Official behind-the-scenes blog of the Dallas Museum of Art
For seventeen years Young Masters has showcased the amazing talent of area AP High School students. Come share our awe over the creative work produced by Advanced Placement® Studio Art, Art History, and Music Theory students from 10 North Texas High Schools through April 28.
As part of our McDermott Internship, each intern is able to request funds to use for professional development–this can go towards a language class, visiting other museums to learn more about their practices, or events like conferences. This year, some of us decided to attend the National Art Education Association Conference in New Orleans.
Always on board for some intern bonding, we decided to drive the 8 hours from Dallas to New Orleans. This was a great start to our trip, which has only gotten better since our arrival in the Big Easy! We’ve had a great time attending sessions, visiting local museums (New Orleans Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Contemporary Arts Center) and learning more about the field of museum education. Here are just a few pictures of our trip so far!
We’re looking forward to bringing the knowledge and new ideas we’ve heard at the conference back to the DMA!
Liz Bola
McDermott Graduate Intern for Gallery and Community Teaching
It was a truly exciting moment for me when I discovered that the DMA held a batik produced by “THE” Eliza van Zuylen. Owning one of van Zuylen’s exquisite hand-drawn cloths was a privilege that only very wealthy women in 19th-century colonial Indonesia enjoyed. With the average wage of a government employee being twenty guilders a month, and a van Zuylen sarong costing around thirteen guilders, these batiks were comparable to a Chanel bag or Louboutin shoes today. Adorned with European-style flower bouquets, hence buketan-style batik, the cloths were wrapped around the waist and combined with fashionable lace-trimmed blouses called kebayas.
Three Indo-European women wearing kebaya blouses with batik sarongs, Batavia (Jakarta), around 1880, from Heringa, R./Veldhuisen, H.C., Fabric of Enchantment: Batik from the North Coast of Java (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1996), p. 48.
Mainly produced by women in their home and for their private use, Javanese batik underwent a process of commercialization in the late 19th century. In addition to Peranakan Chinese, several Indo-European women on the north coast of the island established batik workshops, often to supplement their husband’s income. Mostly middle class, these women, who were of European and Asian, Chinese, or Arab origin, were situated in between the local Javanese population and the Dutch colonial society. Their intermediary position allowed them to create batik for several societal groups, including the Indo-European, Peranakan Chinese, and upper-class Javanese.
Eliza van Zuylen, from Heringa, R./Veldhuisen, H.C., Fabric of Enchantment: Batik from the North Coast of Java (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1996), p. 76.
Eliza van Zuylen was one of these women; she was born in 1863 in Batavia (Jakarta) as the daughter of a Dutch soldier and an Indo-European woman. After her husband, Alphons van Zuylen, was appointed as government inspector in Pekalongan, she moved to this north coast city, which, since the 1850s, was an important batik production center. After helping in her sister Christina’s batik workshop, van Zuylen opened her own business in 1890. Starting off with just three Javanese batik makers, her workshop was very prosperous and expanded quickly, by 1918 becoming the largest Indo-European batik business in the whole of Java. Her workshop ended up being the only Indo-European batik business to survive the economic depression of the 1930s.
Peranakan Chinese batik entrepreneur Tee Boen Kee and his workshop in Batavia (Jakarta), around 1930, from Heringa, R./ Veldhuisen, H.C., Fabric of Enchantment: Batik from the North Coast of Java (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1996), p. 41.
The batik designs, inspired by Dutch horticultural books, imported European flowers, and European fairytales, were created by Eliza van Zuylen herself and then drawn on the cloth with hot wax by her batik makers. Provided the wax drawing met van Zuylen’s expectations, she added her signature to the cloth and allowed it to be dyed. Together with a stamp from her workshop, this signature guaranteed the authenticity of the batik. Not only was the habit of signing batiks, which had been introduced by Indo-European batik entrepreneurs such as van Zuylen, meant to help protect patterns, but it also functioned as an advertisement.
Woman’s sarong, 1910, Java, Pekalongan, Indonesia, batik on commercial cotton, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Bywaters in memory of Paul and Viola van Katwijk
The signature and stamp on the DMA batik by Eliza van Zuylen
A gift from former Museum director Jerry Bywaters, this beautiful sarong entered the DMA’s collection in 1982. The signature “E v Zuylen” and the stamp stating “Batikkerij Mevr. E. van Zuylen, Pekalongan” prove that this batik was made in van Zuylen’s workshop. The beige and blue color combination, in this case probably achieved with indigo, is referred to as kelengan and was popular among both Indo-European and Peranakan Chinese women on the north coast. The body, or badan, of the cloth is decorated with three flowering twigs along with birds and butterflies. This motif is repeated on the head, or kepala, but on a contrasting dark background. The pattern fields and the edges of the cloth are decorated with floral lace borders. Such a batik would have been suitable for a young Indo-European bride on her wedding night, with the beige symbolizing her purity and the lovebirds referring to marriage.
Elisabeth Seyerl is the McDermott Graduate Curatorial Intern for African and Asian Art at the DMA.
