Minding the Mannerists in Print Show

Mannerism once had a bad rap. Many experts long held that the 16th- and early 17th-Century movement was part of a period of artistic decline and decadance. But art historians of the early 20th Century began to change all that.

“They looked at 16th-Century art again and saw its aesthetic virtues,� says Bruce Davis, curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “Mannerist art could be eccentric, purposefully stylized, artificial, decadent even. But at the start of this century, the use of distorted poses, discordant colors and jarring juxtapositions of figures in space were seen as having very expressive qualities.�

Evidently, this revised view is held by Davis and other officials at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where “Mannerist Prints: International Style in the Sixteenth Century� opens Thursday.

The exhibition, through Oct. 9, includes 148 Italian, French and Netherlandish engravings, etchings and woodcuts from the collection of the late Mary Stansbury Ruiz, a Los Angeles collector.

“There have been exhibits in this country that included a number of these works, but never any showing the real international range of Mannerist prints,� Davis says. “Ruiz’s collection is of such range and quality that an exhibit like this could finally be done.�

LOCAL AMERICANA LIVES ON: If all goes according to plan, 20 tall folk art statues from Old Trapper’s Lodge will inhabit their new home at Pierce College in the near future.

The whimsical painted cement sculptures depicting Wild West characters were created in the 1950s by John Ehn who, until his death in 1981, owned the Sun Valley landmark destined for demolition later this summer.

“It’s a sad and a happy time,� said Ehn’s daughter Rosemary Farish, who runs the motel complex her father transformed into a monument to the Old West. “But to know that the sculptures will be in a safe, secure place where teachers and students will learn from them is meaningful to me and other Ehn family members.�

Farish said that plans are under way to build a log cabin at Pierce to house other Western memorabilia from Old Trapper’s--such as snowshoes, stretched animal skins and the re-creation of a caged mad man--and to send some of the nostalgic pieces out on a traveling exhibition. Information: (213) 463-1629.

SANTA MONICA SCULPTURE: Five artists have been named as finalists to create the first sculptures for Santa Monica’s 3rd Street mall revitalization project. Maquettes of the large-scale, site-specific artworks--designed by finalists Vito Acconci, Guy Dill, Claude and Francois La Lanne, George Segal and Athena Tacha--will be on view from Thursday through Sept. 6 on the mall at a storefront at 1345 3rd St.

NEW SHOWCASE: The Santa Barbara Museum of Art has recently opened a new gallery to house its permanent collection of 19th- and 20th-Century French art, previously without a permanent display place. The Campbell-Gould Gallery will contain sculpture and prints as well as paintings in the museum’s collection of French art, recently expanded with the acquisition of floral paintings by Henri Fantin-Latour and other important works.