Commedia dell’Arte (and all that jazz)

A special installation, featuring a color lithograph entitled Commedia dell’Arte, by 20th-century Italian artist Gino Severini, and similarly themed works by Pablo Picasso and Jacques Lipschitz, will open in the First Floor Gallery of Western Art at the IU Museum in Bloomington Tuesday (July 1).

A special gallery installation and free jazz concerts await July visitors to the IU Art Museum A special installation, featuring a color lithograph entitled "Commedia dell’Arte,"by 20th-century Italian artist Gino Severini, and similarly themed works by Pablo Picasso and Jacques Lipschitz, will open in the First Floor Gallery of Western Art at the IU Museum in Bloomington Tuesday (July 1).

Commedia dell’Arte, also referred to as Italian comedy, is a 16th-century theatrical form popularized by troupes of actors that traveled throughout the countryside giving street performances that appealed to all classes. The characters in the comedies, particularly the mischievous servants, or zanni, were seen as uninhibited, free spirits. In the early 20th century, the form experienced a revival in ballets, plays and vaudeville.

For Severini, who recalled the childhood thrill of seeing a traveling comedy troupe in his hometown of Cortona, the subject of this particular lithograph reflected a long historical tradition. Unlike the works of many of his contemporaries, Severini’s 1958 print includes not only the infamous Harlequin (on the right), but a more obscure character on the left, both of whom, in the Italian comedy tradition, are associated with music and costumes that are decorated with green livery stripes. The print reflects the Neo-Cubism of Severini’s late career and the influence of Picasso’s 1921 Cubist masterpiece, Three Musician.

In conjunction with the installation, the IU Art Museum will host its popular summer jazz series of free Friday night concerts on the Sculpture Terrace, weather permitting, or inside the museum in the event of inclement weather. Concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. The First Floor Gallery, which also features paintings by Claude Monet, Jackson Pollack and Stuart Davis, will be open through 8 p.m. on all concert nights except July 4. Seating at the July 4 concert will begin at 6 p.m.

Here’s the series line-up:

• July 4: Café Jazz Society, a sextet that merges rhythm, melody and Southern jazz tradition to create the American style known as Dixieland jazz. There also will be several selections composed IU’s legendary Hoagy Carmichael.

• July 11: Kwyjibo, the jazz fusion quartet that thrives on rocking rhythms and tight improvisation, as well as an array of eclectic jazz, world, funk and blues influences.

• July 18: Hot Club of Naptown will bring its capital city acoustic swing south to Bloomington. The group’s repertoire includes acoustic jump blues and original tunes played on violin, acoustic guitars, mandolin, blues harp, acoustic bass and vocals.

• July 25: Monika Herzig and Friends, featuring Cathy Morris and Janiece Jaffe: Herzig will showcase her jazz compositions and dynamic piano playing, joined by Morris on electric violin and Jaffe, recently returned to the Hoosier state from an acclaimed tour of Japan, as vocalist.

Hot club of Naptown	KWYJIBO	Herzig