ORANGE, Texas, November 27, 2007 - The Stark Museum of Art will sponsor world-renowned museum curator and author Roger Wieck for a special presentation on Books of Hours on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 6 p.m., at the Lutcher Theater, 707 Main Street. His speech, Medieval Best Seller: The Book of Hours, aligns with the Stark Museum of Art's current exhibition, Angels in Art: Illuminated Manuscripts from the Stark Collection, on view now through January 5, 2008. Wieck's presentation is free and open to the public. A reception and book signing will follow Wieck's talk at the Stark Museum of Art, 712 Green Avenue, Orange, Texas.
Wieck has extensive knowledge on the topic of illuminated manuscripts. He is currently curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts at Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, New York, and he formerly curated collections at Houghton Library of Harvard University and Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. In addition, Wieck has authored five books and numerous articles about illuminated manuscripts. His knowledge on the subject is so respected he has received invitations to lecture in Paris, London, and Berlin this year alone. His presentation in Orange will explore the popularity of the Books of Hours and why they have remained so treasured for so long.
The Stark Museum of Art's Angels in Art: Illuminated Manuscripts from the Stark Collection exhibition features seven beautifully hand-painted manuscripts from the Books of Hours, which are prayer books used by non-clergy for daily devotions in the middle ages. Artists decorated the pages of the handwritten books with lavish illustrations to guide the reader. The Stark collection contains beautiful manuscripts from the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries by French, Flemish, and Dutch artists.
The Museum Store will sell copies of Wieck's books, Picturing Piety: The Book of Hours and Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life, as well as holiday cards and a special collectors' ornament featuring the signature angel image from the exhibition. The ornament is the first of a series of ornaments produced annually for the Stark Museum of Art by the same company that makes the popular White House and Texas Capitol ornaments.
Located at 712 Green Avenue in Orange, Texas, the Stark Museum of Art is open to the public at no charge Tuesday through Saturday. Hours are from 10 am--5 pm. Group tours are available by appointment. For more information call 409.886.ARTS (2787) or see www.starkmuseum.org.
