Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

My husband came to visit me for lunch today. After we ate, we took a quick peek into American Horizons: The Photographs of Art Sinsabaugh. The exhibition ends April 6 so I'm glad he had a chance to see it.

As we walked through, I was once again reminded of Sinsabaugh's ability to convert the details of ordinary compositions into extraordinary visions. I was particularly amused with a quote from Sinsabaugh on the wall text.

The text explained how he was frustrated at one point in his career with a lack of a signature style. One day he drove into the country outside Chicago to find inspiration. Sinsabaugh said that he "drove and drove and drove and drove" until he was literally in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, he was so much in the country, there was nothing there to see. Having spent many years of my life living in and driving through the Midwest, I knew exactly what he meant.

Fortunately, Sinsabaugh persevered and was able to capture the details in the midst of a bunch of nothing. For me, the beauty is in the tiny water towers, farm houses and power lines dotting the vast landscape. By trimming some of his images to one inch in height (which removed a great deal of the sky), Sinsabaugh focused on the presence instead of the emptiness.

Make sure to visit this exhibition if you haven't yet. It is quietly beautiful with splashes of humor and humanity.

Today, The Kansas City Star featured an article on 20th-century Hollywood film star Hedy Lamarr. It seems Lamarr is the Star of the Month on Turner Classics Movie channel.

This image of Lamarr by Clarence Bull is featured in the exhibition In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame.

Lamarr had quite an interesting life. After escaping from Germany in the 1930s, she struggled to be taken seriously and spent most of her career being mismanaged by movie studios and directors. One tidbit I never knew was that she was responsible for publicizing the technology that is used in cell phones.

You can see her films on Thursday nights on TCM in the month of April. Be sure to come see her glorious image and others through June 15.

If you like comparing “before and after” images or the Big Reveal at the end of a home makeover reality show, you won’t want to miss the sneak-peek debut of two reupholstered and conserved, 19th-century American sofas at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on Thursday, May 1.

A Neoclassical sofa and a Renaissance Revival settee have gone from grungy to glamorous thanks to a Conservation Project Support Grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). For many years, the pieces’ condition prevented their exhibition, but soon they will be displayed in the reinstalled galleries of the American collections, opening Spring 2009.

The first part of the program is a conservation workshop. Conservator Robert Mussey of Robert Mussey Associates of Boston, will join Museum curator Catherine Futter and conservator Joe Rogers as they present art historical background on the pieces and how they were conserved.

Later that evening, enjoy a lecture by Peter Kenny, American Decorative Arts Curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as he places the Nelson-Atkins’ sofa and settee in the context of Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival furniture of 19th-century America and the thriving furniture manufacturing industry in New York City.

Submitted by Elizabeth Williams, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts.

The Museum's recent acquisition of a rare daguerreotype of abolitionist John Brown is now on view in the Bloch Building.

The work is one of only six known daguerreotypes taken of Brown and is possibly the earliest, ca. 1846-1847. Portrait of John Brown is a powerful and memorable portrait of the abolitionist. It speaks volumes about his conviction and forceful character; he looks unflinchingly into the camera; he is confident and sure of himself.

Brown was a fervent abolitionist whose violent acts against slavey ignited the nation, propelling it toward the American Civil War. Outraged by the violence of pro-slavery forces, he and his followers carried out an ill-fated raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, that resulted in Brown being tried for treason and murder. He was hanged in public on Dec. 2, 1859.

In honor of my alma mater, the University of Kansas, playing in the NCAA championship game tonight, we are spotlighting Roger Shimomura's print Kabuki Party from 1988.

Shimomura taught in the School of Fine Arts at KU from 1969 to 2004 earning the honor of University Distinguished Professor in 1994. During World War II, Shimomura's family lived for several years in an internment camp in California. As a small child during this period, many of Shimomura's works deal with his memories of that experience as well as issues facing contemporary Asian Americans.

Kabuki Party will be included in the upcoming exhbition, Print Lovers at 30: Celebrating Three Decades of Giving, opening May 3.

This Friday features the first installment of the Spring 2008 Electromediascope, the Greenaway Chronicles. This season showcases the work of Peter Greenaway, a prolific filmmaker, visual artist, curator and writer. The Greenaway Chronicles will explore more than 20 years of Greenaway’s experimental film work.

Originally trained as a painter, he began making films in 1966. This Friday, enjoy six shorts from his early filmmaking career. I think Greenaway has really fascinating topics for his films. He takes an interest in people who have experienced something odd in their life that is perhaps out of their control. For example, Windows (1974) is a short, documentary-like film on people who have accidentally fallen out of windows. Another intriguing aspect of his work is the brevity of some of his films. I’m sure it’s much more difficult to create a short film than a feature film.

