Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

It was great to be back in the Kansas City Sculpture Park last week for the Kansas City Chief's Fan Appreciation event. The Chiefs brought players including Larry Johnson and Dwayne Bowe as well as Coach Gunther Cunningham to talk about last season and what's in store for this year.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the day:

Some new works of art and some old friends are being sprinkled into the contemporary galleries in the Bloch Building. I have noticed a few here and there including Time Pocket by Dennis Oppenheim and Venturi and Blue Pinion by James Rosenquist.

Gallery L5 has changed almost completely. Fred Wilson's The Ominous Glut is featured prominently. The Museum acquired it in 2007, and I don't believe it has been on view previously. The meaning is overtly political dealing with "greed, pollution, global warming and wars in the Middle East." The composition is intriguing with its big drops attached to the wall as if they are sliding down into the puddle on the floor.

Other works in the gallery include Alison Saar's Subway Preacher which I haven't seen on view for several years. Roger Brown's Southern Skies and Southern Pines returns as well with its zigzag patterns of sky and earth.

Even though I miss Elizabeth Murray's Art Part and Carroll Dunham's Particular Aspects (Two), I'm happy to say they are only gone for a short time. These paintings plus others will be on view this summer in Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative.

Continuing with our Women Artists, this week I present a woman who managed to work side by side her husband for almost 40 years. She deserves great praise for that alone! Gertrud Natzler was part of a husband and wife ceramics art team. Gertrud was a secretary when she met Otto, and she introduced him to pottery. Gertrud and Otto organized their own ceramics workshop in 1935 in Vienna, Austria before immigrating to Los Angeles during World War II. This duo is known for their use of jewel tones and rich glazes to create beautiful ceramic vases and bowls.

The Nelson-Atkins has a case of contemporary ceramics in the Bloch Building devoted to the Natzlers’ ceramics. In their collaborations, Gertrud threw the clay and shaped it into simple and pure forms, while Otto glazed and fired them. Gertrud was considered the master potter of the team, and Otto the “wizard of the kiln.”

I think the Natzlers’ pieces are visually stunning. I like that the shapes of Gertrud’s work are inspired by Japanese ceramics and the art nouveau movement as well. It has been said of Gertrud’s sculpting ability, “The works seemed to have been born and to have grown as if they were natural things.”

The fragility of each work is masked by the vibrant colors and beautiful glazes. I think you’ll be impressed – even by a bowl or a vase. Gertrud Natzler died in 1971 leaving behind 200 pots for her husband to glaze; Otto meticulously glazed each one before he passed away last year.

I often see Museum visitors walk right past these lovely displays, so the next time you’re visiting be sure to take a look (Gallery L7).

Like a fanned hand of cards, played by a giant, old ductwork in the Nelson-Atkins Building splays out across the ceiling in one of the new American Art spaces.

Much of the old ventilation system has been completely demolished in the renovation process, but this particular run of duct will remain and become part of the new installation, giving us a slight twist on the old song – some things old are new again.

Barbara Morgan began her career as a painter studying modern art at UCLA in the 1920s. It was her interest in modern dance that eventually led her to photography and her collaboration with several well-known choreographers including Martha Graham.

Since dancing is an impermanent art form, Graham believed the art of a dancer died with their physical death. For both Morgan and Graham, photographing dancers was a way to capture and preserve their artwork.

Morgan was not concerned with a literal documentation of a dancer’s performance. She would attend performances to familiarize herself with the dance and movement and to find the essence of the piece. Once she felt she had captured the theme in her head, she would restage the performance in her studio or nearby theatres. She created the lighting as well and used it to enhance the experience.

One of my favorite photographs by Morgan is Martha Graham, Letter to the World. You may see it in our current exhibition In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame. I’ve always thought it was a gorgeous image purely for its elegant composition. I never saw Martha Graham perform but from this image, I can imagine the passion and intensity she put into every movement.

