NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY & MUSEUM
preserving, promoting, and sharing the literature, art, and culture of equestrian, angling, and field sports
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS Manuel H. Johnson Chairman
Jacqueline B. Mars Vice Chairman
Claire Reid Treasurer
Cathy M. Brentzel Secretary
DIRECTORS Mimi Abel Smith Joseph E. Aulisi Bradley J. Bondi B. Tim Brookshire Donald G. Calder Natalie M. Epstein Timothy J. Greenan Helen K. Groves James I. Harrison, III Lawrence E. Kurzius Clarke Ohrstrom Jacqueline L. Ohrstrom Gayden Parker Robin C. Parsky Lorian Peralta-Ramos F. Turner Reuter, Jr. ADVISORY Dorothy Lee Pierre Manigault Catherine Murdock Melanie L. Mathewes
Dear Friend,
The National Sporting Library & Museum is excited to present Sidesaddle, 1690-1935, on view September 7, 2018 - March 24, 2019. This exhibition of paintings, works on paper, and sculptures will focus on an underexplored topic in the arts – 17th to 20th-century depictions of sporting women. American, British, and Continental works will be analyzed from a cultural, art-historical, and technical perspective in the exhibit and accompanying catalog. Major works by artists such as George Stubbs, Benjamin Marshall, Alfred de Dreux, Antoine-Louis Barye, Sir Alfred Munnings, and Franklin Brooke Voss are being brought together to develop a rich narrative of the pioneering women who popularized riding aside. A subject of artistic inspiration, these striking figures became fixtures in diverse and physically-demanding equestrian pursuits such as hawking and foxhunting, while keeping pace with their male counterparts. We are currently seeking sponsorships for this exciting exhibition. Support from private donors and corporate sponsors enables the National Sporting Library & Museum to present compelling exhibitions like Sidesaddle, 1690-1935, produce scholarly publications, and offer unique educational programming. Enclosed please find more information about the exhibition, NSLM’s history and milestones, and available sponsorship opportunities. Outside funding is so very crucial to presenting an exhibition of this caliber. Thank you for taking the time to consider supporting such a worthy project. Sincerely,
Melanie L. Mathewes Executive Director
Executive Director
PO Box 1335 | 102 The Plains Road |Middleburg, Virginia 20118 | Phone (540) 687-6542 | Fax (540) 446-0071 | www.NationalSporting.org National Sporting Library & Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Federal Tax ID# 54-6053662.
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
Sidesaddle,1690-1935 SEPTEMBER 7, 2018 - MARCH 24, 2019 In art and sport, the poised equestrian riding aside embodies the essence of elegance, power, and grace. Hidden beneath the flowing skirts of the rider is the sidesaddle, the design of which has evolved dramatically in response to the physical demands of sporting women (and sometimes men) requiring a firm seat as they began to meet the challenges of jumping and galloping across the countryside. Sidesaddle, 1690-1935, will present a revealing perspective on the history and culture of women as equestrians, their depictions in sporting art, and the evolution of sidesaddle tack and attire represented in British, Dutch, French, German, and American art from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The exhibition will showcase approximately sixty paintings, works on paper, and sculptures on loan from museums and private collections. Co-curators Dr. Ulrike Weiss, Lecturer at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and Claudia Pfeiffer, the George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Curator of Art at NSLM, are contributing essays to the accompanying catalog. Images left to right: John Wootton (British, 1682 - 1764), Preparing for the Hunt (Detail), oil on canvas, 47 x 49 inches, Yale Center for
British Art, Paul Mellon Collection; Johan Joseph Zoffany, RA (German, 1733–1810), The Drummond Family, ca. 1769 (Detail), oil on canvas, 41 x 63 inches, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection; George Morland (British, 1763 - 1804), The Squire’s Door (Detail), oil on canvas, 15 5/16 x 12 7/8 inches, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection; Franklin Brooke Voss (American, 1880-1953), Mr. Thomas’ Foxhounds Leaving Huntland Kennels, November, 1919 (Detail), oil on canvas, 16 x 24 inches, NSLM, Gift of Dr. Betsee Parker, 2011 (Artwork subject to change)
National Sporting
102 The Plains Road, Middleburg, VA
L ibrary & M useum
540-687-6542 | NationalSporting.org 11.17.17
NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY & MUSEUM The National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg, Virginia, is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and sharing the literature, art, and culture of equestrian, angling, and field sports. Founded in 1954, the NSLM is a non-profit arts organization that consists of a research Library and a fine art Museum. The Library houses over 26,000 volumes and includes rare books and archival material dating from the 16th century to the modern day. The Museum displays a permanent art collection that includes paintings, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts, while presenting an active schedule of changing loan exhibitions. The only organization of its kind that focuses on turf and field sports, the NSLM collaborates with other arts organizations and sporting communities, and offers a wide variety of educational programming. The NSLM is supported through its membership program, donations, and corporate sponsorships.
