Giuseppe Vasi’s Rome

Image via Wikipedia (Palazzo Chigi, etching by Giuseppe Vasi)

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus is pleased to present an exhibit on the subject of the 18th century Roman printmaker and architect Giuseppe Vasi. The exhibit, entitled Giuseppe Vasi’s Rome – Lasting Impressions from the Age of the Grand Tour, opens on September 25, 2010, and will remain on display until January 3, 2011. There will be a free opening reception on Friday, September 24 at 6:00 PM.

Vasi is best known for his highly detailed, large-scale engravings of cityscapes and vistas. He was one of the leading printmakers of the 18th century and, notably, Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s teacher. Vasi captured Roman streetscapes with an eye for the daily comings-and-goings of both the aristocrat and the beggar, and his images became well-known icons for travelers during the Age of the Grand Tour.

Co-curated by James Tice, UO Professor of Architecture, and James Harper, UO Associate Professor of Art History, the traveling exhibition presents Vasi's pictorial prints of Rome and the work of fellow artists of the period. A unique aspect of the show is an interactive digital kiosk that displays and precisely locates more than 200 of Vasi’s views in the meticulously detailed map of Rome by the cartographer Giambattista Nolli, based on research made possible by Kress and Getty Foundation grants.

Next month’s 2010 AIA Northwest & Pacific Region Conference will include a special event at the Schnitzer Museum for alumni and friends of the University of Oregon School of Architecture & Allied Arts (Friday, October 15 from 7:30 to 9:00 PM). This get-together will be an ideal opportunity to not only reconnect with former classmates, but to take in the Giuseppe Vasi exhibition as well.