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Seldom Scene: Silence and Time

Published June 6, 2011 Behind-the-Scenes , Contemporary Art , Exhibitions , Installation 1 Comment
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Below are photographs taken during the three-week installation of Silence and Time, which is on view through August 28.

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How to Install a 27-Foot Sculpture

Published May 26, 2011 Behind-the-Scenes , Contemporary Art , Curatorial , Exhibitions , Installation Closed
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The installation of James Lee Byars’s Figure of Death was caught on camera last week in preparation for the exhibition, Silence and Time, which opens this Sunday, May 29, in the Barrel Vault and Quadrant Galleries.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu3fx3ZkZg]

James Lee Byars, The Figure of Death, 1986, basalt (ten pieces), Private Collection, Dallas, TX, © James Lee Byars

Video by Ted Forbes, Multimedia Producer at the Dallas Museum of Art

Papered Walls

Published May 18, 2011 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Curatorial , European Art , Exhibitions , Installation Closed
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Sara Woodbury, McDermott Curatorial Intern for American and European Art, recently organized an installation of prints for the Works on Paper gallery on the Museum’s second floor. Cross Cultural Dialogues in European and American Landscapes features landscapes from the 19th and 20th centuries that demonstrate artistic influences occurring between Europe and America. The show also highlights different printmaking techniques. We’d like to explore a few of these methods here, and also share a behind-the-scenes look at how works on paper are stored and cared for at the Museum. All of the prints you’ll see here are included in the installation, so be sure to check them out in person next time you visit the DMA.

Printmaking Techniques

Artists use a variety of printing techniques, but we’ll highlight just three methods here: woodcuts, etching, and lithography.

Lyonel Feininger, Mansion on the Beach (Villa am Strand), 1921, woodcut

Woodcuts are recognized by their linear quality, reflecting the laborious process required to make them. An artist draws onto a block of wood, and then all of the wood surrounding the drawing is carved away, turning the design into a three-dimensional relief. These raised lines are coated with ink, and the block is pressed to a piece of paper, printing the image. The oldest known printing method, the woodcut developed in Europe around 1400. It became less popular as easier printing techniques emerged, but many 20th-century artists embraced the medium’s bold, linear character.

Charles Emile Jacque, A Corner of the Forest of Fontainbleau, n.d. (mid to late 19th-century), etching

Another interesting technique is etching, which is similar to drawing. To make an etching, an artist draws with a tool called an etching needle onto a metal plate that has been coated in wax. Next, the plate is submerged in an acid bath, which corrodes, or “bites” into the exposed metal lines, leaving the wax-covered areas unaffected. The plate is then rinsed, covered with ink, and wiped down. The ink remains in the grooves of the etched lines, and the plate is ready for printing. Etching first appeared in the 16th century and became especially popular during the 17th century. It also experienced a resurgence in popularity during the late 19th century, a period that has become known as the Etching Revival.

John Rogers Cox, Wheat Shocks, 1951, Lithograph

One of the most important printing techniques in 20th-century art is lithography. An artist draws onto a stone or metal plate with a special greasy crayon. The stone is treated with acid, and then covered with ink and rinsed with water. The ink sticks to the greasy crayon, but washes off everywhere else. A piece of paper is pressed to the stone to print the image.

Lithography was invented in 1798 by Alois Senefelder and was initially used for commercial images. By the late 19th century, however, artists had begun exploring lithography’s creative possibilities. Lithography accommodates a wide range of styles, making it an ideal medium for the stylistic variety that characterizes 20th-century art.

Behind-the-Scenes with Registrar Anne Lenhart

Did you know that works on paper–including prints, drawings, photographs, and other types of work–are  stored and cared for differently than paintings and sculptures? Works on paper are sensitive to various conditions and must be handled with special care and attention. We asked Anne Lenhart, Assistant Registrar, to share insight into how the Museum stores and handles its large collection of works on paper.

What DMA department is responsible for handling prints?

Anne: The care and handling of prints is a shared responsibility between the curators, registrars, conservators, and preparators. The curators are responsible for choosing the works on paper for installations and exhibitions. Once the works on paper are chosen, the registrars, conservators, and preparators are responsible for making sure the prints are in good condition and ready for installation.

Where are the prints stored in the Museum? How are they stored?

Anne:  All of our objects are stored in secured art storage spaces. These areas, which have limited staff access and are monitored twenty-four hours a day, have a consistent temperature of 70° Fahrenheit (+/- 2°) and 50% (+/- 5%) relative humidity. Because paper is susceptible to even small changes in humidity (think about what happens to a sheet of paper when it contacts a drop of water), we try to be especially vigilant in terms of how we store our paper collection.