Last week, my little guy and I attended Art Babies. We started the class in our exhibition, Between Action and the Unknown: The Art of Kazuo Shiraga and Sadamasa Motonaga, exploring the large, abstract works of art. He smiled and kicked his little feet, so I could tell he really enjoyed the bright and engaging colors!
Color is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot when it comes to his diet–the more colorful the better! As you might have expected, I enjoy making food for him at home, so I wanted to share a simple recipe that you could try, inspired by the deep and vibrant colors in the exhibition. Be sure to bring your little one on your next visit, then make some colorful food for him or her to enjoy at home–you’ll be feeding his body and his mind! If you’re brave, you might even let him paint his high chair tray–at least you’ll know the paint is safe to eat!
Sadamasa Motonaga, Work 66-1, 1966, oil and synthetic resin on canvas, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo © 2015 Estate of Motonaga Sadamasa
Mango Blueberry Puree
Yields about 16 ounces
Appropriate for 8+ months
Level: Very Easy
1 ripe mango
1 cup fresh or frozen organic blueberries
Prepare the mango by cutting it around the skin, similar to how you would cut an avocado. Note that the pit can be a bit tricky, so do your best to remove it, separating the fruit into two halves. Using a knife, score the fruit up to the skin, being careful not to cut through it. Scoop out fruit pieces and juice, and add to saucepan set on medium-low heat. Add fresh or frozen berries to pan and lightly simmer for about 5 minutes, allowing the fruits to break down slightly and meld their flavors.
Transfer fruit to the bowl of a baby food maker, small food processor, or large measuring bowl, if using an immersion blender. Puree into desired consistency for your baby.
Divide puree into any portion size you’d like and freeze. I find that an ice cube tray works well for small portions that can be pulled out when needed and added to oatmeal, mixed with other fruits, or combined into a larger meal.
Cooked fruit in the baby food maker
Finished puree in ice trays
Original recipe. And of course, be sure to always check with your pediatrician on the appropriate diet for your special little one.
Sarah Coffey
Education Coordinator
If you put up an exhibition called The Arts of the Circus, as the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts did in October 1962, it is a no-brainer that the preview party will be its own three-ring circus.
DMCA Director Douglas MacAgy as Ringmaster for the Arts of the Circus preview party.
Photo credit: Paul Rogers Harris
The party featured clowns, balloons, animal crackers and pink lemonade, a sideshow, fire-eaters, and a baby elephant.
Fire-eater at the preview party for the DMCA’s The Arts of the Circus exhibition. Photo credit: Paul Rogers Harris
Dallas artists Roy Fridge, Nancy Levinson, David McManaway, Herb Rogalla, Peggy Wilson, and Roger Winter created special sideshow banners to complete the circus atmosphere.
Sideshow banners by local artists created for The Arts of the Circus
The exhibition proper included both circus objects and memorabilia, and artworks with a circus-related subject; it was on view at the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts October 9-November 11, 1962.
Hillary Bober is the Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.
This February was a milestone for the DMA education team: we celebrated the fifth anniversary of two of the Museum’s most successful access programs: Autism Awareness Family Celebrations, which currently serve over 900 visitors from North Texas each year, and Meaningful Moments, designed specifically for individuals with early stage dementia.
Furthermore, we announced the expansion of our access programs to include All Access Art, a program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Developed from the DMA’s long-running partnership with the Arc of Dallas advocacy group, All Access Art will now provide art-infused experiences to a wider selection of special needs groups in the DFW area, including Special Abilities of North Texas, Connecting Points of Park Cities, and Community Homes for Adults, Inc. (CHAI). During these visits to the Museum, participants explore the galleries on a theme-based tour and then return to the Center for Creative Connections Art Studio to create their own work of art.xc
We are thrilled at the expansion of this program and look forward to sharing more images and stories of our fantastic experiences with All Access Art!
Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist
It all started last year when a colleague sent me a link to a portrait we have in our collection of Jane Austen, done by Austen’s sister Cassandra. This colleague knew I was an Austen fan and wanted to see if I was aware that we had this in our collection. I had no idea!
After Cassandra Austen, Jane Austen, n.d., engraving, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts, The Alfred and Juanita Bromberg Collection, bequest of Juanita K. Bromberg
I shared this awesome news with other Austen fans on staff, which led us to think about how great it would be do a Jane Austen-themed Late Night. Around that time, we also heard that the Dallas Theater Center would be doing a spring production of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. Voilà, an Austen Late Night was born.
We brainstormed a lot of ideas, researched speakers who had talked at local and national meetings of The Jane Austen Society of North America, and met with staff from the Dallas Theater Center to talk about connections to their production.
After months of planning, we are excited to see the event take shape, and we invite you to join us for our Jane Austen Late Night on Friday, March 20, from 6:00 p.m. to midnight. You can hear music from the Romantic era, learn about the fashion world of Jane Austen, watch a Victorian fencing demonstration, listen to a dramatic reading by Dallas Theater Center actors, take quizzes to test your knowledge of all things Austen, watch films, including the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice staring Laurence Olivier, and learn how Kate Rorick helped modernize Austen for the digital age.
