ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG, ‘TIBETAN GARDEN SONG,’ 1986, POLK MUSEUM OF ART COLLECTION.

Pictures at an Exhibition is a unique collaboration between the Polk Museum of Art and the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra. This one-of-a-kind exhibition promises to delight art and music lovers alike. Guest curated by instrumentalists of the Orchestra, Pictures at an Exhibition pairs artwork from the Museum’s permanent collection with hand-picked musical selections performed by the musicians themselves for a unique multi-sensory viewing and listening experience. 

Pictures at an Exhibition is inspired by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky’s beloved 1874 ten-piece suite of the same name. Mussorgsky created his own Pictures at an Exhibition in honor of his beloved friend, artist and architect Viktor Hartmann. When Hartmann died suddenly in 1873 at only 39 years old, the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg staged a memorial exhibition featuring more than 400 works by Hartmann, including two paintings Mussorgsky held in his private collection. Mussorgsky, still heartbroken over the loss of his dear friend, visited the exhibition and was so moved that over the course of the next three weeks he dropped the projects he had been focused upon and composed — from start to finish — the complete Pictures at an Exhibition. The suite of ten pieces represents in music Mussorgsky’s tour of the memorial exhibition, with each piece a musical interpretation of the experience of looking at ten of Hartmann’s drawings and paintings on display in the show. 

Our Pictures at an Exhibition carries Mussorgsky’s concept fully into the 21st century. Each work in this exhibition provides an exciting visual and musical pairing, encouraging visitors to experience how both the performing and visual arts can enhance and engage with one another.