The last two nights of Electromediascope feature Greenaway’s ambitious, pseudo-documentary film, The Falls (1980). Here again, Greenaway examines the lives of 92 people who have been affected by Violent Unknown Events (VUE). These fictional sufferers of a VUE have experienced disability, immortality and learned peculiar languages. Friday, April 18 will preview #1 - #42 of these stories, and Friday, April 25 will present the conclusion, #43 - #92.

Peter Greenaway’s work seems fascinating and bizarre to me. As I was reading about Greenaway and his vast collection of work, I had one primary thought: How on earth does he come up with the ideas for his films? He doesn’t just direct all his films; he writes them too. It makes me very curious about what he was like as a child. Can you imagine the fun, creative (possibly strange) games he would have thought to play with all the neighborhood kids? What an interesting way to spend an evening!

The Museum of Modern Art in New York may have Aruthur Young's Bell-47D1 Helicopter hanging in its galleries but this past week the Nelson-Atkins hosted a helicopter flight in action.

The purpose of the visit was to deliver several very large air handling units into the Museum through an opening on the roof of the Nelson-Atkins Building.

I like the composition of this image with the helicopter on the lawn next to one of the Shuttlecocks. The helicopter practically looks miniature compared to the sculpture. Maybe an idea for a new acquisition in the Kansas City Sculpture Park?

Congratulations to Michael Bailey who's photo (above) of the Museum was chosen for the Art at the Center juried exhibition for the city of Overland Park, KS. Bailey's work is called "Aliens at the Nelson" and will be on view through June 29.

The "aliens" are actually a sculpture called Standing Figures (Thirty Figures) by Magdalena Abakanowicz.

Good luck to you, Michael, and thanks for the new work of art for my cubicle.

April 13 to 19 is National Library Week. That may seem like an odd subject for an art museum's blog, but did you know the Nelson-Atkins has a wonderful art reference library?

The Spencer Art Reference Library serves a wide regional audience including university students and professors, art historians and scholars and anyone else interested in art.

The Library Reading Room is open to the public 6 days a week. You can't check out books but you can catch up on the latest publications by Nelson-Atkins curators, conservators and more as well as read daily papers such as The New York Times.

Next week, we will feature several blogs devoted to the latest news and events from the Library. You won't even need a library card!

In the new American galleries, Rowland Hall will showcase American works dating from 1776, the period of America’s independence, forward into the 1800s. The hall, inspired by the Federalist architecture of Robert Adam, will be graced with elegant coves and wall niches, marble columns and circular skylights. Robert Adam really changed the way people thought about the architecture of antiquity through his extensive research and study experiences. Architects today still look back on basic principles brought to fruition by the person to whom the Nelson-Atkins' Rowland Hall will be paying homage.

Shown here is the framework for one of the two skylights (center), together with the rough placement for the other (upper left). The metal braces that hang down from the ceiling in a circular pattern form a ledge upon which the pie-wedged glass laylights will rest. Lighting fixtures above the glass will be focused upward toward the ceiling, which will be painted white. The white ceiling and frame will reflect and redirect the light downward through the glass. You'll be able to see these beautiful skylights yourself in April 2009.

In honor of National Library Week, I took a few minutes to sit down with Marilyn Carbonell, the Museum's Head of Library Services to find out what is going on at the Spencer Art Reference Library. It turns out there is quite a bit!

First we talked a little about the importance of national library week. This year is the 50th anniversary of an organization that began because people were not spending as much time with books as they were with radios and television (now we could add computers and the internet, even blogs!).

The theme for national library week is Join the Circle of Knowledge @ Your Library. Marilyn was quite pleased with the theme because she says it represents the same philosophy of the Nelson-Atkins. A person may see a work of art in the galleries and be inspired to visit the Library to research that artist. Likewise, someone may be reading about an artist in the Library and want to visit a work of art in our collection. They are both points on the circle of knowledge.

Marilyn spoke of the many services the Library offers including book displays on changing topics. The current display is called Orderly Nature: Gardens in Art and History. The list includes books on gardens in art, artists's gardens and the history of gardens throughout the world, including China, Japan, Versailles and India. Of course, the list includes a book on the Museum's own Kansas City Sculpture Park (originally called the Henry Moore Sculpture Garden).

Additional resources include reading lists for museum exhibitions and a whopping supply of magazines and newspapers on hand in the Reading Room. Of course, the Library staff is a wealth of knowledge and is happy to help with anything from general questions to heavy duty research.

