9am-4pm daily with hours extended to 7pm on Thursday. Weekend hours are 1-4 on Saturday and Sunday 11am-4pm.