Peter Thomas (1934- ), Corcoran After Hours No. 12, 1981 |

Charcoal and acrylic on heavy white paper, paper: 37 7/8 × 49 3/4 in. (96.2 × 126.4 cm) |
Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of the Women's Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art) |
2018.15.2334

Corcoran After Hours No. 12 pictures a number of objects owned by the former Corcoran Gallery of Art. A Renaissance painting of the Virgin and Child occupies the center of the composition, and several examples of sixteenth-century maiolica porcelain inhabit the foreground. However, it is likely that no such view existed. Most probably, Thomas imagined this display as he did others pictured in the “Corcoran After Hours” series. Using various curatorial strategies, Thomas thus visualized the ways in which museums construct hierarchies of value. The painting is illuminated, but it is also pushed to the background, while the maiolica is foregrounded, but cast in shadow. In 1981, when Thomas created this work, the Corcoran School of Art had recently been accredited, and he was its dean. Corcoran After Hours No. 12 sees the artist exploring the relationship between theory and practice.

Portfolio

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School of Perugino, Italian, Madonna and Child with Two Angels, Saint Rose, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria, early 16th century. Oil on panel, 39 x 35 1/2 in. National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection),  2015.19.41.

Workshop of Orazio Pompei, Dish with an Allegorical Subject, c. 1520-40. Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), 1 11/16 x 9 5/16 in. National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.304. Reproduced in Brown, Beverly Louis, Art and Love in Renaissance Italy. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008. p. 215.

Corcoran After Hours, exhibition pamphlet, written by Clair List, published by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1981. American University Museum, reference material.

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