ΠΡΕΣΒΕΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑ∆ΟΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΟΥΑΣΙΓΚΤOΝ
ΓΡΑΦΕΙΟ ΤΥΠΟΥ & ΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑΣ
EMBASSY OF GREECE ΙΝ WASHINGTON DC
PRESS AND COMMUNICATION OFFICE
National Tour of Parthenon Drawings by Fairfield University Professor
“An Archaeologist’s Eye: The Parthenon Drawings of Katherine A. Schwab”
The Embassy of Greece in Washington D.C.
April 17, 2014 – August 1, 2014
Washington, D.C. (April 14, 2014). Combining art, history, and archaeology to powerful effect, “An
Archaeologist’s Eye: The Parthenon Drawings of Katherine A. Schwab,” a new exhibition of drawings by
Katherine A. Schwab, Ph. D., Fairfield University professor of art history, provides a glimpse into a world
once inhabited by the ancient Greeks. Comprised of thirty-five works on paper, the exhibition opened to
the Metro area public at the Embassy of Greece, on April 16, 2014, and is on view there through August 1,
2014. It will then tour nationally through 2017, marking the first time this collection of drawings travels in
the United States. (Full exhibition schedule follows). The Embassy of Greece in D.C. is located at 2217
Massachusetts Ave, NW. Visiting hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 4.00 p.m. Admission is free.
In 2005, the American art historian and archaeologist Katherine A. Schwab, Ph.D. began experimenting
with graphite and pastel on paper in an effort to develop a new method for recording her research on the
badly deteriorated ancient Parthenon metope sculptures in Greece. She found that careful drawing
enabled her to make new observations and scholarly discoveries, which have in turn contributed to the
larger understanding of the east and north metope series. Many of these drawings have been assembled
for “An Archaeologist’s Eye: The Parthenon Drawings of Katherine A. Schwab,” an exhibition that invites
the viewer into an imagined world once inhabited by Pheidias and his fellow sculptors. The exhibition
opens with sixteen pastel and graphite drawings depicting the fight for supremacy on Mount Olympus. It
continues with twelve graphite drawings of the Sacking of Troy, and concludes with seven graphite
drawings of figures from the frieze and pediments she developed to help visualize the metope
compositions. Through these drawings, the Parthenon metopes are being reimagined in our time. The
sustained narrative of the earth-born Giants defeated by the Olympian Gods and the Sacking of Troy are
once again recreated within each viewing, compelling the viewer to re-envision the elusive image.
“Earlier archaeological renderings used lines to denote figures in the Parthenon’s metope sculptures,” said
Dr. Schwab. “These images did not, however, convey important visual information, including the
preserved depth of surviving contours of these figures, many of which were severely damaged in the 6th
century when the ancient Greek temple was converted to a Christian church.” Dr. Schwab’s works on
paper fill this void while creating an engaging aesthetic and intellectual tension between what is preserved
and what has been lost.
Katherine A. Schwab, Ph.D. is a professor of art history in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts
and curator of the Plaster Cast Collection in the Bellarmine Museum of Art at Fairfield University, Fairfield,
CT. She received her bachelor’s degree from Scripps College followed by a master’s degree from
Southern Methodist University and Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She is a
member of the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Gray-scale
scans of Schwab’s metope drawings are on permanent display in the Acropolis Museum in Athens,
Greece.
“An Archaeologist’s Eye: The Parthenon Drawings of Katherine A. Schwab” has been organized by the
Bellarmine Museum of Art at Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, and the
Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA.
2211 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington D.C. 20008
Tel. 202-332-2727 Fax. 202-265-4931
E-mail : [email protected] - http://www.greekembassy.org/pressoffice
Exhibition’s touring dates, 2014-2017, are as follows:
Greek Embassy/Smithsonian Associates, Washington, D.C.; April 17 to August 1, 2014
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA; Sept. 13 – Dec. 7, 2014
Lied Art Gallery, Creighton University, Omaha, NE; Feb. 21 – March 29, 2015
California State University, Sacramento, CA; Spring 2015
Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR; Nov. 15 – Feb. 15, 2016
Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA; March 31 – July 3, 2016
The Nashville Parthenon, Nashville, TN; September 4, 2016 – January 1, 2017
For updates about the exhibition and its exhibition schedule, please visit www.fairfield.edu/parthenon
Fairfield University is a Jesuit University, rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual
traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states, 47 foreign countries, the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled in the University’s five schools. In the spirit of rigorous
and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from
diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations. The University is located in the
heart of a region where the future takes shape, on a stunning campus on the Connecticut coast just an
hour from New York City.
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