Even if you don't have a specific research need or feel intimidated by the idea of visiting an art library, don't worry. The Reading Room is full of interesting collections of items from map and travel books to Chinese encyclopedias. Be sure to stop by and join in the circle!

Stay tuned for more this week including recent acquisitions and more interesting things to find in the Reading Room. I hope to finally answer my personal question: What is all that stuff in the Museum Archives?

The Museum's amazing operation's team is busy getting the reflecting pool ready for warm weather. Once the pool is drained it is cleaned and the surface is given a fresh coat of paint. When the maintenance is through, the pool will be refilled and ready to beckon visitors to the Kansas City Sculpture Park.

Since it is National Library Week, I decided to check out a very cool section of the Museum’s Library Reading Room. This section contains all the Nelson-Atkins publications written since the Museum’s opening in 1933. It was fascinating. I really liked how the books on these particular shelves are organized by date, not alphabetically. It was neat to see how the books have changed over the years – in size and content.

The most interesting book I picked up was one of the first on the shelves entitled, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art Handbook, 1933. I think you can figure out why this book was so interesting. I spent the most time looking at the images; I was trying to figure out which artworks are still up in the galleries now – and which ones I wish I could see. I guess I was mildly surprised to see that so many of the works that are considered treasures of the Museum now were part of the original collection and treasures then as well. Quite a few items from the Chinese collection were original assets, such as the Chinese Temple and the Amida Buddha. One of my favorite paintings has been in the collection from the beginning as well, Ingres’ Portrait of the Sculptor Paul Lemoyne.

Another intriguing aspect of this book is the maps of the original building. I particularly liked that there was only one curator’s office and a smoking lounge included in the original plans. I don’t remember when Rozzelle Court Restaurant did not have a roof and was strictly a courtyard, but I’ve seen a picture now thanks to this book. Also if you had purchased this book back then, it would have cost you just 50 cents.

These Nelson-Atkins Publications shelves also contain the gallery handouts for exhibitions over the years. It was interesting to see that when I was eight years old, there was an important artist named Odd Nerdrum having an exhibit at the Museum. The amount of information included on just six shelves was fantastic. Many of the books about specific artists were very engaging and filled with great stories. I don’t doubt that many people may think a book about Thomas Hart Benton would be similar to a textbook, but it was filled with stories and people from his past.

The last book I looked through was regarding the upcoming exhibit, Art in the Age of Steam, which I happen to be very excited about. The images were beautiful and there were interesting quotes throughout the book which kept me flipping the pages along. I like that I will have the chance to go back to that book before the exhibition opens and read more in depth on the artists who found their lives so deeply impacted by this advancement.

Take advantage of this great reading provided for free by the Museum. If you’re interested in history or art or how far the Museum has come, these shelves are for you. Just ask a member of the Library staff to point you in the right direction. Happy reading!

When you think of new acquisitions at a Museum, you generally think of art, right? Well, I found out that the Spencer Art Reference Library has acquired some pretty interesting items over the years.

One of the recent items is an original catalogue for Entartete Kunst, an exhibition organized by the Nazis in Munich in 1937 containing art that had been deemed "degenerate." The exhibition consisted of modern works of art hung in a haphazard manner accompanied by text labels explaining why the art was considered unacceptable. A list of the artst in the exhibition include many artists that are important to the Nelson-Atkins collection such as Emile Nolde, Wassily Kandinsky and Max Ernst.

The acquisition of this rare remaining catalogue of Nazi propaganda adds to the depth of the Library's resources. In addition to art, it connects to history, politics and Germany. It also connects the library to other resources in the community including the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Midwest Research Center for Holocaust Studies.

Another interesting recent acquisition is an illustrated book by Nathaniel Hawthorne called A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales. The book dates to the early 1900s and is similar to another fairly recent acquisition called Drums.

Tanglewood Tales is a volume of greek myths that have been retold (and whitewashed) for young adults. What intrigued me most about this book is that it was illustrated by noted American illustrator Maxfield Parrish.

Both of these items are in the Library's special collections so you must make an appointment to see them. The staff hopes to install a display case in the Reading Room where items may be exhibited with additional materials. I'll be sure to let you know when that happens.

Last week, a group of Museum staff got a behind-the-scenes tour of the renovation going on in the American and American Indian galleries. It blew my socks off! The space will be absolutely amazing.

We started in the hallway that used to hold the Thomas Hart Benton murals. It took me a few minutes to remember what that space used to look like. Here are the galleries just off the hallway. They are putting in huge electrical upgrades and special art-hanging walls.

