Week 27: Jul. 7, 2024

Dawn [Yellow], Niki de Saint Phalle, French-American, 1995, Painted Polyester

Rebellion and Joy…

This special exhibit of the work of Niki de Saint Phalle was new to me, although some of the works were familiar. I had not heard of the artist, only seen elements of her work. Seeing it all together in one place along with video of interviews with the artist was interesting. However, I found it a bit overwhelming. She had a lot to say - and she said it in big bold ways.

I think my favorite aspect was the amount of joy that exuded all her work. She was usually using her work to make sociopolitical points - but putting that aside - it was simply filled with joy at every turn. The colors, shapes, sense of movement. Joyous.

My favorite was Dawn [Yellow]. It turns out there’s also a Dawn [Blue] but yellow is apparently more well known and more beloved.

I photographed it from almost every angle but again I found myself enjoying the use of the shadows to amplify the sense of movement. You can see her dancing and moving through the multiple shadows of her arms below.

Week 26: Jun. 30, 2024

Heirloom for an heiress to not much but love, Jonathan Boyd, Scottish, 2016, Oxidized and gold plated silver and lacquer

…not much but love…

This is, without doubt, the greatest name for a piece of art of all time. It is a lovely and unusual piece - and what we can’t see too well is that the band holding the art pieces in place on this tiara is covered in text, the words of the mother and father sharing their hopes for their daughter. Everything about it is touching.

The piece was encased in glass against a white background and I photographed it from about 4 different angles. Each showed different elements, but this one really made the tiara appear to hang in space against nothing but white.

Week 25: Jun. 23, 2024

Our Lady of the Rosary, José Manuel Benvides, Colonial New Mexican, ca. 1830-1840, polychrome wood and cloth

Warmth…

Representing the Roman Catholic church of Spain in New Spain, now New Mexico, this sculpture of the Virgin Mary caught my eye because it exudes warmth and welcome. The colors are bold and warm, her face is gentle and kind. Her arms are outreached, and are presumed to have held a rosary and the Christ child at one time.

I find it fun to photograph three dimensional art and, in particular, to pay attention to the shadows they cast. Here I thought that the shadow on the right showed her figure bending down as she might do to interact with a child.

Week 24: Jun. 16, 2024

Coffered Ceiling and Sculptured Frieze from the Porch of a Hindu temple and Columns from a temple Cart, South India, Early 17th Century, carved wood.

Creating the setting…

Sometimes the art is in the room, other times the art is the room. The Nelson does this so beautifully. Several different areas of the museum bring an entire setting into the museum and transport you to a different place and time. It’s hard to know where to begin photographing because all of the surroundings are part of the experience.

So, I moved in up close to capture one of many gargoyle-like carvings around the upper corners of the walls. Each appeared to have a roll or responsibility as guardians or protectors of some sort. Most had the appearance of a horse or a dragon. But there was no specific information about the figures.

Based on others in the room, the horse was rearing originally and had his front legs extended, but they are no longer there.

I was challenged to photograph something that I could only view from below and that was surrounded by the walls of the corner. And…I’m just going to ignore the gentleman in the front, and whatever it is he’s doing….

Week 23: Jun. 9, 2024

Ushebtis of Meret-it-es, Egypt, 380-250 B.C.E., Faience

Responders…

Ushebtis translates to “responders”. This drove of responders was buried with an Egyptian to serve as the agricultural workers that might be needed in the after life should there continue to be governmental requirements of hard agricultural labor even following death. Ongoing government in the after life was apparently a big concern!

The ushebtis would have been bright blueish-green when they were made. Created from a clay made from ground quartz and lime, and coated with a glaze containing copper pigment. Faience was believed to hold magical qualities, to be imbued with the shimmer of the sun and to represent the power of rebirth.

What I love about this display is the way it shows the vast quantity of ushebtis that were created and buried with just this one man. He had 305 ushebtis going along with him to the afterlife. The 14 larger ones were sent to supervise the 291 others.

