SALEM, MASS.- The Peabody Essex Museum unveils Wedded Bliss, The Marriage of Art and Ceremony, a wide-ranging exploration of the wedding as artistic inspiration across cultures, lifestyles and three centuries. No exhibition has ever before taken this connective and comparative approach, with 130 paintings, sculptures, photographs, decorative objects and multimedia from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific, highlighting the complex beliefs and emotions surrounding the matrimonial experience. From the 18th century to the present, these works reveal the diversity of creative response to weddings, as well as changing attitudes and customs over time.

“The concept of marriage manifests in Wedded Bliss as a universal cultural phenomenon that serves as a powerful touchstone for creativity. Our curator, Paula Bradstreet Richter, has organized an exhibition that is as ambitious in its artistic scope as it is in its global reach and contemporary relevance,” said Dan L. Monroe, executive director of the Peabody Essex Museum.

Works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Winslow Homer, Benjamin West, William Hogarth, Cecily Brown, Claes Oldenburg and Jacob Lawrence are presented together with an array of objects created for wedding rituals around the world. These include historical and contemporary couture gowns, ceremonial items and rare jewelry including the diamond nuptial crown of Alexandra, the last Russian empress. Just as every couple has its story, each work in the exhibition reveals its artistic significance and unique history as a token of promise, an expression of love won or lost, a ceremonial object, a social statement or a memento of this important rite of passage. Performing arts and forms of perishable aesthetic expression related to weddings, such as culinary and floral artistry, will be explored through programming related to the exhibition.

Artful Negotiations, Remembrances and Everything in Between

Conceived in five thematic sections, the exhibition addresses joy or disillusionment from the earliest sparks of attraction through remembrance of the wedding ceremony after many years of marriage.

The first section, Wedding in White, features wedding gowns as art transporting individuals from ordinary daily existence into timeless roles for the occasion of marriage. The historical roots of the white wedding tradition are addressed here, exploring symbolism, conformity and resistance to it. Dresses by contemporary and historical designers including Priscilla of Boston, exemplify the Euro-American wedding ideal, while others dismantle it. Lesley Dill’s sculpture, Dada Poem Wedding Dress, a paper wedding gown inscribed with a poem by Emily Dickinson, was worn originally as performance art at an AIDS benefit, an iconic wedding symbol drawing attention to issues in contemporary life.

Artful Negotiations documents the early stages of a romantic relationship and the agreement to wed, and includes Winslow Homer’s Rustic Courtship, a depiction of the uncertainty of courtship and unrequited love in the 1870s. Also in this section are John Clevely, Sr.’s monumental 1762 painting of Queen Charlotte’s arrival for her marriage to King George III, and 19th-century spade-blade currency shown as a symbol of bride price in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They may not at first glance seem to have much in common with each other, yet suggest marriage negotiation and arrangement, rather than a romantic union.

Color and Symbolism in Wedding Attire presents alternatives to the white wedding, with selected examples of handcrafted textiles from around the world, and America’s past. International wedding films put the garments in cultural context.

Art and Ceremony features the use of art both in marriage ceremonies and as a means of creating ritual space. The art quilt, Shekhinah by Ricky Tims, is a full-size wedding chupa or canopy enabling visitors to enter an area uplifted from the everyday to the extraordinary, at the ready for a wedding ceremony.

The concluding section, Remembrance, features art commemorating the wedding, reliving the experience or marking the passage of time. An especially poignant example is a gold, enamel and diamond bracelet by Tiffany & Co., given as an anniversary gift from a Civil War general to his wife. The bracelet is composed of hourglasses inscribed with each battle he fought, symbolizing the long hours of separation from his wife during his military service.