Posts Tagged 'Jasper Johns'

Pride in the DMA: Celebrating LGBTQ Artists in the Collection

In honor of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) History Month, I’ve researched some of the LGBTQ artists whose work can be found in the DMA’s collection to bring to light a piece of their lives that isn’t commonly referenced.

First, a quick side note: There is a lot of debate concerning how to historically categorize people who did not classify themselves as part of the LGBTQ community, either because they were living in a society that didn’t accept their identity or because the words simply did not exist. Below I’ll be including artists who had same-sex relationships, who identified as gay, bisexual, etc., or whose actions in today’s world would categorize them as LGBTQ.

Anne Whitney (1821–1915)

"Find A Grave - Anne Whitney." Find A Grave.  (accessed September 23, 2014).

“Find A Grave – Anne Whitney.” Find A Grave (accessed September 23, 2014).

Born in 1821, Whitney fought to become an artist in a society that did not readily accept female sculptors; it was considered masculine, as opposed to more “feminine” artistic mediums like watercolor or drawing. She was also an avid abolitionist and advocate of gender equality.

Whitney’s relationship with Abby Adeline Manning, which lasted for over forty years, is frequently termed a “Boston Marriage.” These were characterized by two women—often with their own careers—living together and supporting themselves financially. Manning and Whitney were so close that they were buried next to one another under the same headstone.

Anne Whitney, Lady Godiva, c. 1861-1864, marble, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Alessandra Comini in memory of Dr. Eleanor Tufts, who discovered the Massachusetts-backyard whereabouts of this long-forgotten statue and brought it to Dallas

Anne Whitney, Lady Godiva, c. 1861-1864, marble, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Alessandra Comini in memory of Dr. Eleanor Tufts, who discovered the Massachusetts-backyard whereabouts of this long-forgotten statue and brought it to Dallas

Whitney’s sculpture of Lady Godiva depicts the moment when she is about to remove her clothing before her famous ride through the streets. It was gifted to the DMA by Dr. Alessandra Comini in memory of Dr. Eleanor Tufts, who discovered the forgotten statue in a backyard in Massachusetts.

Marsden Hartley (1877–1943)

"SFMOMA | Marsden Hartley." San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. (accessed September 24, 2014).

“SFMOMA | Marsden Hartley.” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (accessed September 24, 2014).

Hartley’s life was marred by periodic tragedies that informed much of his work. Losses included his siblings, mother, and numerous close family friends. Primarily a painter, Hartley spent much of his career wavering on the brink of financial insecurity.

During Hartley’s first trip to Europe in 1912, he was introduced to Karl von Freyburg, his cousin and rumored lover. After von Freyburg, a German soldier, was killed during battle in WWI, Hartley sank into a depression that would spur his work featuring German officers.

Marsden Hartley, Mountains, no. 19, 1930, oil on board, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.

Marsden Hartley, Mountains, no. 19, 1930, oil on board, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.

Mountains, no. 19 hangs in the DMA’s American Art Gallery. Its Cézanne-influenced shapes are coupled with the rich colors of an autumn day in New England.

Berenice Abbott (1898–1991)

“Berenice Abbott.” Time of the Moment. (accessed September 22, 2014).

Born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1898, Abbott traveled the world throughout her artistic career. She is most noted for her portraits of LGBTQ community members in 1920s Paris and photographs of 1930s-1960s New York. Abbott was very open about her lesbian love affairs in her early years, and was, at one time, involved with silverpoint artist Thelma Wood; however, given the increasingly conservative culture of America following the Great Depression, Abbott kept her love life a secret in her later years.

Berenice Abbott, City Arabesque, 1938, print 1983, gelatin silver print, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Morton and Marlene Meyerson

Berenice Abbott, City Arabesque, 1938, print 1983, gelatin silver print, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Morton and Marlene Meyerson, © date Estate of Berenice Abbott

The DMA is fortunate to have a large number of Abbott’s photographic prints, most of them detailing her work in urban architecture. This picture is notable for the curved lines juxtaposed against the rigid, harsh structures of the cityscape.

Other artists in the DMA’s collection who are also members of the LGBTQ community include:
Jasper Johns
Charles Demuth (who was a friend of Marsden Hartley)
David Hockney
Robert Mapplethorpe
Catherine Opie

While we know the month is nearing an end, you can celebrate these artists and more throughout the year in the DMA galleries.

Taylor Jeromos is the McDermott Education Intern for Adult Programming and Arts & Letters Live at the DMA.