Week 22: Jun. 2, 2024

Two pieces: The Benton Farm, Thomas Hart Benton, American, 1973, Oil on canvas;  Armchair, Frank Lloyd Wright, American, 1940, Cypress and plywood

Midcentury midwestern…

The works of both Thomas Hart Benton and Frank Lloyd Wright are at once so exceptional and so comfortable that I am always drawn to them. Each of them has a powerful presence in the west/midwest where I have spent so much of my life, as well. These two pieces were created 30 years apart but work together beautifully, and once again create a mini-setting that invites you to ‘sit a spell’ but in the most sophisticated way.

Again I found myself struggling to manage a photo that wasn’t upstaged by a sign or electrical outlet in the background. It will be miraculous if I make it through this one-year diary of the Nelson without getting in trouble for rearranging the furniture! I would have liked to show the chair more from the front but it was placed near a door way, signage, and other challenges. So instead, I struggled to determine how to use the line created by the front railing to help the photo. I liked how this angle turned out.

Week 21: May 26, 2024

Apollo and Daphne, Unknown artist, German, 17th Century, Boxwood

The pursuit…

This one caught my eye for two reasons…

First, it was a chance to play with the challenge of photographing a three dimensional piece within a clear, four-sided box. I decided to play around with portrait mode and got the look I was hoping for. I still struggle with reflections and lighting challenges but I liked the look of the red walls faded in the background and how they brought out the red tones in the wood.

I was also intrigued by the fact that this was a copy of the original piece which had been a bronze sculpture. This copy was carved in wood, which I think made it more powerful because the story it tells is of Daphne trying to escape her suitor, Apollo, and going so far as to turn herself into a tree. That story seems to be enriched by being carved into the wood of a tree as well.

Week 20: May 19, 2024

Saint Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino, Italian, 1652-1653, Oil on canvas

The fourth wall…

I usually walk quickly through the European art from the years in which everything seemed to focus on brutal deaths or portraits of the rich and uptight. However, I walked into the room with baroque art and was startled at this kind and welcoming gentleman, St. Luke as it turned out, inviting me to step into the painting with him and be introduced to the Virgin Mary. I don’t recall an oil painting that so effectively broke through that fourth wall to say, “Join me…what do you think?”

I was also intrigued by the angel who seems not to notice the artist or the audience engaging in this dialogue of sorts. She gazes at the infant Jesus and is unaware of us.

I chose to include the entire painting and the frame and parts of the surrounding wall because it all seems to be part of the story of this invitation to the viewer to step right in and view the painting within the painting.

Week 19: May 12, 2024

Winged Genie Fertilizing a Date Tree, from Nimrud, capital of Assyria, 848-860 B.C.E., Limestone Relief

Handbag…

This relief is covered in cuneiform inscription. It tells of the ‘conquests and accomplishments’ of the character who is carved as a life sized person. Technically he is a winged genie, but nonetheless, he is the size of a man. But I was drawn to the little handbag he carries, with the fancy handle, the incredible detail of the fingernails, and the tassels on the tunic, all with text crossing over it - much like a cuneiform tattoo. Such incredible detail and finesse on each small section of this huge work.

This is one of the few times I have chosen to photograph just a small section of a larger piece. I love it and hate it at the same time. Some part of me really wants to show all of it along side the detailed section - but I also appreciate being able to ignore the bigger picture and just focus up close on something so fascinating and beautiful.

Week 18: May 5, 2024

Capricorn, Max Ernst, German, 1948, Bronze

A minotaur and a mermaid walk into a bar…

The best thing about this unusual, surrealist sculpture is that, in the printed description, it starts by saying, “Capricorn is an inventive portrait of Max Ernst and his wife, fellow Surrealist artist Dorothea Tanning.” It cracks me up every time. I expect it to have such symbolism and depth - and there is some further down in the explanation. But on the surface, this artist said, “Hey honey, look at the portrait I sculpted of us!” and showed her this.

Week 17: Apr. 28, 2024

Man with a Pipe, Paul Cezanne, French, 1890-1892, Oil on canvas

Try, try again…

If you zoom in on the information posted beside the painting you will see that this painting is a ‘figure study’ of one charater that later appears in another painting. Just a practice piece. And yet here he stands, inviting us to wonder where he is, what he is thinking, and in what era he exists.

And, until I looked at the information shared, in my mind, he was outdoors. It was drizzling. He had just stepped outside the café to smoke his pipe. He closed his eyes and listened as the ducks quacked and the children played around the pond in the nearby park.