Spring begins in a few days but next week, it might feel a little more like fall around here. The Kansas City Chiefs football club is having its first fan appreciation event at the Nelson-Atkins from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, March 28th. There will be players, coaches, cheerleaders, games, give aways and lots of fun.

The Museum will be open until 9 p.m. that night with a special tailgate edition of Cultural Cocktails in the Museum Cafe. After you've seen the celebrities outside, be sure to come inside for a look at In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame. No tickets are required!

In honor of Women's History Month, we have been spotlighting women artists in the Museum's collection. Recently, I posted a blog about Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Lebrun.

Thank you to a reader for sharing a link to the memoirs of Madame Vigée Lebrun. I look forward to reading through it, and I hope some of you will too.

More than 75 years ago, workers who helped to create the beloved Nelson-Atkins Building left behind a witness to their pride of workmanship and its place in the Museum’s birth.

On a wall just inside the American Gallery construction site, the following was recently discovered: “WR Cromwell, Paper Hangar [sic], May, 10, 1932.” Similar signatures have been found in other Museum areas that have recently been renovated, most especially at the top of the cove walls of Kirkwood Hall, when that space was completed in 2005.

Whether signatures are left behind to attest to the work that is ongoing today – or not – we may never know. Nonetheless, pride of place is repeatedly demonstrated in the quality of work and depth of care that we see daily displayed in the current American/American Indian Gallery project.

If other museums across the country are anything like the Nelson-Atkins, the administrative offices are strewn all over the place. There are some offices in the Nelson-Atkins Building while others are located in the new Bloch Building. Some of us poor souls even have offices in a separate building a few blocks away. Because of our separation, we choose to have social gatherings for the staff and volunteers on a regular basis.

Yesterday was the annual St. Patrick's Day potluck. This year's event was graced by a performance by Rah! Booty. Their My Space page describes them as: "Avant garde cheerleaders from the Kansas City Art Institute. We do adult age cheers, dance routines and make our own costumes."

Their performance was highly entertaining. My favorite cheer was about Tupperware. They definitely added some local flavor to our little potluck. Go Nelson-Atkins!

Born in Chicago, Elizabeth Murray was a pioneer in painting. Educated at the Art Institute of Chicago, Murray broke from art historic tradition and began painting on sculpted canvases. Her works broke free from the idea that painting is two dimensional. Murray’s work juts out from the wall and is pieced together making her paintings full of sculptural elements and movement.

Elizabeth Murray emerged during the Post-Minimalist art movement. The artists from this movement were trying to revive art with narrative and personal elements. Because she was loyal to painting, her work was difficult to categorize. Murray was inspired by cubism and artists such as Cezanne, Picasso and Gris. Through her work, Murray helped reinvent painting as a whole.

Murray’s work, Art Part, in the Museum’s collection is a great representation of her work. This work appears dismantled and rebuilt with imperfections; it’s as if the work exploded and little fragments are missing. There is a cartoonish quality to the big green hand that grasps the paintbrush that is iconic to her work. Her work is powerful, yet playful and always interesting.

Murray said of her work, “Out of shattered pieces, I believed I could make a whole. This applied to my art and my life.”

In honor of Woman's History Month, we continue with our spotlight on women artists in the Nelson-Atkins collection.

Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun was an accomplished painter in a time when the art world was still ruled by men. Her first instruction came from her father who was a portraitist and the artists that he knew. By the time she was a teenager, she was painting professionally. She married an artist and dealer and eventually became a personal friend of Marie Antoinette, painting her portrait on several occassions. Le Brun fled France during the French Revolution but was welcomed by the nobility of Italy, Austria and Russia.

The Nelson-Atkins has a very fine painting by Le Brun called Portrait of Marie Gabrielle de Gramont, Duchesse de Caderousse. In this painting, Le Brun has captured a noble woman in the guise of a country peasant. Painted just five years before the Revolution, this was a common attitude of the upper class to identify themselves with the "simple pleasures" of the peasant life.

