Exhibition and Closed Bid Auction benefiting Bennington Museum and Regional Artists

November 26 through December 31 (bidding ends on December 20)
Parmelee and Limric Galleries

“Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.” Wilson Bentley (1925)

Transient Beauty: Responding to “Snowflake” Bentley will feature 25 contemporary artists responding to the magical photomicrographs of Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley. Completely self-taught, Bentley started creating photomicrographs of snowflakes and frost in 1885 and continued making them, almost obsessively, until his death in 1931, having caught pneumonia while photographing snowflakes in a snowstorm. He captured more than 5,000 images of crystals in his lifetime and proved that, indeed, no two snowflakes are identical.

The contemporary responses will range from subject and formal affinity, including imagery of snowflakes, snow, frost/ice, with their intricate, delicate designs and mandala-like symmetry, to more conceptual links to Bentley’s larger project including taxonomies, revealing the invisible, and capturing the transient or ephemeral. Many of the exhibiting artists are photographers whose work uses historic photographic technologies and/or pushes at the possibilities of the photographic image.

How does a Closed-Bid Auction work?

The Auction: Bids placed on items in this auction will only be seen by Museum staff on the bid opening date. The opening bid on each piece will be decided by the artist. Each artist will receive 50% of their work’s sale price.

Closed-Bid Auction: The Closed-Bid Auction of exhibited artwork will open at 10 am on November 26, 2021 and close at 4 pm on December 20, 2021. Each bidder must fill out a bid card, which will be dated and sealed in an envelope and placed in the secure receptacle provided at the entrance to the exhibit, or an online bid form. By signing the bid-card or placing a bid online the bidder is entering into a legally binding contract to purchase the work of art should he/she be the winner.

After the bidding closes, the person with the highest bid for each work of art will be declared the winner and be contacted for payment and to arrange a pick-up time by January 15, 2022, at the latest. In the event of a tie the bid placed first will be the winner. To avoid a tie, we urge people to bid an odd amount such as $501.50 rather than $500.00.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Corporate sponsors are recognized as community leaders and help expand the mission impact of Bennington Museum.