The main hall in the American section will be called Rowland Hall. It will contain art beginning in 1776 and the architecture will match that time period.

We learned a little about the safety upgrades and saw some of the original clay tile walls from the 1930s.

The American Indian galleries were not as far along but the red iron supports are in place for the casework that will be throughout the spaces. They will be the same specially crafted cases that are in the African galleries in the Bloch Building. There will be 37 cases in the American Indian rooms.

I'll let Barb the Builder tell you about those things in detail. Be sure to keep reading!

Because the Nelson-Atkins has so much to offer in terms of libraries, we decided to extend National Library Week for a few days. The Museum Archives is not as known to the public as it should be. This is not just merely a collection of randomly stored items, no. The Archives is an amazing resource of information and collected items from past Nelson-Atkins staff or other Museum associates. Let’s take a quick look as some of the unique items one might find perusing the Archives.

I was intrigued by many of the items mentioned in the collection. The first one being Mary Atkins’ death mask from 1911. I would never have guessed that the Museum had this. The Archives have handwritten letters from Eugene Delacroix to French composer, Fromental Halevy and a handwritten letter from Frederic Remington to J.J. Benson discussing a particular drawing in 1901. There is also a typewritten draft of the last chapter of Thomas Hart Benton’s book, Artist in America. These are truly remarkable items to be able to view in person.

The Museum Archives is also a great source of information about the Museum in general. They receive – and answer – many questions regarding just about anything to do with the Museum. Did you know that the fountain in Rozzelle Court was originally one of the baths in Rome belonging to Emperor Hadrian in the Fist Century A.D.? Did you know Andrew T. Schwartz painted the murals in the Atkins Stairway? I didn’t know the answer to either of those questions, but I do now.

The Museum Archives really is a fascinating place to spend a couple of hours or an afternoon. The Archives really serves a much greater purpose than just storage for neat stuff though. The Archives documents the illustrious history and many activities of the Nelson-Atkins and its related organizations. Not only does it keep track of all the official Museum business, the Archives collects personal papers and manuscript material of all previous Museum staff.

The Archives are available by appointment only, but the librarians are more than happy to locate whatever specific item you might be in search of. If you would like to view or read any of the aforementioned items or have something specific in mind you would like to see, simply call 816.751.1354 to schedule your appointment today. The Archives is yet another great Museum library resource for the community.

Today may be raining and gloomy but yesterday was absolutely gorgeous. The Kansas City Sculpture Park was full of flowers, school children eating lunch, people walking their dogs and of course, people looking at art.

If you're looking for a reason to visit, make plans to come for Mother's Day on May 11. We have a day full of activities including musical performances, art-making events, tips on gardening and more.

A good way to familiarize yourself with the Park is to check out our online feature. You may learn about the art, the plants and all the things you can do everday in the Park.

The Museum's hard-working prep team is installing the paintings and sculptures for Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative which will open May 3. The exhibition will feature the 36 (and counting) pieces of art that have been acquired since 1999 when the William T. Kemper Foundation pledged $1 million a year for 10 years for the purchase of contemporary art.

Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art and former Senior Curator at New York’s Museum of Modern Art has been the Museum's advisor in the project since 2003. He joined the prep team this week to work on installing the exhibition.

Everything looks fresh and new and much larger when it is not hanging up on the wall. The Kerry James Marshall is in a perfect spot. The light from the windows above makes the glitter sparkle and glisten. And there is ample room for people to stand back and take in the whole painting.

I'm glad to see that one of my favorites is back! Six Secret Places by Anish Kapoor is waiting to be installed in a new spot.

Monday will be a big day. They will install El Anastui's Dusasa I in a very special location. The piece is made of recycled liquor bottle wrappers that have been flattened and hand stitched together. It measures 24 x 30 feet and may be installed on the floor or hanging on the wall. The curators will make the final decisions on how it will be displayed. I will definitely be there to give you a sneak peek.

Yesterday was national Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. We had about 12 kids and grandkids join us for the day.

The children got to enjoy many facets of the Museum including a tour of the Spencer Art Reference Library, helping teachers in the Ford Learning Center and of course a docent-led activity in the galleries.

My daughter was old enough to come this year. Even though she has been to my office many times before and sort of understands what I do (I tell people about the Museum), it was nice for her to see that there are many different jobs here.

I think her favorite part might have been when we had lunch in the Kansas City Sculpture Park and she ran around with some of the other staff member's kids. That was fun but my favorite part was when she asked if we could go see the Japanese art. As we walked through the gallery, she took notes on the different objects including Samurai helmets, bodhisattvas and the great Amida Nyorai Buddha.