This weekend, Odili D. Odita is visiting the Nelson-Atkins. This Nigerian-born artist is featured in the exhibition Tapping Currents: Contemporary African Art and the Diaspora.

Odita will speak about his work and what it means to him to be a contemporary artist at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 8. On Sunday, March 9, Odita will give two lectures at the Ford Learning Center Open House program from 2 to 4 p.m. These talks will be specially geared toward children and families.

From what I have seen of Odita's work, it is engaging, dynamic and energetic. Last year, Odita painted a site specific work at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.

Make plans to come see this fascinating artist this weekend at the Nelson-Atkins. I hope to see you there.

This month is National Women’s History Month, and the theme this year is Women’s Art, Women’s Vision. It just seemed like the perfect time to reflect on a few of the women artists featured in the Nelson-Atkins’ collection.

Deborah Butterfield has an affinity with horses. Her work, Horse, is currently on view in the Bloch Building, Gallery L6. Don’t worry; you can’t miss it. It’s an amazing sculpture created out of found objects such as chicken wire, mud, paper, grass…you get the idea.

Butterfield was born on May 7, 1949 – the same day as the 75th Annual Kentucky Derby. She believes this is partly where the inspiration for her subject matter came from. Early on, Butterfield began creating self-portraits using images of horses, but eventually the horses themselves became her principal subject matter.

Her pieces are very quiet and seemingly introspective. Butterfield does not try to showcase movement in her work, but rather a painterly quality that keeps the movement within the subject. Butterfield says, “For the pieces I make, the gesture is really more within the body, it's like an internalized gesture, which is more about the content, the state of mind or of being at a given instant.” I think her work resonates with many people here in the heartland. Many of us spent time on farms growing up, but even without firsthand experience, her work reminds me of simple joys in life. That beauty and interest can be found in things like mud and sticks.

Women artists have a come a long way. They are no longer relegated to painting interiors or garden scenes as they were in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s fantastic to see women artists finding their own voices, and their work in high demand from collectors, galleries and museums. Stop by to see the work of Deborah Butterfield when you get a chance. But if you begin daydreaming about being in a wide open field with meadowlarks chirping – whatever you do, don’t pet the horse.

With the addition of the Hallmark Photographic Collection in 2006, the Nelson-Atkins jumped to the top of the heap in the world of photography. Opening this Saturday, In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame, gives another great example why that is true.

I popped into the gallery yesterday to find the curators and preparators in full swing. There are 44 photographs in the exhibition and many of them are no larger than 8 x 10 inches. The exhibition takes up 2 small galleries but it packs a big punch.

The subject of the exhibition will make it quite popular with many people (the fact that there is no admission fee is definitely a plus). What I think is more interesting is the choice of images. There are images of Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Spencer Tracy, Meryl Streep that are beautiful. There are also images of Ulysses S. Grant, Richard Nixon, Wilt Chamberlin, Iggy Pop and Babe Ruth. But my favorite section is the "artists corner." There is an image of Constantin Brancusi in his studio (be sure to check out the frame), a portrait of Pablo Picasso and this image of Piet Mondrian with one of his paintings (see above). I like the twist of creating a work of art out of the image of an artist.

The exhibition opens to the public on Saturday. If you are a member, you may see it Thursday or Friday. Be sure to bring your membership card and a smile!

William Shakespeare said it very well in The Merchant of Venice, and it is no less applicable here. A gleaming wall in the soon-to-be American galleries is not gold – nor, indeed, silver – no matter how it glistens in the light. It is a wall of insulation that has been placed in front of the old tar-covered interior walls of the Nelson-Atkins Building.

This silvery insulation will prevail throughout the newly renovated spaces. On the floor in the foreground lie steel beams that will support the floor of a mechanical mezzanine in this area. The renovated American galleries will open in April 2009.