Dallas Museum of Art Uncrated

Museums often seem to inspire very personal and strong emotional bonds, and it is not uncommon to hear people talk of specific works in a collection or favorite locations within a building as akin to “friends and family.”  As a former DMA Education employee who has recently returned to the Museum, I have enjoyed spending the last several weeks rediscovering some of my favorite spaces and works of art here.  Of course, along the way, I have stumbled across some new works of art and changes at the DMA that I am becoming newly acquainted with!   I thought I would share this –admittedly quirky and idiosyncratic– tour of “old haunts and new friends.”

I have always loved the tree that grows in the middle of our upper office area, particularly when viewed from one of the hallways radiating from it.   Also, the tucked-away chairs at the corner windows on the fourth floor are my favorite place to sit and read a few pages of a book during a break, followed only by the view of Fleischner Courtyard from the Mayer Library (Did you know we have a fantastic library the public is welcome to use for research?)

Another favorite object is one of Winston Churchill’s paint sets, tucked away with a wonderful assortment of his letters, telegrams, small works on paper, and assorted memorabilia in the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection.

As a lover and student of Surrealism, I was delighted to see two works on view that I had not previously viewed in person: René Magritte’s Our Daily Bread (Le Pain Quotidien), 1942, and Dorothea Tanning’s Jeux d’Enfants, 1942.  The deep-set frame of  the Tanning is particularly lovely, I think!

Nearest the Ross entrance in the Founder’s Room are a set of window panels designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, originally from the Francis W. Little House in Deephaven, Minnesota.  It was interesting viewing the geometrically-designed “grilles” in the window against one of the orange-and-white striped hanging cloth panels in Daniel Buren’s Sanction of the Museum from 1973.

Finally, there is a little tucked away kitchenette in the Museum’s office area where I was always fascinated by a framed Dallas Morning News front page from 1984 announcing the donation of the Reves Collection, and I was pleased to discover it was still there.  I love how this is an historical artifact of the worldly context during which this important collection was added to the Museum, a preserved moment in time akin to the recreation of the Reves’ villa here.

Two newer features of the Museum that I am quickly becoming quite fond of are the recently acquired painting by Norwegian Romantic painter Johan Christian Dahl, Frederiksborg Castle by Moonlight, and the Conservation Studio across from the Founder’s Room.  Not only is the Conservation Studio fascinating to glimpse into, but the works on display outside it offer insightful peeks into little-seen aspects of objects like gallery labels and abandoned paintings hidden by frames.  (And, if you look carefully at my reflection in the window, it appears the female figure in the painting is tapping me on the shoulder.)

What are some of your favorite works of art and tucked away places here at the Dallas Museum of Art?  Please leave your examples in the comments!

Artworks shown (in order of appearance):

• René Magritte, Our Daily Bread (Le Pain Quotidien), 1942, Dallas Museum of Art, Gift of Nancy B. Hamon in honor of Margaret McDermott.
• Dorothea Tanning’s Jeux d’Enfants, 1942, Lent by Private Collection.
• Frank Lloyd Wright, Window panels from the Francis W. Little House, “Northome” in Deephaven, Minnesota, 1912-14, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Greenlee, Jr.
• Johan Christian Dahl, Frederiksborg Castle, 1817, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O’Hara Fund.

Josh Rose
Manager of Docent and Teacher Programs