I have to admit it has been a while since I've visited the Japanese gallery. I saw many objects that I have never seen before including a beautiful glazed pot and some exquisite clam shells with scenes painted in color and gold leaf. When my daughter told me she thought it would be so cool to work somewhere like this, I had to agree.

I had the chance to watch the preparators put together one of my favorite paintings from our contemporary collection today. Art Part by Elizabeth Murray consists of 22 separate canvases that form the image of a hand holding a paint brush (ok, I might have thought it was a rocket the first time I saw the painting, that is why I mention it).

The process was pretty cool. They begin with a life-size image of the painting as it was previously installed. They pin a template over the mock up and mark the places where they will hang the brackets. Then they begin to install the canvases one by one making sure they all fit together.

Take a look:

Tomorrow, I'll show you a little bit of the installation of a gorgeous new piece by El Anastui.

This week, we take time to honor our volunteers. The Museum has 650 volunteers who do everything from working with the public to filing and research. In 2007, volunteers provided more than 40,000 hours of service to the Museum. That is the equivalent of almost 20 full-time employees.

For the week, we have asked our volunteers to share some of their stories about what being a volunteer means to them, why they do it, what they like the best, etc. Today's story is from Alice Kenney who has been a volunteer since June 2007. Here's her story:

"I was working at the Visitor's Information Desk in Kirkwood Hall one Friday and a young man approached and asked where the Impressionist art was located. I showed him on the map where to find those works of art. About an hour later he returned to thank me and to tell me that he was there that day to get in touch with his "softer" side - that he was leaving for a second tour of duty in Iraq early the next morning and knew that his "softer" side would have to be put on hold for awhile; he wasn't eager to return but knew his patriotism and faith were strong and would carry him through those difficult times.

"I thanked him for coming in, wished him well, and told him he would be in my prayers and to please come back in when he returned. Though I don't know his name, I will always remember his face and our conversation. People visit our wonderful museum for various reasons...who would have thought of it as a way to reinforce a love of art and the peace it can give us to help brace for certain difficulties and challenges in the future?"

Thank you, Alice, for sharing your story. There are plenty of opportunities for volunteering at the Museum. A knowledge of art is not required.

I took my first trip to the conservation lab today, and I must say I was impressed. When I visit the galleries, I do wonder how long it takes a work of art to become “gallery ready,” and what it all entails. Today, I got to see a small part of the process in action.

The Museum’s senior conservator needed a large Egyptian relief stood up in order to touch up the front of the relief. Sounds easy enough, right? It took a specially built box, a large pulley and very careful movements just for this to occur.

I was also interested by the way the conservation technician made sure the senior conservator knew exactly what he was doing. He called out each step before he did it; it was like being in a room for surgery. To simply stand up the relief took about a half an hour. This was an important move because now the relief is upright, as if on an easel, and will be much easier for the conservation work to be done.

I know the process takes time and is incredibly delicate, but I guess I didn’t realize just how much time and effort. The next time you visit the Museum just spend some time thinking about how much time has been spent to get your favorite sculpture or painting ready for view.

In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Week, we asked our volunteers to tell us a little bit about why they do what they do. Today's message comes from Rania Dallal who has been a volunteer since September 2006.

"Volunteering at the Nelson Atkins has been a very exciting and educational experience. The volunteer program is very well-organized and offers a variety of opportunities to match different interests, personality types and work schedules.

"Personally, I tremendously enjoy the interaction with like-minded people and the conversations have deepened my appreciation for art and brought a lot of art and design concepts to life. Where else in Kansas City would you find volunteers taking a break from their shifts to stand in front of and admire a Monet?!"

As promised, I have installation images for the Museum's new acquisition Dusasa I by El Anastui which will be featured in the exhibition Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative opening on Saturday. The work is simply stunning. Measuring more than 24 x 30 feet, it completely overtook the space where it was being installed.

The installation took more than a day to complete. In fact, I think the curators are still determining its final incarnation. The piece is able to hang on the wall or lay flat. As with the previous piece, Hovor, which we had on view as part of the Tapping Currents exhibition, the curators have chosen to install Dusasa I on the wall. However, it doesn't lay flat. Parts of it are scrunched up to allow it to billow in some parts and create a sculptural quality in other areas.

The work is created of recycled aluminum liquor bottle tops that have been flattened and stitched together. At first, they seem to be organized completely at random. But once you see the piece in its entirety, it is amazing to see how the shapes and colors create beautiful patterns.