Week 16: Apr. 21, 2024

Three pieces: Chandelier, Henry van de Velde, British, about 1898, Brass; Armchair, George Logan, British, designer, Godfrey Blount (probably), British, designer of appliqué, Wylie & Lochhead, Scottish, maker & retailer, 1901; Mailbox, Paul Hankar, designer, Belgian, 1897

Everything old is nouveau again…

Two things about this installation caught my eye. It includes furnishings that are themselves artwork, and it comes from an art/design perspective that took hold over 125 years ago and would be welcomed into settings today. I love when the museum creates these ‘settings’ to see various pieces coming together.

Photographing them is somewhat frustrating because I so desperately want to ‘rearrange the furniture!’ But I enjoyed playing with the way the light fixture - with it’s three exposed bulbs - created a rich set of shadows from the lines in the chair.

Week 15: Apr. 14, 2024

Rumi, Mark di Suvero, American, 1991, Steel and paint

Lines…

This cloudy day was the perfect time to go back outdoors to capture this steel structure in the north yard of the Nelson. I’ve walked past it on the sidewalks for nearly 9 years now, but never actually walked a full circle around it until today.

I was reminded of the way the cloudy skies of June in LA made it so much prettier to see the purple jacaranda trees in bloom. Now, in KC, this cloudy April day allowed me to look upward at the sculpture with almost no limitations for glaring sun.

And as I moved around, I noticed the parallel lines of the sculpture’s base and the tree in the background, both leaning to the right almost as if the pointed arrow of the cross beams is showing the way to something exciting down the street.

Week 14: Apr. 7, 2024

Lion, Greek, 325 B.C.E., pentelic marble

Let’s play!

This fierce, guardian lion greets you when you enter the main hall of the Nelson and, to me, he looks like the sweetest, most playful fellow. His stance is actually the universal dog posture to say, “Let’s play!”

However, this photo experience has pushed me to the next step. I now have to learn some basic photo editing skills because I can’t manage to work around the signage and back ground issues in the museum. There was no way to get a view of this guy’s stance without including some form of signage. So, I’m on a mission now to test out different free editing tools to get rid of that annoying blue and white sign in the photo.

I’ll share the results! Any ideas for what to try are welcome!

Week 13: Mar. 31, 2024

Bust of a Faun, Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, Spanish, 1946, Oil on paper mounted on canvas

Animal or furniture?

After exploring the Bauhaus room arrangement last week, I noticed this Picasso at the end of the gallery and was immediately drawn to it - - because it was a painting of a chair…with a face! What fun. I love Picasso.

I was further amused to see that in fact it was a painting of a creature - half human, half goat. So, really not a chair at all.

But…eye of the beholder, and all.

I find it quite difficult to photograph paintings. I’m much more comfortable finding intersting angles and perspectives on sculpture, pottery, anything three-dimensional. But a painting - especially in a frame - is tricky.

Any ideas shared are welcome!!

Week 12: Mar. 24, 2024

Four pieces - Bauhaus collection; (Left to right) Gaberndorf II, Lyonel Feininger, American, 1924, Oil on canvas; Rose with Gray, Vasily Kandinsky, Russian, 1924, Oil on pulp board; Armchair: Model MR20, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German, 1927, Nickel-plated steel, steel, and cane; Standard Lamp, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, German, 1926, Nickel-plated brass, glass, brass, and resin.

Room with a vision…

Each piece in this installation was designed within a three-year time span and all grew out of the Bauhaus school in Germany. The school only operated between the two world wars (1919-1933) and was based on the idea of bringing all the arts together.

This was the first time I noticed the installation - so I believe it was set up this way relatively recently. I loved the way it really created a sense of a room from a moment in time and brought interior design, painting, and furnishings together.

I photographed it from multiple angles trying to create the sense of a space that I saw in person - and this angle was closest. Other artwork around the gallery mirrored the same aesthetic and I’ll probably use some for future posts. I have always known of Bauhaus and their modernism influense, and of Kandinsky’s painting, but the piece by Feininger was new to me and really powerful in person. Both artists focused on the connection between color and music. While I can imagine music when I look at the work of Kandinsky I didn’t initially recognize that influence in Feininger’s work. However, the Feininger painting is influenced by his love of Bach and uses layered colors the way that Bach used layered musical compositions and interwoven pieces in his music.

