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The Russell
Collection

A digital experience of Russell Family Art Collection

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The Russell Family Collection includes works of art from all around the world.

Since 2016, the Russells have invested in works created by artists from diverse backgrounds and a modern sensibility. While many of the artists represented have not yet established themselves within the canon, their works and techniques will come to define the future of their mediums. As the collection grows, the diverse voices represented within it do too-currently, 50% and 27% of the collection is comprised of women and POC artists, respectively.

This digital experience provides a platform for showcasing the collection in its entirety, allowing the viewer to embrace the digital nature of our modern world and interact with art that may otherwise be inaccessible. Each work is accompanied by an introduction of the artist's biography, formal approach, and thematic perspective.

The intent of exhibiting this collection of works in an online setting is to encourage viewers to contemplate the ideas and themes present, inspiring a greater discourse centered around creativity, expression, and emotion.

From mesmerizing paintings to captivating sculptures

A Journey Through the Imagination: Exploring the Different Types of Art

Ways of Seeing Art

The way we interact with art is determined by our subjective experience, which creates opportunity for new layers of meaning to appear but can also limit the scope of what is seen. When viewing the works of this collection, consider the two following perspectives.

Sir Kenneth Clark, in his landmark 1960s series Civilization, sees art as an extension of a higher truth that has been revealed to the artist through a combination of divine inspiration, innate talent, and acquired wisdom. Through his mystic and historical perspective, Clark imbues art with sacred properties, seeing the artist herself as a hero for bringing her creation into the physical world. Clark maintains that art has a physical presence, and that good art must be accessible to everyone and rooted in the observable world.

In his seminal work, Ways of Seeing, British essayist and cultural thinker John Berger responds to Clark's theories, instead framing art as a record of its time and place, which attempts to emulate the social and political climate of its time (experience of religion, race, gender, and class are all facets that are present in varying degrees). Berger ultimately sees art and the viewer's engagement with it as an extension of the political sphere, where art, no matter the medium, reflects existing systems within society and not the individual artist's divine inspiration.

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