Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

One sure sign that spring is on its way is when maintenance begins on objects in the Kansas City Sculpture Park.

A lot of the work is done en plein air by our sculpture technician who walks around the Sculpture Park with materials to clean and protect the objects from the forces of nature and humanity.

This year, one of the large sculptures by British sculptor Henry Moore is getting a little extra TLC. Recently, Upright Motive was removed from its location on the western side of the Park and taken inside the Museum to be treated in the objects conservation lab.

The process went smoothly but was quite a sight. The sculpture was first removed from its platform and hoisted by a crane onto a flatbed truck parked on the street nearby. The sculpture was strapped to the truck and driven about a half a block north to the Museum's loading dock. It was removed from the truck and taken into the Museum and straight down the hall to the lab.

Here are some pictures.

At the end of the corridor of European art, there sits a small room that at first glance seems out of place. The wall panels are painted a deep red with lacquer decorations that seem reminiscent of Chinese works of art. In fact, the opulent panels of the Gabinetto, or withdrawing room, come from 18th-century Italy. Here, artisans related to Pietro Massa's workshop in Turin used a process called "japanning" to imitate Chinese lacquer and record an imagined vision of life in the Far East.

Today, I had the opportunity to watch conservation scientist John Twilley and Senior Conservator Kate Garland in action as they worked on an ongoing survey of the Gabinetto. The survey, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, investigates the panels to see how they were originally constructed in the 1730s-1750s and what has been restored since then. Eventually, this survey will lead to conservation work to reveal the original appearance of the room.

Conservation is all about the details, and I was amazed by the way Kate and John uncovered tiny clues to the room's history. Because of the different ways paint has been manufactured over the last two centuries, they can tell that the green wood framing the panels has probably been repainted twice, the last time as late as the mid-20th century. The original paint was a transparent brown, and it was flecked with brass for added shimmer.

Restorers wanted to use materials and techniques that were as close as possible to the original ones, so sometimes it's difficult for conservators to tell exactly when restoration took place. Kate told me that humidity causes raised areas of paint, and we can see places where the paint seems more textured or where there are cracks in the panels.

Next time you're looking at our wonderful collection of European art, be sure to stop by the Gabinetto and imagine what it would have been like to have such an incredible room be part of your everyday life! You can also find out more about conservation projects here at the museum on our website.

One of my favorite things about working at the Nelson-Atkins is the chance to be introduced to and learn about new artists. The newest addition to my collection is the American photographer Homer Page who is featured in our new exhibtion The Photographs of Homer Page: The Guggenheim Year, New York, 1949-50.

As I read through the exhibition's acompanying catalog, I learned the usual information. Page was born in the early 1900s in California and lived through the Great Depression as a child. His family lost most of their money in the Depression which may have been one reason he turned away from the business world to a life of creative independence.

The better story though is that his interest in photography was sparked by a promotional campaign done by the Eastman Kodak company. To celebrate the company's 50th anniversary in 1930, hundreds of thousands of American children received a free Brownie box camera, an inexpensive camera made by Kodak that was portable and easy to use.

As Page began his career in the San Francisco area, he was fortunate to come into contact with the great American photographer Dorothea Lange whose work with the Farm Security Administration produced iconic images of suffering and dispair such as Migrant Mother.

During World War II, Page worked in the shipyards which became a natural subject to photograph. However, concerns about espionage meant that cameras were strictly regulated in that area so Page turned to the city streets focusing on scenes of daily life. He was particulary interested in capturing images of commuters and their time-clock existence.

The Museum's exhibition focuses solely on one year of his career. Thanks to a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, Page was able to pursue this vision without concern for a day job that would pay the bills.

What strikes me most about his work is the fascinating juxtapositions he captured. His images range from lyrical scenes of couples to heartbreaking views of the homeless. This image of a woman on the street (above) at first is quite beautiful. I love that she is standing at profile echoing the columns behind her. However, the title I found with the image was "Wary Woman on the Street." I don't know if that is an official title or just a convention for us to recognize the file name but it made me re-examine the picture and discover another level to it.

I plan to spend much more time with this exhibition and share other aspects of this new discovery.