These numbers are considered guidelines for very stable pieces, such as those created with carbon-based ink applied to a good quality rag paper. Objects that are less stable—where the pigment and the materials are of lower or unknown quality or in the case of color photographs (especially Polaroids)—are exhibited for shorter periods of time.

A display table in the Print and Textiles Study Room, where the Museum’s works on paper are kept.

Many of the Museum’s unframed prints are stored in Solander boxes, such as this one.

How long can prints stay mounted in the galleries?

Anne:  The general rule for exposure of works on paper is one to three months, and we try to keep the maximum period of time any work on paper is on view to less than six months. After a work comes down, we usually do not reinstall it for eighteen months so that it can “rest.”

Cross Cultural Dialogues in European and American Landscapes is on view now, and we hope to see you soon at the Museum.

Sara Woodbury is the McDermott Curatorial Intern for American and European Art, and Karen A. Colbert is the McDermott Education Intern for Teaching Programs.

Seldom Scene: Fancy Dancing

Published April 26, 2011 American Art , Education , Exhibitions 1 Comment
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On Saturday we welcomed hundreds of visitors to our Art of the American Indians Family Celebration, a day of fun activities, performances featuring the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers, art, tours, and a special sneak peek of the exhibition Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Below are a few pictures from the day. Join us on Friday, May 20, to celebrate this exhibition during Late Night.

Photos by Chad Redmon, Photographer at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Designing Stickley

Published April 20, 2011 Behind-the-Scenes , Decorative Art and Design , Exhibitions , Installation Closed
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Hello, everyone! DMA resident exhibition designer Jessica Harden here to give you a short and sweet behind-the-scenes snapshot of where some of our inspiration for exhibition design comes from. The Gustav Stickley exhibition was fun to work on because I had lots of great resources, including original photographs and The Craftsman catalogues, which Stickley published with drawings of many of his architectural and interior designs and finishes . . .

as well as records of popular colors of the time. We chose paint colors for the exhibition based on the Sherwin-Williams Arts & Crafts palette. BTW, drawing up plans for the exhibition is also part of my job . . .

as is producing construction drawings.

But back to inspiration and resources—this is a photograph of a model dining room created to show Stickley’s furniture in 1903.

. . . and this is our gallery at the DMA that we designed and built to replicate the original.

In fact, if you look around the Gustav Stickley exhibition galleries, you might notice a number of details that were inspired by Stickley’s original designs. Here, we were inspired by how Stickley used interior cut-outs to define spaces and create interesting thresholds to transition from one room to the next.

We also took inspiration from Stickley’s use of simple trim work on walls to help us define spaces and create a more residential environment for the exhibition. This included using a cap rail to imply a lower ceiling height in our 14-foot-high exhibition galleries.

And just to have a little fun, we took a few chances to let visitors discover glimpses of upcoming galleries and objects along the way.

Even some of the smallest details of the exhibition were inspired by Stickley. Here you can see that the mount for this lamp was modeled after drawings from Stickley interiors and was fabricated by our extremely talented preparators and carpentry staff. They even made new heads for the screws to match the originals!

Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement is on view at the Dallas Museum of Art until May 8, when it will travel to San Diego to open on June 18.

Jessica Harden is Exhibition Design Coordinator at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Seldom Scene: Readying the Show

Published April 18, 2011 American Art , Behind-the-Scenes , Curatorial , Installation Closed

Uncrated went behind the scenes in our Chilton Galleries last week to capture the installation of our newest exhibition, Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection, which opens this weekend.

Photography by Adam Gingrich, Marketing Assistant, Dallas Museum of Art

All That Jazz: Meet Our Resident Jazz Legend

Published April 6, 2011 American Art , Decorative Art and Design , Education , Thursday Night Live Closed

As a special treat for our Dallas Museum of Art jazz (and other music) lovers—and in celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month—we will showcase the music of the great composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington in the Atrium (part of Thursday Night Live!) during April.

We thought that this would be a great time to spotlight Wendell Sneed, our Coordinator of Jazz in the Atrium. Wendell is a long-time employee of the DMA (18 years!), but more than that he is our own local celebrity and Dallas jazz legend! Wendell was a member of the popular 1970s Dallas funk group Soul Seven and was featured in the 2008 KERA documentary South Dallas Pop—When Funk Was King (visit this link to listen to a clip of Wendell — on drums — and Soul Seven performing with Eddie Purrell).

Soul Seven Album Cover (Wendell is the one on the far left)

I sat down to chat with Wendell about what influenced him to become a jazz musician and to get a bit more information about the great line-up for April.

