Telfair Museums

15/05/2026

Last night at the Opening Reception for Impressionism & Modernity: French and American Painting ✨

Guests gathered at the Jepson Center for an early look at the exhibition and a lecture by Mary Morton, Curator and Head of French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art and a leading scholar of 19th-century European art.

Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate the opening and kick off a summer of Impressionism in Savannah 🎨

13/05/2026

Take a look at what our Studio Art Club’s been up to.

Members recently installed new work in the Morrison Community Gallery at the Jepson Center, showcasing the creativity that grows when artists come together to experiment, learn & share ideas.

Telfair supports 3 Studio Clubs: the Studio Art Club, the Life Drawing Club & the Plein Air Club

Join one of our Clubs to be part of the next show. 🎨

Learn more & join at TELFAIR.ORG 💫

12/05/2026

Last week, members of Telfair’s Director’s Circle set sail for Ossabaw Island on a mission of discovery 🛥️

We were struck not only by the island’s natural beauty, but by the stories that shape it. Through special tours led by Elizabeth DuBose and Erin Dunn, guests explored the history, culture, and creative legacy of this remarkable place.

Dunn’s exhibition Off the Coast of Paradise: Artists and Ossabaw Island, 1961 – Now traces the profound impact the island has had on generations of artists and thinkers. The show is co-curated by Beryl Gilothwest, the grandson of Ossabaw Island steward and champion, Sandy West.

See it at the Jepson Center through September 6 ✨

11/05/2026

A world otherwise hidden is now on view at the Jepson Center.

In Bojana Ginn: Biometric Sublime, artist Bojana Ginn transforms the rhythms of the human body into immersive light and sound. Each visitor’s pulse is captured through biometric sensors and translated into a living environment that changes in real time.

Drawing from her background as a medical doctor, Ginn explores the systems beneath perception: what connects us internally, and to the world beyond us. Natural materials like jute and wool run through the space, anchoring the experience in something tactile and grounded.

👇Your presence is the final piece. See it through July 5.

Interactive Media Implementation:


Music:

07/05/2026

One of the Lowcountry’s oldest art forms begins with a coil of grass.

For centuries, African American artisans in the coastal Southeast have practiced the tradition of coiled basketry, an art form brought to this region by enslaved people of West African descent. Originally essential to rice cultivation, these handsewn forms evolved into works of remarkable artistry using local materials like bulrush and sweetgrass.

Roots in the Rushes: African American Basketry of the Lowcountry explores the deep history, cultural knowledge, and enduring creativity behind this tradition that lives on today in the coastal communities of the Gullah Geechee.

Discover the stories woven into every coil along with some familiar Savannah scenes at the Telfair Academy.

06/05/2026

Hear from artist Betsy Cain about how Ossabaw Island has shaped her creative process in this episode of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center Podcast.

Cain's work is featured in Off the Coast of Paradise: Artists and Ossabaw Island, 1961 - Now, as well as Telfair's permanent collection.

Podcast Episode · Tybee Island Marine Science Center Podcast · April 30 · 37m

06/05/2026

Stand in the Rotunda and you’re standing at the threshold of Telfair’s earliest vision.

Long before generations of exhibitions and expanding collections, this space held the museum’s first wave of collecting, works chosen in the earliest days of its history.

One central figure behind that formation was Carl Ludwig Brandt.

Artist, educator, and Telfair Museums’ first director, Brandt helped establish the tone of the collection from its earliest moments. He guided acquisitions, shaped direction, and even contributed works of his own, embedding his perspective directly into the museum’s foundation.

What we see today is still connected to those first decisions made 140 years ago.

📸:
-Carl Brandt, first director of Telfair Museums, 1863
-Carl Brandt before his painting of Iktinus.
-Carl Brandt before his painting of Albrecht Dürer.

🖼️:
-John Walz (1844-1922); Carl L. Brandt, 1891; Plaster; Telfair Museum of Art, TC14
-Carl Brandt (1831-1905); Mary Telfair, 1896; Oil on canvas; Museum purchase, 1896.1
-Carl Brandt (1831-1905); Dürer, c. 1892; Oil on canvas, Bequest of Carl L. Brandt, 1905.4.4
-Carl Brandt (1831-1905); Iktinus, c. 1891; Oil on canvas, Bequest of Carl L. Brandt, 1905.4.3
-Carl Brandt (1831-1905); Praxiteles, 1890; Oil on canvas; Bequest of Carl L. Brandt, 1905.4.4
-Carl Brandt (1831-1905); Apelles, 1888; Oil on canvas; Bequest of Carl L. Brandt, 1905.4.1

03/05/2026

On May 3, 1886 we opened our doors.

For 140 years, Telfair Museums has connected Savannah with art, history, & new ideas.

Generations of visitors, members, artists, staff, and supporters have helped shape our museum over the years. Countless exhibitions, programs, and events have come and gone. And we still have so much to share with you!

Here’s to the next chapter together ✨

02/05/2026

Bet you'll recognize these brushstrokes.

The final years of this artist's life were spent in Paris and the south of France, where a wave of productivity gave way to turbulent times. Though complicated by numerous factors, it was during this period that some of the artist's most iconic and expressive images were born.

Completed in 1883, before arriving in France, this scene of a tulip field in the Netherlands, the artist's home, suggests a sense of serenity and renewal despite the troubled skies overhead. The contrast between the top and bottom of the composition reminds us of the complex duality of nature and, likewise, the human experience.

🖼️: Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890); Flower Beds in Holland, c. 1883; oil on canvas on wood; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.21. Courtesy National Gallery of Art.

📍: The Jepson Center | Impressionism & Modernity: French and American Painting | May 15 - Aug 16 2026

01/05/2026

It all began with a radical idea.💡

Artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Edgar Degas helped transform painting in the late 19th century, capturing fleeting light, movement, and everyday life with bold new ways of seeing.

This Summer, that story comes to Savannah with Impressionism and Modernity: French and American Painting, featuring some extraordinary loans from the National Gallery of Art alongside highlights from Telfair Museums’ permanent collection.

Celebrate the opening with a special preview reception on May 14 marking 140 years of Telfair Museums, followed by a lecture from Dr. Mary Morton, Curator & Head of French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

It’s FREE for Members❕

🎨 Early exhibition preview at 5:30pm
🎤 Lecture begins at 6:15pm in the auditorium

Learn more & reserve your spot at the link in bio 💫

🖼️: -Jean-Louis Forain (French, 1852-1931); The Races at Longchamp, c. 1891; Oil on canvas; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2014.18.62; Courtesy National Gallery of Art.

-Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890); Flower Beds in Holland, c. 1883; oil on canvas on wood; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.21; Courtesy National Gallery of Art.

-Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939); The Garden Umbrella, by 1910; oil on canvas; Telfair Museums, bequest of Mrs. Elizabeth Millar Bullard, 1942.7.

-Jean-François Raffaëlli (1850-1924); The Boulevard, c. 1900–1905; oil on canvas; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2015.19.43; Courtesy National Gallery of Art.

-Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858–1925); Buttercup Time, 1920; oil on canvas; Telfair Museums, museum purchase, 1926.1.