Tag Archives: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

From the Land of the Taj Majal

March 24, 2009UncategorizedNelson-Atkins Museum of ArtMrs. Blandings

We are incredibly fortunate here in Kansas City to have an amazing exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum running through June 14th. From the Land of the Taj Mahal is a collection of court paintings from the Mughal Emperors of India on loan from the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. The Mughal dynasty ruled much of southeast Asia from 1526 – 1857 AD.

These incredibly colorful, detailed and revealing miniature paintings are basically pages from albums commissioned by two of India’s most powerful leaders, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, who is best known for building the Taj Mahal.

These albums contained portraits of family, friends, servants and animals. They included folk tales and recreations of significant events in the lives of the rulers. They were personal and private. They were, in essence, scrapbooks.

They just happened to be scrapbooks created by some of the most talented artists of their time and place. The curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, Kimberly Masteller, explained that artists would have focused on their strengths; some focused on calligraphy, others painting figures and others still would work on the intricate borders.

The exhibit is beautifully laid out and the museum has provided magnifying glasses so you can study the detail of the paintings. There are stools placed throughout so children can see more closely. These manuscripts have rarely been on view and it is my understanding that it’s quite unlikely they will return to the States anytime soon.

Chester Beatty, by the way, was a New Yorker who made his fortune in mining in Cripple Creek, Colorado. A collector from a young age, he eventually focused his passion on rare books and paintings, especially those from Asia, the Middle East and Egypt. He lived for a while in London then moved to Ireland where he established the Library to house his collection.

You can click on the images here to see them larger and the Nelson’s site has a great selection of the paintings with details of the subject matter and the ability to zoom in on the details. Several programs are available that support the exhibit. Members can enjoy the exhibit for free; admission for adult non-members is $8.

All images courtesy of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Homer Page at the Nelson

February 16, 2009UncategorizedNelson-Atkins Museum of ArtMrs. Blandings

Friday found me with just the right size window of time – too small to go home and work and too large to go early and wait until the boys were released from school – so I headed to the Nelson-Atkins to see the new photography exhibit. My father was a television news photographer and while he captured his subjects moving and not still, it has always increased my interest in photography. I’m intrigued by the way the photographer sees the intensity of the image but remains detached.

Homer Page was born in Oakland, California and studied art and social psychology (ok, really, think about that for a minute) at the University of California from 1936 – 1940. His neighbor and mentor, Dorothea Lange, encouraged him to take up photography in 1944. By ’47 he was featured in a major show at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Page received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1949 and he took the opportunity to document his interest in modern culture primarily by photographing people on the streets of New York City. He was easy and sly in his craft. Mostly his subjects seem unaware of his presence, but the tension of the ’40’s is clearly visible.

The fellowship allowed Page to focus on his photography for a year. While he was widely recognized for this work, he transitioned into a professional career as a magazine photographer. Few of his photographs were in private hands and his work was largely forgotten by the time of his death in 1985.

It’s engaging to see the romantic, formal styles of the 40’s off the movie screen and on the street. Intriguing as well to study Page’s interest in popular culture and commerce on the era. One photo is of a wall of tawdry, paperback novels. Some thought the paperback book the death knell of serious literature. If you look closely at the dozens and dozens of titles you will find a copy of Eric Hodgins’s Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

The exhibit runs through June 7th. The Museum has planned several programs around the exhibit; check the site here.

“We are not sure of war or peace, prosperity or recession; not sure what balance to strike between our freedom and our security, either as a nation or as individuals. The fundamental issues are clouded and almost certainly in transition. This makes any attempt to record conditions extremely difficult.” – Homer Page

Images courtesy of the Nelson.

In Brief

February 10, 2009UncategorizedNelson-Atkins Museum of ArtMrs. Blandings

If you are interested in miniatures, like those offered by Elle Shushan, there is a fine collection at the Nelson-Atkins here in town. The collection is made up of 300-ish pieces originally donated by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr. A smaller selection is on display though the pieces do rotate so it’s worth checking in on each (frequent) visit. They are mounted over small mirrors so you can see the backs, which are beautifully decorated, as well.

Image, miniature by John Smart of Colonel Keith Michael Alexander, c. 1810, courtesy of the Nelson. The Colonel is not currently on display, but I liked his snappy red coat.

Cross Pollination

February 5, 2009UncategorizedNelson-Atkins Museum of ArtMrs. Blandings

I always have a little cosmic jolt while traveling, especially by air. Even at my age it seems wonderful and shocking to get up and have breakfast one place, then pick up carpool halfway across the country four hours later. Furthering this sensation on my last trip, I had the delight of visiting the Calder exhibit at the Whitney in New York, then the distinct pleasure of a tour of the Michael Cross exhibit when I returned home at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

The Calder exhibit is still playing on a loop through my brain. I’m struck by the innovation of his work and exploration of movement in both his pieces that moved and those that did not. Calder was trained in mechanical engineering and it is fascinating to see the application of that education in his work.

