"Elective Affinities: Prints by Goya and Manet" will be shown March 1 through April 17 in the new Fifth Avenue art gallery at the CUNY Graduate Center. Utilizing 56 etchings and lithographs from the collections of the Arthur Ross Foundation and the New York Public Library, "Elective Affinities" will examine the critical role printmaking played in Goya’s and Manet’s respective oeuvres and offer insights into the latter’s fascination with the thematic and technical innovations of the Spanish master. The exhibition can be viewed Tuesday through Friday, noon-6:00 p.m. The gallery is part of a complex of cultural facilities in The Graduate Center’s recently opened new campus in the former B. Altman Building at 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street.

In addition, there will be weekly informal "gallery talks," addressing the current exhibition, held at The Graduate Center on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m, and an illustrated brochure will be published.

"Elective Affinities" will feature such well-known prints as Manet’s The Absinthe Drinker (1861 - 62), Le Guitarero (1861 - 62), Lola de Valence (1862), Mlle. Victorine in the Costume of an Espada (1862), and Execution of Maximilian (1868); and etchings from Goya’s Caprichos (1799), Tauromaquia (1816), and Desastres de la Guerra (created ca. 1810, published 1863) series.

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes (1746 -1828) was a Spanish painter and illustrator who became the court painter of King Charles IV of Spain. Often called the last of the Old Masters, he is best known for works that attacked social customs, politics, and the stark violence of his world, such as is reflected in perhaps his best known series, Disasters of War (Desastres de La Guerra). Edouard Manet (1832 - 1883) was born in France and his art is related to both Realism and Impressionism. Many of his works, such as Le Dejeuner sur L’Herbe (1863), were considered shocking for both their subject matter and technique.

Diane Kelder, Professor Emerita of Art History at The Graduate Center, is the gallery’s curator. The author of seven books and numerous catalogues, her fields of expertise include 19th century French painting, the history of graphic art, and early American modernism. The Graduate Center’s Ph.D. Program in Art History ranks among the leading programs in the country and provides curators, directors, and other leaders to arts institutions in New York City and around the world.

The 1,500 square foot Gallery is part of a cultural complex at The Graduate Center that includes the Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall, the Martin E. Segal Theatre, and the Harold M.

Proshansky Auditorium. According to Kelder, the gallery will embark on an ambitious program of exhibitions that encompass a spectrum of scholarly interests, and, in addition, provide professional and curatorial experience for students in The Graduate Center’s Art History Ph.D. program, as well as engage the interest of the public. Four exhibitions will appear over the next twelve months at the gallery, one of which will be organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The Gallery will also provide an important artistic presence on lower Fifth Avenue, and will not only develop relationships with major art institutions around the city but will focus on forging a cohesive cultural community with a number of well-established institutions in The Graduate Center’s Murray Hill neighborhood and its environs. These include the New York Public Library, the Pierpont Morgan Library, and the numerous art galleries in Chelsea.

A group called the Gallery Associates is in the process of being formed to provide the new Gallery with philanthropic support and encouragement.

Established in 1961, The Graduate Center has grown to an enrollment of nearly 4,000 students in 32 doctoral programs and seven master's degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The Graduate Center also houses 28 research centers and institutes and administers the CUNY Baccalaureate Program.

According to a recent National Research Council report, more than a third of The Graduate Center's rated programs rank among the nation's top 20 at public and private institutions, nearly a quarter are among the top ten when compared to publicly supported institutions alone, and more than half are among the top five programs at publicly supported institutions in the northeast.

Further information on The Graduate Center's programs and activities can be found on its Web site at: www.gc.cuny.edu.

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