Vizcaya hosting book release party

Vizcaya is hosting a book release and signing with the editor and contributing authors of Robert Winthrop Chanler: Discovering the Fantastic, a publication celebrating a rediscovery of a lost figure of American modernism, Robert Winthrop Chanler, co-published by Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

To celebrate this achievement, they are opening the swimming pool ceiling for guests to explore Chanler's work up close and personal (a special treat, since the grotto is traditionally closed to the public!); Vizcaya's Curator, Gina Wouters, and Conservator, Lauren Hall will also be on hand for signing copies of the book and answering questions about Chanler and the works created for Vizcaya. Your ticket will also get you a discount on your purchase of the book in Vizcaya's Cafe and Shop that evening.

American modernism is populated with a cast of extraordinary characters, but few were as exuberant as Robert Winthrop Chanler, who made his artistic reputation with exotic and brilliantly colored compositions featuring fantastical avian, jungle, and aquatic creatures, many overlaid with iridescent metallic finishes - - including the fantastic undersea mural on the swimming pool grotto ceiling at Vizcaya.
Chanler painted what entertained and interested him, while attracting wealthy Gilded Age patrons, like Vizcaya's James Deering, but despite such a prolific career and a fascinating body of work, Chanler quickly became an obscure figure after his death in 1930. 

Robert Winthrop Chanler: Discovering the Fantastic is the first comprehensive examination in more than eighty years of an artist who straddled the divide between fine and decorative art, defined notions of originality and authorship during the birth of American modernism, and posthumously challenges twenty-first century preservationists through his idiosyncratic techniques and unorthodox material choices.

This event is Friday, May 20 from 6 to 8 pm.

Tickets are $7 for members and $15 for non-members and may be purchased here. 

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens is located at 3251 S Miami Avenue.

For info: 305-860-8431