As a new intern at the Nelson-Atkins, I was excited today to get a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming exhibition The Photographs of Homer Page: The Guggenheim Year, New York, 1949-1950. The show will be open to the public this Saturday, February 14, but today our exhibition staff arrived on the scene to install the photographs and labels. They didn’t waste any time, either—by the time I got there at 10 a.m. they were almost done hanging the photographs!

Watching the installation, it struck me how much effort goes into deciding the precise order and placement of the works of art in an exhibition. Photographs waiting to be hung sat on foam cushions on the gallery floor, with blue tape to mark the space between them. Some of the photographs are grouped together in pairs or trios, showing different aspects of city life. Since the labels weren’t up yet to give me any clues, I had to look carefully at each group to decide what the photographs might have in common or what stories they might tell.

One of the reasons I love the Bloch Building galleries so much is that the windows and skylights let in natural light. Page took almost all of these photographs outdoors, and it was nice to be reminded of that environment as I looked at his work. Making my way around carts of installation materials, stepladders, and the photographs themselves, for a moment I even felt like I was one of Page’s subjects walking along a busy city street.

I’m looking forward to another visit to the finished exhibition and to attending Curator Keith Davis’s opening lecture on Sunday, February 22, for an expert’s perspective on this great photographer.

The Chinese collection galleries reopened last week just in time to celebrate Chinese New Year on Friday. The galleries have been closed off an on for about six months due to the construction of the American and American Indian galleries on the second floor of the Nelson-Atkins Building.

As I wandered through the galleries this afternoon, I was happy to see old friends such as the monumental Guanyin of the Southern Sea and the gorgeous Flower Vase with Dragon Motif.

Even though it was heart breaking to have our Chinese collection missing for so long, the good news is that the time was used to incorporate objects and displays that have not been on view for awhile.

It was great fun checking out the displays of Tang Dynasty ceramics and two cases of Chinese mirrors. However, I was completely enchanted by a couple of Wine Jars from the Han Dynasty just inside Gallery 229.

What captured me about the jars is the brilliance of the paint and the lyrical, swirling designs of the decoration. I am certainly not an expert on Chinese stoneware but I have never seen any other examples of such dynamic and energetic designs.

As I read the label, I learned that the design was intended to create an "expressive pictorial manifestation of the Han vision of the world, the dynamic integration of the cosmic and moral orders that are endlessly revolved and reborn in an eternal cycle of Yin Yang and the Five Phases concept of the composition of the universe."

I left the galleries after an hour feeling energized and renewed which is just what a good museum visit should do.

As we approach the opening of the reinstalled American galleries in April, we are already looking ahead to the American Indian galleries that will open in November. Today, we took a walking tour with the curator and even though the floors are covered with cardboard and there are construction materials everywhere, the space is simply stunning.

For those of you familiar with the Nelson-Atkins, the new American Indian galleries will be on the second floor in the former Modern & Contemporary galleries. Where the Sol Le Witt and Duane Hanson's Museum Guard once stood will be cases and cases of the most amazing works of art from our American Indian collection.

The entire space is just over 6,000 square feet and will contain around 210 objects. About half of those objects have been collected since 2002 and only a few of those have ever been on view at the Nelson-Atkins.

The art won't be installed for many months but I am already anticipating learning more about the masterpieces we will have to offer to the public.

In honor of the Museum’s Chinese New Year celebration on Feb. 6, today we are highlighting the beautiful Ming Dynasty Yellow Ox from the Chinese collection.

In China, the New Year was called Spring Festival and celebrated the preparations for the spring planting season.

This ceramic sculpture features the physique of a water buffalo, a domestic variety of ox that has been used for farm labor for several centuries in Asia. It is glazed in yellow, the conventional color of a farming ox, and its nostrils are molded to demonstrate where a leash would be attached.

The year of the ox is noted for the nature of the animal: strength and endurance. Among its many metaphors in Chinese art, the ox is associated with spiritual training.

Yellow Ox is on view in Gallery 202.

Be sure to join us this Friday for all the fun. The popular evening features three performances by the Shaolin Pai Lion Dance Troupe (above) which will knock your socks off. The troupe is highly energetic and fun for kids of all ages. If you plan to watch them, be sure to get to Kirkwood Hall a little early so the kids can get a good view.

Other activities include artist demonstrations of Chinese painting and calligraphy, traditional music by the Kansas City Chinese Music Ensemble, gallery games and of course, art-making in the Ford Learning Center.