Wendell Sneed, Jazz in the Atrium Coordinator

What got you interested in jazz to begin with? When did you start playing?
My high school band director, Mr. Allison Tucker, was a jazz drummer. He got me interested in music and was my first mentor. I originally wanted to be an athlete in school but hated all the running! By the late 50s I was totally hooked on the drums and jazz and was playing with several bands around town. By the time I was 17, I was touring all around the Southwest and beyond.

What was your favorite gig while you were out on the road touring?
Besides my time with Soul Seven, my favorite gig was when I was the Music Director for a group called “The Honey Combs” in the late 70s. We had a couple of singles that went “gold.” One of them was the tune “Want Ads.”

What is your favorite Duke Ellington tune?
My favorite Ellington tune is a little obscure. It’s called “Come Sunday.” It actually is one of his sacred music compositions. Of course, I like many of the more well known Ellington tunes also.

What is your favorite work of art in the DMA’s collections?
Leadbelly, by Michael G. Owen, Jr., in the American sculpture collection is my favorite. I think about Mr. Owen creating this work and wonder what it was like to talk to Leadbelly himself as he worked on it. Leadbelly’s music became a very important influence on many musicians from many different genres—from blues, to folk and even rock. I wonder sometimes why Mr. Owen chose to portray Leadbelly in this light—solitary and without his guitar in sight.

Michael G. Owen Jr.'s Leadbelly (1943)

Tell us a bit more about the acts you have booked for the April Ellington Showcase.
We will kick off the month on April 7 with the UNT Repertory Ensemble, which is a group dedicated to playing and preserving the art of “classic jazz.” Next, on the 14th, we have pianist Dave Zoller and his group Daybreak Express. They specialize in doing exclusively Ellington material. On the 21st, we will feature the top student jazz band from Carroll Senior High School. They were the finalists for the Essentially Ellington Competition, founded and judged by Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center in New York City.

I am most excited about the performance planned for April 28. We will feature Shelley Carrol, who was a member of the Ellington Orchestra for many years after graduating from the University of North Texas. He will be joined by a very special guest, Duke Ellington’s grandson, Paul Ellington. Paul will share stories of Duke and his compositions that Shelley and his quartet will perform.

Viktor Schreckengost and the Cowan Pottery Studio's Jazz Bowl (c. 1930 -1931)

In addition to the acts Wendell mentioned, on April 14 and 21 we will offer tours of jazz-related artworks in the DMA’s collections, including the Jazz Bowl (pictured above), led by curators and other staff.

Denise Helbing is Manager of Partner Programs at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Two Debuts

Published March 29, 2011 Behind-the-Scenes , Contemporary Art , Curatorial , Exhibitions 1 Comment
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Our exhibition, Concentrations 54: Matt Connors and Fergus Feehily, opens soon (Sunday, April 3 to be exact). I’ve been lucky enough to work on this show from start to finish with Jeffrey Grove, The Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art. Each artist has their own dedicated space in the Marguerite and Robert Hoffman Galleries. The first museum exhibition for both artists, we worked closely with them to decide the works presented as well as the logistics of each installation. Berlin-based Irish artist Fergus Feehily is integrating three objects from the DMA’s collection into his installation: a bead, a dressing cabinet, and an Indian miniature. New York artist Matt Connors, on the other hand, is installing 10 completely new paintings (finished very recently, as a matter of fact) and also a work of his that we acquired in last year Soul Error (Vertical), 2010.

We’re really excited to have both artists in town for the installation and opening events. See for yourself…

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On March 31, 2011 at 7:30 pm, Jeffrey will join both artists for a discussion of their work. Hope to see you there!

Erin Murphy is the Curatorial Administrative Assistant for Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art

Longtime Curator “Travels” DMA’s Silk Road

Published March 23, 2011 Asian Art , Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Curatorial , Installation 3 Comments
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Following her new installation in the third-floor galleries of objects that reflect transport along Eurasia’s  Silk Road, “seasoned” curator Dr. Anne Bromberg sat down with us to discuss her fascinating career. A lifelong Dallasite—except for her years at Harvard getting her B.A. in anthropology and M.A. and Ph.D. in classical art and archaeology—Dr. Bromberg has been on the staff of the Dallas Museum of Art for more than forty years, first as a lecturer and docent trainer beginning in 1962, then as head of the education department, and currently as The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art. What’s more, she has led an inspired life, traveling extensively to little-known locales, researching and experiencing the cultures within her discipline.

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Q: How would you describe your job at the DMA?

AB: Most curatorial jobs involve trying to acquire art for the museum, organizing exhibitions and/or working on exhibitions that come to us from elsewhere, publishing, lecturing, working with volunteers, [and] cultivating donors. In terms of legwork, it’s going around and seeing dealers and other collections, visiting other museums, going to conferences, and giving lectures outside the museum.

