UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Palmer Museum of Art will present a new exhibition titled "The Gentle Satire of Adolf Dehn" from Aug. 30 through Dec. 18.
Adolf Dehn (1895–1968) cut his teeth creating trenchant illustrations for leftist publications such as "The Masses" in the late 1910s and then turned to lithography in the early 1920s. He spent much of the decade in Europe. This exhibition centers on the apex of his expatriate years: a 1928 portfolio of 10 lithographs that gently satirizes Parisian café society and nightlife. In addition to later American subjects by Dehn, the exhibition features the work of his friends and mentors, including Wanda Gág, William Gropper and Boardman Robinson. Also on view are prints by Honoré Daumier and Thomas Nast, 19th-century caricaturists who inspired Dehn.
Adam Thomas, curator of American art, will lead a Gallery Talk titled "The Gentle Satire of Adolf Dehn" at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, in the exhibition gallery located on the museum’s first floor.
Also on view at the Palmer Museum of Art this fall are "Recent Acquisitions: Gifford Beal in Rockport," Aug. 23 through Dec. 18, and "Expanded Practice," Oct. 18 through Dec.11.
The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State is located on Curtin Road and admission is free. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays and some holidays. Extended hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, 13, 20 and 27. Reduced hours: noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 27, and Saturday, Dec. 17, through Thursday, Dec. 22. The museum will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24; Friday, Nov. 25; and Friday, Dec. 23, through Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.
The Palmer Museum of Art receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.