Wedded Bliss: Marrying Art and Ceremony

On April 26, 2008 the Peabody Essex Museum opens "Wedded Bliss, The Marriage of Art and Ceremony," an ambitious new exhibition exploring three centuries of art and culture inspired by weddings from around the world. Including more than 150 objects, this ambitious exhibition presents work by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Claes Oldenburg and Jacob Lawrence alongside historic and couture gowns, ceremonial items and rare jewelry. Complementing the Peabody Essex Museum’s diverse international collections, "Wedded Bliss" features work from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific for a unique look at the complex beliefs and emotions surrounding the matrimonial experience.

"Weddings are a wonderful source of artistic inspiration," says Paula Bradstreet Richter, PEM curator of costumes and textiles, who organized the exhibition. "From a Chagall painting to a hand-stitched gown, the exhibition reveals the wide range of creative response that the marriage ceremony provokes."

Richter spent three years researching and assembling a diverse array of artwork including: paintings, sculpture, photography, film, clothing, ceramics and jewelry. The exhibition’s thematic sections enable viewers to consider similar or divergent ideas represented in different aesthetic traditions. Courtship, engagement and dowries are explored in "Artful Negotiations" while "Solemnizing and Celebrating" presents masterful depictions of wedding ceremonies and a selection of ritual objects. Other themes include the "Creation of Ritual Identity," featuring wedding portraits, as well as stunning examples of matrimonial attire.

Works in the exhibition span the 18th century to the present, providing a fascinating look at the evolution of wedding traditions over time. Shifts in society have continually given rise to new types of ceremonial observance and provided artists with opportunities to create works in response to these changes. Featuring acclaimed international artists, as well as craftspeople and self-taught artists, "Wedded Bliss" celebrates the variety of creative impulses and artistic opportunities presented by the matrimonial process.

"Wedded Bliss, The Marriage of Art and Ceremony" runs from April 26, 2008 through September 14, 2008 at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated book by Paula Bradstreet Richter, with contributing essays by Tiziana and Gianni Baldizzone, Chrys Ingraham and Donald Clay Johnson.