Following months of renovation and refurbishing, the Bermuda National Gallery (BNG)is poised to reopen with a bang. Beginning on May 10 it will host two Summer exhibitions, one honouring an important Bermudian artist, and the other exploring the attitudes toward hair, its symbolism, and how it is represented in African art.

John Hollis Kaufmann, generally regarded as the doyen of Bermuda impressionist landscape painters, is to be honoured with a major retrospective of his work marking his 70th birthday.

‘Essential Elements 1947-2007’, the Kaufmann retrospective, is curated by Dr. Charles Zuill. It will include 30 works, and represent 60 years of painting Bermuda, ranging from ‘John Smith’s Bay’ (1947), painted when the artist was just ten years old, to the epic sweep of ‘Church Bay, Evening’ (2007). Many of the works were painted in the artist’s studio at his Somerset home, ‘Tranquillity’, but the exhibition will also include other works created at his farm in Colebrook, New Hampshire.

Fellow Bermudian artist Georgine Hill described Mr. Kaufmann as “the ultimate painter”, and said of his work: “Through his landscapes he captures the true spirit and character of old Bermuda. He interprets the natural beauty of Bermuda that allows us to appreciate our environment even more. Each painting is like a little piece of the Island, making you not only want to be there, but also making you feel as if you are there for the moment.”

Concurring, Mr. Zuill said that “when the history of Bermudian art is written, John Kaufmann’s art will be seen as an important step in the maturation of local painting. His work is a more abstract rendering of the Bermuda landscape. Indeed, the artist sees his paintings as expressions of infinity.”

Since part of the BNG’s mission is to recognise Bermuda’s most important artists so that their legacy lives on, BNG director Laura Gorham said the Gallery was “delighted” to stage the Kaufmann retrospective.

“His name is invariably invoked in discussions about Bermuda’s art history, and modern artists in particular, and he is justifiably acknowledged as one of Bermuda’s few true masters — and certainly one of its greatest living artists.”

Montreal-born Mr. Kaufmann is the son of the late Canadian surgeon Dr. Mark Kaufmann and his Bermudian wife Jeannette Helena Roberts. He began visiting Bermuda regularly from about 1946 and the family eventually moved to the Island in 1949. After attending Whitney Institute and Saltus Grammar School, he studied art and design at McGill University in Montreal, and also at Bard College, New York.

‘Hair In African Art’ is based on ‘Hair In African Art And Culture’, a successful 2000 exhibition at the Museum For African Art in New York. While hairstyles in the West are mainly used to make a fashion statement, in Africa hair has a far greater significance, often indicating power, authority, social standing or religious affiliation, and this importance has long been reflected in African continent’s art.

The BNG exhibition will combine existing pieces from its African collection with works loaned from private collections, and contemporary work by African artists.

It will flow from tradition-based African objects, where the hairstyle is a significant feature of the work, and headrests that protect the coiffeur, to contemporary commercial signage for hairdressers from Ghana, plus two stone sculptures by leading Shona fine artist Peter Chikumbirike of Zimbabwe which are crowned by hairstyles from an earlier time.

The exhibition will be complemented by Bermudian photographer Scott Stallard’s images of the Himba women of Namibia and the Masai of Tanzania, as well as photographs of contemporary creative hairstyles contributed by local residents in the Gallery’s education centre.

“The exhibition is diverse and varied as African culture itself,” Mrs. Gorham said. “It shows not only how hairstyles can express individual creativity or membership of ethnic, social or religious groups, but also how they draw on fashion and cultural influences from all over the globe. This exhibition adds a dynamic new perspective to our African collection that we hope will appeal to a wide cross-section of the community.”

The Summer Exhibitions will continue through September 7.

[bul]>PartnerRe Art Lecture Series<$>: ‘Hair in Art Through the Ages: Symbols, Significances, Transformation & Continuity’ is the subject of the June 7 lecture at the BNG. It will be delivered by Ori Z. Soltes, Goldman professorial lecturer in Fine Arts and Theology at Georgetown University, and guest curator for ‘Inside & Out: House & Home’ at BNG in 2003. Tickets (BNG members $10, others $20) are available from the BNG box office or www.boxoffice.bm.