For those of you who like to bring the world of Austen to life, we invite you to come dressed as your favorite Jane Austen character or in a costume inspired by England’s Regency era for a chance to win great Austen-themed prizes, including a pair of tickets to the Dallas Theater Center’s production of Sense and Sensibility. Baronda Bradley, a specialist in Regency fashion, will judge the contest, starting at 8:30 p.m.
Our March Late Night is also our annual Spring Block Party in the Arts District. There will be a lot to do that evening with the Nasher Sculpture Center and Crow Collection of Asian Art also staying open until midnight.
And, for anyone needing an Austen appetizer, there are still tickets available to see Jo Baker, author of Longbourn, at tomorrow night’s DMA Arts & Letters Live event.
I hope to see all my fellow Austenites on Friday!
Stacey Lizotte is Head of Adult Programming and Multimedia Services at the DMA.
It’s the middle of March, meaning I’m well into the seventh month of my McDermott internship, and I have to say that the charms of working in a museum still haven’t worn away. I don’t know that they ever will! Part of what I love so much about my position as part of the Family and Access Teaching team is that I have gallery time built into my schedule. I’m out in the galleries multiple times a day: teaching classes, leading occasional tours, doing research for lesson plans (and blog posts!), and taking walks as a break from my desk.
After each trip through the Museum, the thought creeps into my head that, “Okay, now I’ve seen everything we have on view,” and yet time and again I’m proven wrong. Without fail, there’s always something I haven’t noticed before – something I have to stop in front of and think, “Has that always been there?” before investigating. The piece is often small or–at first glance–plain. Frederic Edwin Church’s Icebergs certainly isn’t a piece you can miss, nor is everyone’s favorite rain god, Tlaloc. These are the pieces that can catch your eye from a mile away. Today, however, I’m here to encourage you to spend a little extra time in the corners you might normally overlook, by sharing a few pieces that I passed by on so many occasions and have now come to admire.
Incised bone depicting an accession ceremony, Maya, A.D. 600-900
Incised bone depicting an accession ceremony, Maya, A.D. 600-900, Dallas Museum of Art, The Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Fund
This fragment of bone, only 3 1/4 inches tall, was meticulously incised over a millennium ago with the scene of a young man being crowned king. The about-to-be ruler sits in the lower right of the piece, and opposite him a man raises “the great headdress of Holy Lordship,”which, according to the Museum’s label, bears the image of a mythical bird called ‘Itzam-Yeh,’ ‘The Magic Giver.’ The significance of Itzam-Yeh’s presence in this scene is rooted in the story of the bird; in short, he claimed to be something much greater than he was and was found out and punished for it. The headdress, so decorated, would serve both as a reminder and a warning to the new king.
Chess piece, India: Punjab Hills, late 18th-early 19th century
Chess piece, India: Punjab Hills, late 18th-early 19th century, intended gift of David T. Owsley
This chess piece, made of gilt and polychrome ivory, is another incredible work of delicate craftsmanship. The details are what make the piece so impressive–for example, each of the three men riding the elephant have distinct features and carefully carved beards. Some of the fine black lines are so thin and precise that they would have required a very steady hand wielding a paintbrush with no more than a strand or two of hair. This particular piece would have been used as the king–can you imagine how grand the entire chess set must have looked?
Ring with engraved carnelian, Roman, first half of 3rd century A.D.
Ring with engraved carnelian, Roman, first half of 3rd century A.D., Dallas Museum of Art, Museum League Purchase Funds, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., and Cecil H. and Ida M. Green in honor of Virginia Lucas Nick
This silver ring was probably worn by a man. In the gallery, the ring is so small and the carving is so fine that the details can be hard to see without careful, close looking (the Museum’s online collection comes in handy during moments like this–there are many high-quality photographs that let you zoom in and examine a small piece like this ring with ease). To the left stands Oedipus, the king in Greek mythology who murdered his father and married his mother, unaware that they were his parents. Carved into the Museum’s carnelian is a scene from later in his story when Oedipus saves Thebes from the Sphinx by answering her riddle. The craftsman that made this exceptionally small carving was clearly remarkably skilled–I can’t imagine the patience and quiet attention that went into the creation of this ring.
These are just three of the small, wonderful pieces I’ve discovered in the galleries, and I can’t wait to see what I run across next. So remember: on your next trip to the Museum (or any museum) yes, you absolutely should pay attention to the standout pieces–the Icebergs, the Tlalocs–but don’t forget to give the little guys their due. You’re bound to be surprised by what you find.
Jennifer Sheppard
McDermott Intern for Family and Access Teaching
This St. Patrick’s Day we aren’t crossing the pond to celebrate with the Irish as the DMA is home to a number of works created by artists who have called the Emerald Isle home. Wishing everyone a happy St. Patrick’s Day filled with the luck of the Irish, and some of their artistic talent too.
Kimberly Daniell is the Manager of Communications and Public Affairs at the DMA.
The Dallas Observer has declared that the DMA is on fire. Check out their article online and see what the excitement is all about with a visit to the DMA this weekend, and be among the first to see Michaël Borremans: As sweet as it gets when it opens Sunday.
“The Wooden Skirt by Michaël Borremans. Source Dallas Observer
