SALEM — Peabody Essex Museum opens its new wing this weekend, and you’re invited. Even better: Admission is free both Saturday and Sunday.
Wednesday evening, members of the press experienced the #newPEM and toured the new 40,000-square-foot three-story wing with curators at the ready to answer questions.
Brian Kennedy, director and CEO, is also new. The Dublin, Ireland, native has been on the job only three months, moving here from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. He succeeds Dan Munroe, who retired after having guided PEM through incredible growth in the past 25 years.
“PEM, founded in 1799, is the oldest continuously operating museum in this country,” said Kennedy. “When the new wing opens, Salem, Massachusetts will become one of the nation’s largest art museum destinations, located outside of a major urban center.”
The $125M expansion, designed by Ennead Architects of New York, features three new major galleries, a sun-lit atrium, an entry for school and group tours, and a 5,000-square-foot garden. The new wing features installations of the museum’s Maritime art, Asian export art and Fashion and Design collections.
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, deputy director and chief curator, said eight galleries adjacent to the new wing have also been renovated and feature new installations. Ten more installations are planned in the near future. The expansion increases the museum’s size to 367,000 square feet with 140,000 of that being gallery space.
Ground was broken on the new wing three years ago, and the modern addition fits in remarkably well with the stately East India Marine Hall, which has been in use since 1825, and the Essex Street brick pedestrian mall.
Equally impressive are the three exhibits visitors will see in the new wing.
On the first floor, PEM’s Maritime Art collection, considered by art historians as the finest of its kind in the country, frames the sea as an enduring source of opportunity as well as peril. Examples of Salem’s rich history of maritime trade and exploration share space with such unexpected items as an 1830s canoe paddle from the Cook Islands, an earthenware stirrup vessel in the shape of a lobster circa 850-1470 CE, a vintage whalebone cribbage board in the shape of a whale, a large model of the RMS Queen Elizabeth with accompanying video and audio, and much more.
On the second floor, PEM’s renowned Asian Export Art collection features more than 200 works made in diverse media by artists in China, Japan and South Asia. Porcelain, textiles, tea, ivory and silver were the focus of intensive trade activity between East and West. This installation also boldly examines the effect of the opium trade. Many of these works of art were originally purchased with profits derived from the illegal trade: Millions of Indian and Chinese lives were devastated by opium, drawing comparisons to today’s opioid crisis.
A complete set of Chinese wallpaper has been installed at the exhibit’s entrance. It comes from Strathallan Castle in Scotland, where it hung for more than 175 years. By the 1980s, the wallpaper was damaged and had to be removed. PEM acquired it in 2006 and totally restored it. This is the first time the 19 panels have been displayed outside of the castle.
“Listen to the walls,” said Kennedy, with a mischievous grin. Indeed, the walls do talk. One can hear a gurgling brook, a call to prayer and other sounds one would encounter in a late 1700s Chinese village.
A magnificent bed cover from the 1700s will grab visitors’ attention. It’s embroidered with bright yellow, acid green and hot pink silk.
On the third floor, PEM’s Fashion & Design gallery features ensembles from Iris Apfel’s “Rare Bird of Fashion” collection, which celebrates the inventive styling of one of the world’s most prominent fashion icons, now 98 years young.
Shoe lovers and Lady Gaga fans will want to check out a few examples of artistic footwear. A pair of towering clogs for a courtesan would be worn “only by an elite geisha, a Japanese hostess trained to entertain men with conversation, dance and song.” A pair of outrageously high platform “Giger shoes” by Boston designer Thom Solo that were worn by Gaga in 2014 will draw incredulous looks from women who have trouble walking around in normal kitten heels. Solo says his heels are “for the woman who wants to have a moment.” These certainly fit the bill.
There are numerous examples of artistic furniture, old and new, including an 1876 “moon bed” held together by pegs and four butterfly wedges, and a gorgeous early 1800s mahogany sofa by wood carver Samuel Field McIntire, son of the noted Salem architect and craftsman Samuel McIntire.
Visitors will also chuckle at “Island Bride,” created by Maine’s Brian White using hardware store materials and found objects such as sea shells. It’s a playful poke at the elaborately embellished gowns favored by today’s brides.
For more information, go to www.pem.org.