NSLM COLLECTIONS • 26,000 books about angling, horsemanship, wingshooting, steeplechasing, foxhunting, flat racing, polo, coaching, and wildlife • 5,000 rare books spanning 500 years of sporting history • 75 archival collections of photographs, letters, diaries, and papers spanning more than 100 years of sporting history • Over 1,000 works of art in the permanent collection
Top: NSLM campus in Middleburg, Virginia Middle: Nic Fiddian-Green (British, b. 1963), Still Water, 2011, hammered lead with copper rivets on an oak base, 9 feet tall, NSLM Collection Bottom Left: John Ferneley, Sr. (English, 1782-1860) The Hunt in Belvoir Vale, c. 1835, oil on canvas, 48 x 133 inches, Gift of Kathryn James Clark in memory of Stephen C. Clark, Jr., 2013 Bottom Right: Detail from Shokubako [On Horse Ornaments], Matoba Katsumi, two volumes, 1857, National Sporting Library & Museum, F. Ambrose Clark Rare Book Room, Gift of John H. and Martha Daniels, 1999
(more)
The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, London, Edward Maxon, 1840. English School, mid-to-late 19th century fishing scene, fore-edge painting, fanned to the right. National Sporting Library & Museum, F. Ambrose Clark Rare Book Room, Gift of John H. and Martha Daniels
July 1886 issue of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine (left) where Theodore Roosevelt’s essay (right) Riding to Hounds on Long Island was published. National Sporting Library & Museum, F. Ambrose Clark Rare Book Room, Gift of John H. and Martha Daniels, 1994
A SPORTING VISION
The Paul Mellon Collection of British Sporting Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
On view at NSLM from April 13 - July 22, 2018
George Stubbs (English, 1724–1806), Hyaena at Newmarket with One of Jenison Shafto’s Stable-lads, ca. 1765–7 (Detail), oil on canvas, 40 1/8 x 50 1/8 inches, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Paul Mellon Collection, photo Katherine Wetzel © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
NSLM is the opening venue for this traveling exhibition organized by Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. With over 80 paintings depicting animals, racing, coaching, foxhunting, gunning, and country life by artists such as George Stubbs, Sir Francis Grant, John Frederick Herring, Sr., Benjamin Marshall,
National Sporting
102 The Plains Road, Middleburg, VA
and George Morland, it is a natural fit to bring sportsman and philanthropist Paul Mellon’s sporting art collection back to the region where he collected it. The works strongly reflect NSLM’s mission and will be a wonderful opportunity for visitors to see numerous masterworks in the genre.
L ibrary & M useum
540-687-6542 | NationalSporting.org 1.17.18
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Sidesaddle,1690-1935 SEPTEMBER 7, 2018 - MARCH 24, 2019
Support from private donors and corporate sponsors enables the National Sporting Library & Museum to present INNOVATIVE exhibitions, produce ORIGINAL scholarship in BREATHTAKING catalogs, and create DYNAMIC educational programming. Sponsorships described below provide funding for
Sidesaddle,1690-1935 . $25,000 EXHIBITION SPONSOR • Prominent placement of name or corporate logo on wall in exhibition, invitations, and press and publicity materials in print and online, including a link to sponsor’s website from the NSLM site • Prominent placement of name or corporate logo in exhibition catalog • One complimentary rental of the Founders’ Room and Paul Mellon Foyer within one year of sponsorship • Private exhibition tour for sponsor and guests • Invitations for sponsor and guests to private and public exhibition opening events at the NSLM • Recognition in the NSLM Annual Report • Receives all benefits of NSLM Circle level membership for one year
$10,000 EXHIBITION SPONSOR • Preferred listing of name or corporate logo on wall in exhibition, invitations, and press and publicity materials in print and online, including a link to sponsor’s website from the NSLM site • Preferred listing of name or corporate logo in exhibition catalog • Invitations for sponsor and guests to private and public exhibition opening events at the NSLM • Recognition in the NSLM Annual Report • Receives all benefits of NSLM Circle level membership for one year
$5,000 EXHIBITION SPONSOR • Listing of name or corporate logo on wall in exhibition, invitations, and press and publicity materials in print and online • Invitations for sponsor and guests to private and public exhibition opening events at the NSLM • Recognition in the NSLM Annual Report • Receives all benefits of NSLM Circle level membership for one year At top: Thomas Rowlandson (British, 1756 - 1827), How to Twist Your Neck, c. 1810, watercolor on paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (Artwork subject to change)
National Sporting 102 The Plains Road, Middleburg, VA
L ibrary & M useum 540-687-6542 | NationalSporting.org 11.27.17