Mendelog

Saturday, July 7 from 7–11pm at the Mendel Art Gallery

Why bother talking if you can email?
(Or, Is the art of conversation dead?)

Rub shoulders with some great minds at a Saskatoon Salon extraordinaire. Harkening back to the literary and philosophical gatherings of the 17th and 18th century, enjoy an evening of music, wine, poetry, food, and witty repartee.

A salon, as defined by that online sphinx, Wikipedia, is “a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation and readings.” Our inspiring host for this evening will be noted surgeon and art collector Dr. Dennis T. Lanigan, who will be on hand to discuss art collecting and the role patrons of the arts play in society. After cocktails, Curator Douglas Schoenherr will spark conversation with a tour of the exhibition, British Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada. Engage in a dialogue over wine and cheese with Dr. Bill Thomlinson of the Synchrotron on the connection between art and science. Discuss the relevance of the Salon to civic life over D’reen’s canapes with Dr. Jan Marsh of the University of London (England), who is a biographer of artists and writers, and an authority on the Pre-Raphaelite Circle. After a piano performance by Professor Emeritus Robin Harrison, chat with him about how music reflects social change. Prominent Saskatoon writer (and institution) Don Kerr will then read from his latest book, My Own Places: Poems on John Constable, a collection of 57 poems inspired by renowned landscape painter, represented in the British Drawings exhibition. You might even bump into a few eminent Victorians, such as John Ruskin and Pre-Raphaelite muse Elizabeth Siddal.

The British beat goes on with the auction of an ever so English Mini Cooper Weekend donated by BEMA Autosports BMW, proud supporter of British Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada and The British Drawing Salon. Delectable food and drink will be provided by local businesses, including D’reens, Foster’s Group (Lindemans/Rosemount Estate Wines), Bulk Cheese Warehouse, and Harden & Huyse.

So don your best bohemian wear and attitude for the Mendel’s super summer soiree. To register, give us a bell at 975-8060 or drop by The Gallery Shop.

Biographies:

Host Dr. Dennis T. Lanigan was born in Regina in 1948 (one hundred years after the formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood). He lived in Regina until 1968, when he came to Saskatoon to enter the College of Dentistry. Lanigan graduated with a D.M.D. in 1972 and an M.D. in 1977–the first person in Sakatchewan to earn both degrees at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1977, he began a residency program in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle, and also spent nine months at a maxillofacial unit in Arnhem, The Netherlands. In July 1981, Lanigan was appointed an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan and taught full-time until he left academics to enter private practice in 2005. His interest in the Pre-Raphaelites dates back to 1972. Forty-six works from the collection are on view at the Mendel through August 26, 2007 in the exhibition, Drawing Inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelites: Selected Works from the Dr. Dennis T. Lanigan Collection.

Robin Harrison is a British-born pianist well known to audiences throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe as both a soloist and member of many chamber groups. After studying with Frederick Bailey of High Wycombe, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London. He continued his studies in Rome and Salzburg, where he performed a concert at the renowned Salzburg Festival. Harrison has been a guest performer with many leading Canadian orchestras, as well as on broadcasts for the CBC, BBC, and other international radio networks. On the occasion of his Carnegie Hall debut in New York City, the New York Times wrote, “Robin Harrison is an impressive pianist…he has a rich musical imagination.” Harrison was Head of Piano in the Department of Music, University of Saskatchewan for 24 years. Now a retired Professor Emeritus, he is back in Saskatchewan after 12 years in Nova Scotia, where he taught and played at Breton University, Sydney and Acadia University, Wolfville.

Don Kerr is a poet, editor, playwright, and teacher living in Saskatoon. Kerr has published five books of poetry, three plays produced at 25th Street Theatre, and a fourth play, Lanc, produced at the Greystone. He also has extensive editorial experience: on Grain, NeWest Review, and on the boards of Coteau Books and NeWest Press, as press editor for books of poetry and politics, and as a co-editor of books on left politics and western Canadian drama. Kerr was the first chair of the Saskatoon Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee (1981–86 and 1997–2000) and the Saskatchewan governor for the Heritage Canada Foundation. He has been involved in numerous cultural and arts organizations including the World University Service of Canada, Saskatoon Public Library Board, Meewasin Valley Authority, Saskatchewan Arts Board, and SaskFilm.

Dr. Jan Marsh, biographer of artists and writers and Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London, England, is a recognized authority on the Pre-Raphaelite Circle. She has written extensively on its members, including a major biography of the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet, Christina Rossetti entitled Christina Rossetti: A Literary Biography, as well as books and articles on artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, May Morris, and Elizabeth Siddal. She has also been guest curator for exhibitions of Victorian art. Dr. Marsh has been Royal Literary Fund Fellow in English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London, England since 2001. Educated at Cambridge and Sussex, she lectures and broadcasts widely in addition to writing biography and cultural history.

Douglas Schoenherr is an independent curator who until recently was the Associate Curator of European and American Prints and Drawings at the National Gallery of Canada. He holds a Ph.D from Yale University and is known for his expertise in Pre-Raphaelite Art. He has written extensively on the subject including such publications as The Earthly Paradise: Arts and Crafts by William Morris and his Circle from Canadian Collections and “From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Last Romantics: An Introduction to the Lanigan Collection” in A Dream of the Past: Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic Movement Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings from the Lanigan Collection. Schoenherr is the curator of the exhibition British Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada.

Dr. Bill Thomlinson is the Executive Director of the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron in Saskatoon. A globally renowned expert in synchrotron medical imaging, he was formerly the Head of the Medical Research Group at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, where he led a highly successful medical beamline group, helped start lung and mammography imaging, and led the first human blood vessel imaging studies at the facility. He is also the former Associate Chair for Environment, Safety and Health at the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, in New York, where he created and led the successful multidiscipline Synchrotron Medical Research Facility. Thomlinson received his doctorate from Yale in 1970.

This event is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors and benefactors:
BEMA Autosports BMW
D’reens
Foster’s Group
Harden & Huyse
Bulk Cheese Warehouse