Corinne Melchers’ Gifts of Creativity – A Commemorative Exhibition at Gari Melchers Home and Studio 

An exhibition highlighting the creative talents and visionary philanthropy of Corinne Melchers will open on March 1, 2025 at Gari Melchers Home and Studio.   

Gari Melchers (1860-1932), an internationally acclaimed artist during his lifetime, had studios in various cities, settling first in Egmond aan Zee, Holland and then Falmouth, Virginia in 1916, where he and Corinne (1880-1955) established strong community connections.  

Devotion to her husband’s artistic legacy inspired Corinne Melchers to bequeath their rural retreat, Belmont, to the Commonwealth of Virginia at her death in 1955.  The 70th anniversary of that bequest coincides in 2025 with the 50th anniversary of Gari Melchers Home and Studio opening to the public.   

Starting March 1, 2025, the galleries at Gari Melchers Home and Studio will feature Corinne as her husband’s creative partner. An art student when they met, Corinne channeled her talents into nurturing Belmont’s gardens, cultivating floral varieties that appear in several of Gari’s still life paintings. These works, and others depicting the local community, will be highlighted throughout the year. The couple’s civic engagement, from local garden club membership to state and national museum advocacy to support of charitable organizations, will also be recognized. 

Friends of Belmont can sign up for a special viewing of the exhibition with Assistant Director and Curator Susan Martis on Saturday, March 8 from 9:30-10:30 AM and 3:30-4:30 PM. Please RSVP by March 5 to Membership Manager Jennifer Pinkerton at jpinkerton@umw.edu if you will attend. Maximum gallery capacity for each session is 20 persons. 

Join us to experience art, nature and history with Corinne Melchers’ Gifts of Creativity!

Visit Gari Melchers Home and Studio Website for more information.

Gari Melchers Home & Studio was featured in an ‘Artful Escapes’ spread in the December issue of Virginia Living magazine.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was among the most famous artists to create lithographs. As a leader in taking an innovative approach to this medium, he composed with broad, flat areas of color and curvilinear lines that enliven the scenes. Lautrec patronized the cabarets and dance halls he depicted, illustrating popular performers and nightlife in Paris in the 1890s.

Ukiyo-e prints were made by artists in Japan during the Edo Period (1615–1868) and depict scenes of daily activities and entertainments. They were widely collected in Japan, and by western artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec in the 19^th century. The subjects, vivid colors and patterns, cropped forms, and compressed illusion of space inspired these artists to feature these characteristics in their own work.

These prints were amid the artistic context Gari Melchers encountered in Paris in the 1890s. See how his works of art show similar elements of color, pattern, composition and bold expression. On view at Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont through April 30.