Los Angeles Architect Brenda Levin Designs Sargent and Italy Exhibition at LA County Museum of Art February 01, 2003 Designed by architect Brenda Levin, FAIA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) exhibition Sargent and Italy opens February 2 and continues through May 11, 2003. Ms Levin, founder of Levin & Associates architecture and urban planning firm, is known for her work on several of the city's most important landmarks, including City Hall, Griffith Observatory, Grand Central Market, the Bradbury, Oviatt, Fine Arts and Pellessier (Wiltern Theater) buildings, and the Boone Gallery at the Huntington and the University Art Museum at UCSB. The exhibition was organized by LACMA and Ferrara Arte and was funded by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in celebration of its 25th anniversary and co-curated by Elaine Kilmurray, Richard Ormond and by LACMA curator Bruce Robertson. Sargent and Italy explores the unique relationship between one of the best known American artists and Italy. John Singer Sargent was born in Florence to expatriate American parents who traveled through Europe incessantly returning most frequently to Italy. Sargent is most famous for his grand manner portraits, but he began his career in the late 1870's painting the island of Capri and Venice. Ms. Levin developed the installation design to draw the visitor through a sequence of spaces which model the environment in which Sargent was painting. The scale and colors change dramatically as the viewer emerges from the darker early painted genre scenes and portraits, into the mountains and cashmere series of figures in the landscape, through a metaphorical row of cypress trees and into the warm, golden Italian landscape and views of Venice. The design attempts to capture the quality of light and air that characterize Sargent's scenes. The Sargent and Italy exhibit is running concurrently with Ansel Adams at 100. Contact: Delyte Adams-Lawrence 213-623-8141 dadams@levinarch.com Link: For information on LACMA's hours and tickets visit LACMA Education | Arts & Culture | Civic & Social | Urban Revitalization About Levin & Associates | News | Home