What do eyes love exhibition

In , when the Prince of Wales secretly proposed to Mrs. Maria Fitzherbert with a miniature of his own eye, he inspired an aristocratic fad for exchanging eye portraits mounted in a wide variety of settings including brooches, rings, lockets, and toothpick cases. With over examples, the collection of Dr. David A. Skier of Birmingham is the largest in the world. This exhibition offers an unprecedented look at these unusual and intriguing works of art.

The exhibition is accompanied by a full color, hardbound catalogue of the same name, edited by Dr. Graham C. Boettcher looks at the language and symbolism of these tokens and their jeweled settings. Despite their yearlong separation, the prince proposed a second time, sending Mrs.

Fitzherbert a picture of his own eye in place of an engagement ring. Because the eye might only be recognized by persons of the most intimate familiarity, these customized tokens were largely commissioned by clandestine lovers whose relationships were viewed as illicit or subject to misunderstanding. The exhibition is accompanied by an iPad app created by the Birmingham Museum of Art. Visitors to GMOA will be able to check out an iPad for free to use the app while visiting the exhibition. Because these works are so small and are exhibited in cases, the app magnifies them and allows the viewer to see them from multiple angles in videos.

It also provides insight on each work with informative text. The collection from which the exhibition is drawn, assembled by David and Nan Skier, is the largest in the world and contains more than objects, both decorative and functional, from simple lockets to lavish rings, each of which features an eye miniature.

Although the majority of the works were meant to be worn as jewelry, some were intended to be carried in the form of small boxes. The Collectors of the Georgia Museum of Art, an upper-level membership group that focuses on collecting art, will organize an exclusive seated dinner with a private tour of the exhibition by Nan Skier on Oct. On Oct. Family Day is free and open to the public. Families will tour the galleries, do an art activity and then create a related craft.