Please click on any of the choices below for details on the exhibition.

WHERE & WHEN / ADMISSION / PRESS RELEASE / DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS

WHERE

Chrysler Museum of Art 245 West Olney Road Norfolk, VA 23510 (click here for directions)

Phone: (757 ) 664-6200 Fax: (757 ) 664-6201 E-mail: museum@chrysler.org

WHEN

April 13 - July 20, 2003

Museum Hours:

Wednesday Thursday - Saturday Sunday

10 a.m. - 9 p.m. (Museum admission by voluntary contribution) 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 1 - 5 p.m.

ADMISSION

Regular Museum Admission (except Wednesdays):
$ 7 - Adults
$ 5 - Students, Seniors, Military
$ 6 for AAA members
Members and Children 12 and under are free (Please click here to become a member.)

Supplemental admission for Ferrari exhibition:
$5 for all visitors ages 4 and over
• Museum Members will be offered a specified number of complimentary Ferrari admission tickets based on their current level of their membership.
• Tickets are available at the Museum. Please call 757-664-6200 for more information.
• Advance tickets are also available at the Virginia Arts Festival Box Office at MacArthur Center in downtown Norfolk.

PRESS RELEASE

La Bella Macchina: The Art of Ferrari Norfolk Southern Large Changing Galleries April 13 through July 20, 2003 2003 Illustration by Chuck Queener for La Bella Macchina: The Art of Ferrari

The Chrysler Museum of Art is pleased to announce an exhibition of the fastest and most beautiful cars in the world—La Bella Macchina: The Art of Ferrari.

Since the 1930s Enzo Ferrari and the company that bears his name have produced automobiles that are unsurpassed in the sophistication of their engineering and the elegance of their design. These seductive objects of desire embody the best of Italian style and craftsmanship.

This spring the Museum will gather together 12 vintage Ferraris—the best of the best—for a landmark exhibition. La Bella Macchina: The Art of Ferrari is presented in part by SunTrust Bank and the City of Norfolk.

La Bella Macchina will feature automobiles drawn from distinguished American and Canadian private collections. Together they encompass the entire range and history of the Ferrari. The earliest car in the show is a classic Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza from 1933—built by Enzo Ferrari before he founded his own company.

Other famous Ferraris on view include a 166 MM Barchetta, 375 “Indy”, 250 GTO, and 250 Testa Rossa. A unique 3-seat 365 P/2 Speciale and a rare 275 GTS NART Spyder will also be on view, as well as a dramatic 641/2 Formula One car from 1991. See what's "In The Show" for a complete list.

The exhibition will also include a selection of 30 classic racing photographs by the celebrated Louis Klemantaski.

In addition to the City of Norfolk and SunTrust Bank, the following sponsors have generously contributed to bring La Bella Macchina to the Chrysler: First Virginia Bank–Hampton Roads, Checkered Flag, Givens, S. L. Nusbaum Realty Co., UBS PaineWebber, and the Sentara Medical Group’s Executive Evaluation Center. Additional support comes from The Meridian Group and the Virginia Arts Festival. Several individual donors also have contributed to this landmark exhibition. For a full listing, please visit our sponsor page.

Please contact the Public Relations Department at (757) 333-6295 or bdyer@chrysler.org for images or more information on the many scheduled events.

Chrysler Museum Director, William Hennessey comments on
La Bella Macchina: The Art of Ferrari

Museums exist so that we can learn fresh and interesting things about ourselves and our world through the medium of rare and wonderful objects. Natural history museums do this with gems and dinosaurs and skeletons, history museums do it through artifacts. Art museums have traditionally focused on painting, sculpture, drawings, and more recently, photography.

But many art museums, including ours, also collect and exhibit the applied arts: furniture, metalwork, ceramics, textiles, etc. These are objects created to meet practical needs. An artist or craftsman might be commissioned to design a vase to hold flowers, a fabric to cover a bed, or a chest in which to store clothing. When we evaluate the success of the resulting object, we consider both how well it fulfills the practical, utilitarian job asked of it, and how attractive it looks while fulfilling it. So it is with great automotive design.

The search for the perfect balance, the ultimate fusion of automotive form and function, has preoccupied designers and manufacturers since the 1930s. Throughout this period Ferrari has consistently held a lead, producing cars of remarkable formal and mechanical sophistication. Whether intended for the street or the track, Ferrari automobiles are true works of moving sculpture—subtle, elegant, witty, and powerfully expressive of speed and energy. These cars look the way most of us can only imagine looking in our wildest dreams: utterly elegant, awesomely powerful, incredibly swift, and unbearably sexy. Come and see if you agree.