Queen’s University’s Agnes Etherington Art Centre is set to celebrate four exciting, new exhibitions at the museum’s 2019 Fall Season Launch reception on Thursday, Sept. 19, including Leiden circa 1630: Rembrandt Emerges – a national touring exhibition that explores the famed artist’s works and influences.

Also among the debut exhibitions to be celebrated at the public reception are a deep-dive into a selection of portraits and self-portraits from the Agnes’ collection, an exploration of the ways in which we look, and a selection of recent abstract paintings by acclaimed Canadian painter Milly Ristvedt. In addition, artist Sandra Brewster’s dramatic, newly commissioned work in the atrium will greet visitors to the gallery.

“The season launch is an exciting, gratifying occasion for us to share the fruit of much planning and creative work with our wider community,” says Jan Allen, Director of Agnes Etherington Art Centre. “This fall’s offering is distinguished by Dr. Jacquelyn Coutré’s gorgeous exhibition focusing on Rembrandt’s emerging years as an artist. Leiden circa 1630 is a deeply original show that highlights The Bader Collection along with seldom seen works from private and public collections. We are thrilled also to introduce the Franks Gallery, a new exhibition space for regional and research-based exhibitions, named in honour of longtime Agnes supporters, Daphne Franks and the late C.E.S. (Ned) Franks.”

Through a selection of the museum’s contemporary portraiture, Tracing Self and Other is an exhibition that considers some of the ways we know (or fail to know) one another and ourselves by examining a range of artists’ approaches to capturing intersections of perception, memory, incomprehension, passion, and compassion. The intimate exhibition seeks to probe beneath the surface of appearance, and raise questions about how we value one another: how we celebrate, how we hurt, and how we heal.

Split Between the I and the Gaze features diverse contemporary works exploring different acts of looking, calling into question the assumed roles of passive spectator or active participant. The exhibit implicates the viewer by placing them in the position of both the observer and the observed. Curated by students of Contemporary Art and Curatorial Practice with Professor Jen Kennedy in the Department of Art History and Art Conservation at Queen’s, the exhibition prompts viewers into different ways of seeing when confronted with direct gazes, fragmented bodies, personal spaces, and belongings.

Between Chance and Order: Milly Ristvedt marks the inaugural exhibition in Agnes Etherington Art Centre’s new Franks Gallery. The selection includes recent abstract works by the painter, whose long career has included over 50 solo shows worldwide, and has led to many of her pieces entering private, corporate, and public collections – including Art Gallery of Ontario, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Harvard University, and Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Ristvedt is also a Queen’s alumni, having completed a Masters in Art History in 2011.

Running from 6 pm to 7:30 pm, the launch reception will also feature a musical performance by Melos Choir and Period Instruments at 6:15 pm, staged in connection with Leiden circa 1630: Rembrandt Emerges.

For more information on Agnes Etherington Art Centre’s 2019 Fall Season Launch, visit the website.