MYRTLE BEACH, SC.- On May 8, the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum will offer the public a glimpse of a rare and significant art collection in an exhibit titled People Reading: Selections from the Collection of Donald and Patricia Oresman.

Manhattan attorney Donald Oresman and his wife Patricia have amassed over 1,300 works of art whose subject is simply people reading. From this collection, 60 works have been curated by Dr. Thomas L. Johnson, Librarian Emeritus of the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina. The exhibit, on view through Oct. 5, is sponsored by The Chapin Foundation.

Regular gallery hours for the exhibit are 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1–4 p.m. Sundays. A reception for the exhibit will be held in July, at a date to be announced.
In People Reading, a variety of subjects are depicted reading books, newspapers, letters, theater programs, menus, music, signs and billboards. Aquatint, ink and pencil, watercolor, wood engraving, color lithograph, etching, gouache, pencil and dry point are among the media included.

Although the collection has been featured in The New Yorker and The Paris Review, few of the originals have ever been exhibited in any numbers beyond New York City. Equally impressive is the list of artists, many of international renown, such as Pierre Bonnard, Elizabeth Catlett, Marc Chagall, Minna Citron, and Kees van Dongen. “This exhibit is especially meaningful to us because of the Art Museum’s longtime collaborative relationship with The Chapin Foundation and the Chapin Memorial Library,” said Art Museum Executive Director Patricia Goodwin.

She added that since 1997, the Museum and the library have collaborated to present reading-and-art programs for children, host lectures at the library based on Museum exhibits and offer adult programming including an Art and Fiction Book Club series. The Museum has also hosted book signings, video premieres and most recently, a series of literary evenings titled Up for Discussion.

Admission to the Museum is free, but donations are welcomed. Call 843-238-2510 or visit www.MyrtleBeachArtMuseum.org.