While browsing our online collection for a project, I entered the word “cloud” into the search field. I was surprised by how many works of art in our collection had cloud connections, either as part of the work’s title or featured in the work itself. As I was looking through the images, I kept hearing Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now playing in my head. Go ahead and give it a listen as you look at just a few of the clouds in our collection.
Olin Herman Travis, “Cloud Study, Arbuckle Mountains,” n.d. oil on board, Dallas Museum of Art, The Barrett Collection, Dallas, Texas, 2007.15.57
Wraparound skit (“kain panjang”): cloud design (“megamendung”), Indonesia, Java, Cirebon, c. 1910, handdrawn batik on commercially woven cotton, Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund, 1991.58
Olin Herman Travis, “The Shower #10,” c. 1933, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen S. Kahn, 1959.169
Odilon Redon, “The Port of Morgat,” 1882, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, 1985.R.53
Sigmar Polke, “Clouds,” 1989, mixed media on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund and the Contemporary Art Fund: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon E. Faulconer, Mr. and Mrs. Bryant M. Hanley, Jr., Marguerite and Robert K. Hoffman, Cindy and Howard Rachofsky, Deedie and Rusty Rose, Gayle and Paul Stoffel, and two anonymous donors, 2000.388, © Estate of Sigmar Polke/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany
Otis Dozier, “Approaching Storm,” 1977, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of The Dozier Foundation, 1990.50, © Denni Davis Washburn, William Robert Miegel Jr, and Elizabeth Marie Miegel
Edward Bearden, “Storm on the Plains,” 1944, watercolor, Dallas Museum of Art, Ted Dealey Purchase Prize, Fifteenth Annual Dallas Allied Arts Exhibition, 1944, 1944.3
Danny Williams, “Storm Light, Beynes,” 2007, powdered pigment, charcoal, conté, and ink on paper, Dallas Museum of Art, Texas Artists Fund, 2008.36.1, © Danny Williams
Danny Williams, “Converging Power Lines, Sauix-Marchais,” 2007, powered pigment, charcoal, conté, and ink on paper, Dallas Museum of Art, Texas Artists Fund, 2008.36.4, © Danny Williams
April Gornik, “Circling Cloud,” 1984, pastel and charcoal on paper, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, anonymous gift, 1991.120.FA, © 1984 April Gornik
Karl Struss, “Storm Clouds, La Mesa, California,” 1921, platinum print, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert C. Page, 1983.568
Alfred Jacob Miller, “Where the Clouds Love to Rest,” c. 1850, oil on panel, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of C. R. Smith, 1955.20
John Rogers Cox, “Wheat Shocks,” 1951, lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, bequest of Rozwell Sam Adams in memory of Herndon Kimball Adams and Loither Iler Adams, 2001.35
Gerhard Richter, “Clouds,” 1969, offset lithograph, white card, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art League Fund, Roberta Coke Camp Fund, General Acquisitions Fund, DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund, and the Contemporary Art Fund: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon E. Faulconer, Mr. and Mrs. Bryant M. Hanley, Jr., Marguerite and Robert K. Hoffman, Howard E. Rachofsky, Deedie and Rusty Rose, Gayle and Paul Stoffel, and two anonymous donors, 1999.217, © Gerhard Richter, Cologne, Germany
Eugène–Louis Boudin, “The Quay at Antwerp,” 1874, oil on panel, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, 1981.102
Lyonel Feininger, “Mansion at the Beach,” 1921, woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Stuart Gordon Johnson by exchange; General Acquisitions Fund; and The Patsy Lacy Griffith Collection, gift of Patsy Lacy Griffith by exchange, 2003.42.1, © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Claude-Joseph Vernet, “A Mountain Landscape with an Approaching Storm,” 1775, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O’Hara Fund, 1983.41.FA
Sam Francis, “Untitled (Black Clouds),” 1952, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, by exchange, 1985.98, © Estate of Sam Francis/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
James Surls, “Through the Point Cloud,” 1984, graphite on paper, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, anonymous gift, 1991.125.FA, © James Surls
Gerhard Richter, “Cloud,” 1971, offset lithograph, white card, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art League Fund, Roberta Coke Camp Fund, General Acquisitions Fund, DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund, and the Contemporary Art Fund: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon E. Faulconer, Mr. and Mrs. Bryant M. Hanley, Jr., Marguerite and Robert K. Hoffman, Howard E. Rachofsky, Deedie and Rusty Rose, Gayle and Paul Stoffel, and two anonymous donors, 1999.230, © Gerhard Richter, Cologne, Germany
John Albok, “Homeward Bound Reservoir Vicinity NYC,” 1940, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Ilona Albok Vitarius, 2011.30.8, © John Albok
John Albok, “Cloud and Building,” 1935, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Ilona Albok Vitarius, 2011.30.4, © John Albok
Koshiro Onchi, “Leaf and Clouds,” n.d., color relief print, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred L. Bromberg, 1964.88.FA
Stacey Lizotte is Head of Adult Programming and Multimedia Services at the DMA.
What fun to see clouds on canvas and not just in the sky!
Too many have never been seen in museum.