Aaron Jones, Guide Program Manager and Elizabeth Weinman, Registrar, lead a media tour of two new Crystal Bridges exhibits on Thursday, Oct. 11.

Photo: Dustin Bartholomew, Flyer staff

If you haven’t been to Crystal Bridges in a while, there’s some new art to take in on your next visit.

Two new temporary exhibits, both focusing on light as a source of inspiration, opened on Saturday, Oct. 13 following a members-only preview held last week.

The first exhibit, “See the Light: The Luminist Tradition in American Art“, features 10 works by artists from the 19th century through today. The exhibit is highlighted by the new acquisition “No. 2010/No. 2011 (Orange),” by abstract expressionist Mark Rothko. The work has been in a private collection, and was only exhibited twice in the last 50 years.

“See the Light” also includes light-inspired work from Larry Bell, Dale Chihuly, Arthur Garfield Dove, Dan Flavin, Martin Johnson Heade, Robert Irwin, and John Singer Sargent.

An architectural model of Crystal Bridges, part of a new exhibit featuring work by architect Moshe Safdie.

Staff photo

The second exhibit, entitled “Moshe Safdie: The Path to Crystal Bridges” showcases the masterful use of light in architectural design by Crystal Bridges architect Moshe Safdie. The exhibition charts the design development of four key projects — Habitat 67 in Montreal, The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles — which helped to inform the design for Crystal Bridges. Through models, architectural drawings, photographs and video, this exhibition illuminates Safdie’s path to Crystal Bridges by highlighting his aesthetic language of transcendent light, powerful geometric form, and metaphoric imagery.

Both new exhibitions will be on display through Jan. 28, 2013.

See the Light: The Luminist Tradition in American Art

Arthur Garfield Dove, Moon and Sea II, 1923. Oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)

Photo by Robert LaPrelle

John Singer Sargent, Under the Willows, 1887. Oil on canvas, 27 x 22 in. (68.6 x 55.9 cm)

Photo by Robert LaPrelle

Martin Johnson Heade, Haystacks, ca. 1871-1875. Oil on canvas, 10 x 22 in. (25.4 x 55.9 cm)

Photo by Dwight Primiano

Robert Irwin, Untitled, 1967-1968. Acrylic lacquer on formed acrylic plastic (with central band), Diameter: 54 in. (137.2 cm)

Photo: uncredited

Mark Rothko, No. 210/No. 211 (Orange), 1960. Oil on canvas, 69 x 63 in. (175.3 x 160 cm)

Photo by Edward C. Robison III

James Turrell, Sloan (Red), 1968. Lighting installation

Photo by Michael Jordan

Larry Bell, Untitled, 1962. Vacuum coated glass and chrome, 12 1/4 x 12 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. (31.1 x 31.1 x 31.1 cm)

Courtesy

Jim Campbell, Reconstructed Memory, 2012. Custom electronics, 192 RGB LEDs, cast resin screen
11 1/2 x 15 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (29.2 x 38.7 x 16.5 cm)

Photo by Sarah Christianson

Dale Chihuly, Neon Sculpture, 1969-1971. Hand-blown colored glass, neon, and electrical components, 13 x 36 x 21 in. (33 x 91.4 x 53.3 cm)

Photo courtesy of Phillips de Pury & Company

Dan Flavin, Untitled (to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Inch), 1964. Pink, daylight, cool white, and yellow fluorescent light, 96 in. high (243.8 cm)

Courtesy