This spring, Gari Melchers Home and Studio will temporarily exchange a painting by the American impressionist with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va.
On March 1, Melchers’ painting “Madonna of the Rappahannock” will be the feature of a spotlight exhibition in his former workspace at the Gari Melchers Home and Studio. The 1923 painting, which depicts a mother and child posing on the banks of the Rappahannock River, will be on loan from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through Memorial Day.
On May 1, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will reopen after several years of construction and will display Melchers’ “Mother and Child with Orange,” on loan from Gari Melchers Home and Studio. The painting, which dates from 1897, will be on display at the museum for one year.
Annual spotlight exhibitions have become a tradition at Gari Melchers Home and Studio, giving local patrons an opportunity to view significant examples from Melchers’ body of work. The collaboration allows the collections at both museums to benefit.
Gari Melchers Home and Studio is a 28-acre estate and former residence of the artist Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne. The property, which is operated by the University of Mary Washington, is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. Located at 224 Washington St. in Falmouth, Va., a quarter mile west of the intersection of U.S. 1 and U.S. 17, it is open daily with an admission charge. The museum also serves as the official Stafford County Visitor Center. For directions and other information, call (540) 654-1015 or visit the museum Web site at www.GariMelchers.org.