Week 11: Mar. 17, 2024

Cup and Saucer, Salver and Cream Jug, England (Staffordshire), ca. 1750-65, Variegated earthenware with lead glaze

Cuppa?

I have always loved tea cups. My mother collected tea cups and saucers and I received several lovely asian-style tea cup sets as gifts from the Korean parents who’s children attended the school I directed. I appreciate pottery for it’s need to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing at the same time.

I was intrigued by a number of qualities about this set. First, the colors and design are beautiful. As I was marveling at how much I loved the look of it, I noticed it was made with lead glaze - and began wondering, historically speaking, how much negative impact lead glaze had on the tea-drinking community before it was recognized as a danger. Next I noticed that the cup, like those in my asian-style tea cup sets, had no handles. The notes shared that the British added handles on their tea cups later, after initially modeling them after the Chinese samples that were sent over with the tea that was imported. So interesting how information was shared before telephones and the internet! And, finally, I loved that the British developed a cream jug to doctor-up their tea to what has now become a classic British style. And the cream jug had a handle from the very beginning!

The Salver, a piece I had not heard of before, is akin to a trivet. It is meant to protect the table from hot items, like the tea pot, that are set on it.

Week 10: Mar. 10, 2024

The Virgin and Child, France, ca. 1475, Limestone with traces of polychrome (left); and The Virgin and Child in Glory, France (Isle-de-France), 1400-1425, Sandstone with traces of paint (right)

Mother and child…

These two statues stood out among the multiple rooms of Christian art because of the warm and smiling faces of the Virgin mother. They were among the few in this collection that showed a mother/child relationship that felt similar to a modern and non-holy mother and child representation. In the first, she holds the child’s foot in her hand as he reaches up to touch her face. In the second, the mother smiles at the child as he playfully holds a bird. Representations of the Virgin and Child often show the mother’s eyes averted to the side or downcast. There are others that show the eye contact, love and tenderness, but these two seemed so interactive and even playful. Yet they are both nearly 600 years old.

On another note, I continue to wonder when I see centuries old art about the inability or unwillingness to represent a baby in the actual proportions of an infant, toddler, or young child. So often they appear to be a miniature adult. The sculpture on the left shows this more dramatically than the other. The proportions of the head to the body and arms is adult-like rather than child-like. The facial features show the same non-childlike structures. When this oversight is in contrast to the obvious skill in acurately representing the human form, whether in painting or in sculpture, it makes me curious as to why the choice was made so consistently in older artwork. Theoretically, ‘childhood’ was conceptualized much differently, but artistically, I would expect that it could be observed and represented more realistically if the artist had wanted to.

Week 9: Mar. 3, 2024

Ferment, Roxy Paine, American, 2011, Stainless steel

Awakening…

I have photographed this sculpture many times, usually at dusk or night with the setting sun or rising moon showing in the darkening sky. It always reminds me of a Tim Burton-esque tree and in the darkness it is a bit eerie, foreboding, perhaps sinister. But today was a crisp, cold day with the bright sun shining, clear air, and stunning blue sky. Today the sculpture told the story of winter awakening and realizing it could begin to stretch it’s branches into the spring. Complemented by the winter trees in the background, I hope the photo highlights the gradients of blue from the horizon to the heavens.

Week 8: Feb. 25, 2024

Dusasa I, El Anatsui, Ghanain, 2007, Found aluminum and copper wire

Texture…

This sculpture by El Anatsui is made from recycled, flattened, liquor bottle tops and hangs in the main entry way of the newest wing of the museum. Although it is made of metal and wire, it hangs like a tapestry on the wall. It transforms the media into a completely different appearance by creating the ripples and flow of draped fabric.

Looking at it in person, the most compelling part is how it appears to flow and move despite being a solid metal object. But up close, in the camera’s eye, I was struck by the sparkle and sheen of each individual piece of metal as it angles differently to the light. Looking at each individual link instead of the greater piece, I was reminded of the photo mosaics in which a huge image is made up of thousands of tiny images who lend their colors while losing their details.

I chose to photograph this from directly below it, so that I could capture the lowest section up close, but still see the ripples of the upper portion.