Michael Cross has a degree in product design, and while his pieces are meant to be produced and used, there is certainly more going on here.

With the undulating floor, Cross is exploring the idea of a room with less furniture (just in case you were thinking, “Where would the sofa go?”) The wood is typical residential flooring and was manipulated by scoring the underside of the boards. No heat or water was used to create the curves. The cross section is intentional as it reveals the engineering of the structure. It’s difficult to see from these images, but there are sections of the wall where Cross has taken a mold of his own shoulders and shoulder blades and inserted them into the wall at a level where he, if he were sitting on the floor, could rest comfortably.

The Flood lights are cylinders of water containing coils of electrical wire and light bulbs. Beautiful and arresting, but disturbing. More than just function, there is a very real play between attraction and repulsion.

The Growing Table, above and top, opens to reveal storage space, but can transform by height or angle to fill the need of the owner, even as the owner’s needs change.

Lunuganga’s function is limited only by your imagination. Bookcase, clothesline, towel rack or art. I’m curious it they could be used as steps as well if one were a loft dweller.

One of the most captivating pieces is the desk in the second image. The top is moulded with indentations where you might anchor your right elbow, another which holds the crook of your left arm if you were to put your head down upon it to rest. If you do this, you will feel a steady beat, a pulse, which emanates from within the piece. It is designed with a heat source at the same spot that would be right under your hand. As someone who spends a good little bit of time at her desk, I can’t imagine a better tool for contemplation.

Cross’s work remains at the Nelson until April 5th. You are encouraged to manipulate the pieces and see if your shoulder blades hit just the same spot as the artist’s. Catherine Futter, the Nelson’s Curator of Decorative Arts, will present on the exhibit February 20th at 7 p.m and February 21st at 1 p.m in the L8 gallery of the Bloch Building. Admission to the Nelson and the exhibit are free.

All photos courtesy of the Nelson: Cross’s head shot and Lunuganga by Mark McDonald; remaining photos by Michael Cross. Additional information on the Calder exhibit at Habitually Chic.

Sometimes Moore is More

January 22, 2008UncategorizedNelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Vintage DesignMrs. Blandings

When I was posting on sculpture yesterday, I remembered a medium-good movie “Object of Beauty” starring Andie McDowell, John Malkovich and a diminutive Henry Moore sculpture. The couple is in a bit of a financial pickle and “he” wants to sell “her” statue to get them out. Naturally, she balks. Ironically, the deaf maid steals the statue because “it speaks to her.”

Henry Moore is considered by many to be one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century. His farm, “Hoglands,” was featured in Architectural Digest in March of 1980.

The house was falling apart when Moore and his wife, Irina, purchased it in the 1940’s, but they dug in and made it their own.

While the living room furniture and palette are simple and neutral, the author reports that there were literally hundreds of objects. “Pebbles, papier mache eggs, Cycladic sculptures, African masks, pre-Columbian artifacts..a French carving of a Madonna and Child, gourds, flints and a Medieval marble relief.”

Each piece had a personal attachment, evoked a memory, but also reflected Moore’s fascination with shape and form.

These images are of the studio; Moore is mostly known for his large, outdoor sculpture. He felt that sculpture placed outdoors should be large in scale to stand up to its surroundings.

The smaller pieces are studies for the larger works. Moore initially used preliminary sketches, but could not capture the scale of the completed work, so he moved to executing the sculpture instead. Irina was a gardener and they enjoyed placing Moore’s pieces in the pastures with the sheep. He says in the article that he didn’t care for sculpture gardens. “They nullify the whole point of the sculpture.”

Fortunately, he changed his mind. Our local museum, the Nelson-Akins acquired a large selection of Moore’s sculptures several years ago through the generous support of the Hall family. Just to give the Midwest its due, the sculptures were purchased from a collector in Wichita. Kansas. Moore was able to see the site and placed some of the sculpture himself. The garden is a magical place; the pieces are not just plopped down, you discover them here. It’s a wonderful spot to take children as the pieces are so big, huge, even to an adult, and you are moving, walking, running, talking. No shushing.

The old part of the Nelson is old. Marble, terrazzo, columns. We were fortunate to welcome the new Bloch Building last year. Controversial? Sure. We tend to be a bit conservative here and don’t like folks messing with our landmarks. But one of my son’s friends said, “You know, they couldn’t match it. And if you can’t match it, you need to do something really different.” Agreed. The addition adds to the site inside and out. It’s, well, sculptural.