Q: You are in charge of a very diverse area of the Museum’s collections. What is your particular area of expertise?

AB: Classical art, meaning the art of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and all Asian art, but I’m mainly working with South Asian art.

Q: How did you become interested in Asian art?

AB: One of the really outstanding teachers I had taught evolution in her biology courses, including historical geology, and I was really fascinated with historical geology and that got me into reading about archaeology. And I thought, this is what I want to do. A good teacher makes a difference. I’ve actually been interested in Asia for a long, long time. When I was an undergraduate, I was reading books on Zen Buddhism and haiku, the Ramayana, and things like that. Books stimulate your passion to go see these things in reality.

Q: What are some of your favorite places you’ve traveled to?

AB:  I think both my husband, Alan, and I would say the single favorite place we’ve been is Isfahan in Persia. Italy, of all the European countries, is easily the most seductive, and everybody I know who has been to India is dying to get back. We’ve been there so many times, and you feel like you’ve just scratched the surface.”

Q: What is your favorite object within the ancient and Asian collections at the DMA? Within another collection?

AB: The Shiva Nataraja, because that image is the single most important iconic image in Hinduism generally, and many Hindus would agree with that. It is exceptionally beautiful both aesthetically and because it represents the loving quality of the god Shiva. South Indian Hindu poems describe worship as falling in love with the god, and our Shiva Nataraja is the embodiment of that Chola period poetry.

Brancusi’s Beginning of the World. because of my background, I personally have a strong response to pure geometric forms and classical idealism, and I’m certainly not alone in believing that the ancient Greeks would appreciate that classical, pure, and geometric vision of the beginning of the world.

Q: Do you personally collect art? What types of objects are you most drawn to?

AB: Primarily we’ve collected what I would call third-world contemporary art—things that at the time were being made wherever—New Guinea, India, South America, Mexico, etc.

Q: Why do you think it is important for people to study non-Western art?

AB: If you study non-Western art, you’ll learn what human beings create and why. If you stick only to your own civilization, you are much less likely to think about why these things are being made . . . or about a much more serious question to me, why do we call it art?

Q: Describe your current project, an installation of objects from the DMA’s collections focusing on the Silk Road.

AB: The Silk Road installation is something that has interested me for a long time. We do have a lot of artwork that really displays the meaning of the Silk Road, which tied Eurasia together for millennia. So I was delighted when I got a space where I could show the ties between the Mediterranean world and Asia.

The Silk Road is an ancient transcontinental network of trade routes that spread across Eurasia from the Mediterranean to China and Japan. The phenomenon of the Silk Road is constantly studied and has recently been featured in museum exhibitions around the world. The new installation, organized by Dr. Bromberg, addresses six themes related to the Silk Road, including the development of cities and trade, the importance of animals to early societies, and the spread of religions. The installation presents well-known DMA favorites, such as the Javanese Ganesha and the bust of a man from Palmyra, and new works from several local private collections. Opening this weekend, come see the new installation on Level 3 the next time you visit the DMA.

Ashley Bruckbauer is the McDermott Intern for Programs and Resources for Teachers at the Dallas Museum of Art and Madelyn Strubelt is the McDermott Curatorial Intern of Ancient and Asian Art at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Working the Runway

Published March 16, 2011 Fashion , Members 1 Comment
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Photo by James Edward Photography

On Saturday, March 5, the Dallas Museum of Art played host to nearly five hundred guests at An Affair of the Art, the annual black-tie fundraising gala hosted by the Museum’s Junior Associates Circle. For nearly twenty years, the funds raised by this event have supported the acquisition and exhibition programs of the DMA. The theme for 2011 was Maison de la Mode: House of Fashion, and the funds raised will support the Museum’s presentation of  The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, opening for the first time in the U.S. at the DMA on November 13.

Photo Booth.Foto Favor Rebecca Lorrine Photography

The “Juniors” certainly know how to throw a party, and here are some interesting insights from last weekend’s “fête”:

# of underwriters: 113
# of raffle tickets: 515
# of committee members: 103
# of months spent planning: 9
# of bottles of wine: 237
# of bottles of vodka: 33
# of vendors: 10
# of appetizers: 2,670 pieces
# of rented glasses (March 5 only): 2,400
# of postage stamps used: 2,794
# of gift bags for all events: 530
# of pieces of furniture rented: 103
# of waitstaff/bartenders (March 5 only): 43
# of cupcakes donated by Sprinkles: 550
# of events leading up to AoA: 4
# of bottles of donated water: 600
# of airline tickets donated by American Airlines: 4
# of pre-event media mentions: 7
average # of items in each gift bag: 14
# of gold mailing tubes used for event invitations: 650
# of awards won for printed materials: 1

Money raised: $164,000

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