Touch Tour for Students with Vision Impairment

Many people may not think that of an art museum as the ideal field trip location for a group of children with visual impairment, but when the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) contacted the DMA earlier this summer with such a tour request, we were eager to provide the best experience possible. When discussing the visit with vision teachers at DISD, they felt it was important to expose their students to art and wanted an experience that would illustrate to the students that they too have the ability to create and appreciate art just as well as any other student.

DISD students with vision impairments visiting the DMA.

DISD students with vision impairments visiting the DMA.

The Planning Process
The Dallas Museum of Art has never before offered guided touch tours to visitors with visual impairment, but after speaking with our Director of Exhibition Design, we learned that she fully supports inclusive gallery teaching, and thus was open to supporting the Museum’s first ever touch tour. We talked with our colleagues in the exhibitions and conservation departments and found that they too were fully supportive of trying out a touch tour with the DISD students. The DMA Sculpture Garden was identified as the best place for our inaugural touch tour, since the objects in the garden are designed for an outdoor space and are thus subject to (and able to withstand) a variety of natural elements. We also felt that it was essential for the students to have the galleries to themselves during the tour, so as not to confuse other visitors about the acceptability of touching works of art, as well as for the overall comfort of the students with vision impairment. We therefore decided to schedule the touch tour for a Monday, when the Museum is closed to the public.

Our next step in the planning process was to walk through the space as a group, making note of areas that may be problematic for someone with vision impairment to navigate. The team was comprised of education, conservation, and exhibitions staff, and everyone on the team raised thoughtful questions and contributed wonderful ideas! We discussed which works of art may be the best for a tactile experience, and our conservators suggested that the kids have the chance to touch the works of art without gloves (which is usually unheard of in other touch tours!). Our exhibitions team offered to wash and hand-clean the works we selected so that they would be nice and clean for the experience. And one conservator suggested we select works of art that were large enough to be touched by more than one student at a time, so that the students could talk to one another about what they felt as they each touched the artwork.

After squaring things away with the exhibitions and conservation teams, the education team began planning the educational experiences of the tour. We prepared for twenty-five students, ranging in age from six to thirteen years, all with a range of visual impairment. The majority of students in the group had some residual vision, while two students were very photophobic, and two were blind from birth. Due to the range of abilities of our tour group, our education team knew it was important to include a variety of artworks in the tour (in addition to those on the touch tour), integrate many descriptive explanations of works of art and hands-on activities, and to have numerous tactile objects available.

In the Galleries
When designing the overall tour, we selected a variety of objects that spanned time periods, artistic techniques, and geographic locations. We visited two contemporary art sculptures in the Sculpture Garden for the touch portion, two Abstract Expressionist works in the contemporary gallery, and a mask in the African gallery. Our aim was to engage all of the senses throughout our tour, as we believe that presenting multiple representations of content would effectively cater to the different learning styles of the group. We created a multi-modal experience by collecting auditory clips for sound stimulation, tactile materials and replica objects for touch, Jelly Belly jelly beans for taste sensations, and essential oils and scented colored pencils for olfactory information.

Each stop on the tour had a visual description of the gallery space and of the works of art we focused on, because it was important for us to situate ourselves, the children, and the art in space, as the sense of bodily awareness in space is something that many people without vision impairment may take for granted. Much of our time in the galleries was spent guiding students in tactile looking activities connected to specific works of art and facilitating conversations about texture and form. For instance, we created a reproduction of Jasper John’s Device so that the students could not only touch canvas and feel layers of paint, but they could also replicate moving the wooden stretchers back and forth across the canvas, while imagining the technique in which Johns spread the paint back and forth.

In the African galleries, we focused on a helmet mask made by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and passed around raffia, cowrie shells, feathers and other materials found in the mask. Additionally, we played sound clips of the various animals that related to the mask.

Helmet mask (Mukenga), Kuba peoples, mid-20th century, Dallas Museum of Art, gift in honor of Peter Hanszen Lynch and Cristina Martha Frances Lynch

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kuba peoples, Helmet mask (mukenga),  mid-20th century, Dallas Museum of Art, gift in honor of Peter Hanszen Lynch and Cristina Martha Frances Lynch

Relating to Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park No. 29, we discussed how an artist could depict a place using sounds, smells, and taste. The students each ate a jelly bean and imagined the color they believed the flavor might represent. Next, they used a scented colored pencil to illustrate a place based on that smell. We also played sound clips of ocean waves and boat horns to recreate the Santa Monica locale that inspired Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park series.

Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park 29, 1970

Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park 29, 1970, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated

Our tour concluded with a sensory drawing activity that took place at the large fountain outside the Museum’s Flora Street entrance. The students listened to the sounds created by the water in the fountain, and considered how the water (and space around it) might appear, what color the water would be, even how the smell would be rendered. We gave each student a piece of thin Styrofoam and a pencil to create their drawing of the fountain; the students were able to feel the indented lines they drew onto the Styrofoam and took turns sharing their creations with one another.

Until Next Time
This was an exceptional experience for DISD students, teachers, and DMA staff alike. One teacher who helped to organize this visit said that this experience “might be the only time this whole summer [the students] get this opportunity to learn tactually, through their auditory channels and their residual vision, which sighted people take so much for granted.” It was a transformative experience as well for our Museum. We are honored to have been a part of this experience, and cannot celebrate enough the fantastic support and collaboration exhibited by DMA staff from many different departments. A huge thank you to DISD for bringing their students, and a thousand thank you’s to the DMA’s conservation, exhibitions, visitor services, and security teams. This was a team effort and we appreciate the unified support and assistance—let’s hope this is the first of many touch tours to come!

Amanda Blake
Head of Family, Access, and School Experiences

Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

DMA Art Will Be Everywhere

The votes are in, the results have been tallied, and the Art Everywhere US works have been chosen! The voting was so close that fifty-eight works of art made the cut (including ten works from the DMA) and will be reproduced on billboards, bus shelters, subway platforms, and more this August. Be on the lookout for The Icebergs or Dorothy on your commute and stop by the DMA to visit the works in person.

Kimberly Daniell is the Manager of Communications and Public Affairs at the DMA

Art Everywhere US: A Very, Very Big Art Show

Be a guest curator for the largest art exhibition in America! Beginning today, you can vote for your favorite American artworks from art museums across the country, including the DMA. Art Everywhere US is a public celebration of great American art.

art everywhere jpeg

The process to create this celebration began this past New Year’s Eve, when I e-mailed the directors of four leading U.S. museums—the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art—asking if they would jump in feet first with the DMA and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America to create a 100-work synopsis of American art history. I was thrilled when everyone agreed right away, and by January 2014 we were off to the races.

I asked each museum to submit 30 works, yielding 150, and I had the unenviable task of winnowing the list down to 20 each to reach 100. We were seeking a balanced result, representing every period of American art from across the nation, with attention to ethnic and gender diversity, and the inclusion of iconic works alongside whimsical ones. We stuck to two-dimensional works given their planned reproduction on out-of-home media.

It is now up to you to help decide which of these 100 works will be part of the first Art Everywhere US project.

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From now through May 7, you can vote for your favorite 10 works daily to help inform the final 50 works. The final works will be reproduced this August on as many as 50,000 outdoor displays from coast to coast. Make sure you get to see your favorite work of art on a billboard during your commute this summer, whether it’s the DMA’s The Icebergs, the Art Institute of Chicago’s American Gothic, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Campbell’s Soup Can, the Whitney’s Little Big Painting, or the National Gallery’s George Washington. We aren’t trying to stack the deck in the DMA’s favor, but instead are enjoying the playful spirit of this massive endeavor. Vote early and vote often! And please share your votes with #ArtEverywhereUS and connect online.

(Images in slide show: Jasper Johns, Three Flags, 1958. Encaustic on canvas. 30 5/8 x 45 1/2 x 4 5/8 in. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Art © Jasper Johns, Licensed by VAGA, New York, N.Y.; Gilbert Stuart, George Washington, c. 1821. Oil on wood. 26 3/8 x 21 5/8 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of ThomasJefferson Coolidge IV in memory of his great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, his grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge II,and his father, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge III.; Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861. Oil on canvas. 64 1/2 x 112 1/2 in. (1 m 63.83 cm x 2 m 85.751 cm). Dallas Museum ofArt, gift of Norma and Lamar Hunt.; Roy Lichtenstein, Cold Shoulder, 1963. Oil and magna on canvas. 68 1/2 x 48 in. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of RobertH. Halff through the Modern and Contemporary Art Council (M.2005.38.5). Photo courtesy of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, by Kevin Ryan.; Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930. Oil on Beaver Board. 30 3/4 x 25 3/4 in. (78 x 65.3 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago, Friends of American Art Collection.)

Maxwell L. Anderson is the Eugene McDermott Director of the DMA.


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