Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

One of my favorite parts of working at an art museum is discovering new interests. Today, I finally walked all the way over to the Museum (about two blocks from my office) to see a new exhibition of works on paper.

Nature Morte/Still Life is part of our rotation of 19th and 20th centrury prints and works on paper. Side note: It is called a rotation because it is part of our collection but we change (or rotate) the works in the gallery on a regular basis. Works on paper are rotated every six months because they are so sensitive to light. Once they go back into storage, they remain there for five years before they can be exhibited again.

The exhibition contains around 12 works on paper with one half devoted to the 19th century and the other half representing the 20th century. The 19th century focuses mainly on prints of flowers. As the public became interested in botany, artists decided to get in on the trend. The result was gorgeous floral prints.

The beauty is obvious but what I thought was even more interesting were the added details. Artists used their backgrounds to give connections to the flower's habitat or cultivation or give clues to the flowers' characteristics. For instance, dutch canals and windmills imply a tulip's heritage from The Netherlands.

Other artists use the background as a way to create mood and mystery. Richard Dunkarton's The Night-Blowing Cereus from 1800, includes a clock tower in the background. The minute hand shows 3 minutes past midnight. The hint of a bright, full moon and misty clouds would have added to the mystique of this exotic flower that blooms in Cuba and Jamaica for English viewers of the early 19th century.

The second half of the exhibition covers the 20th century and includes artists such as Manet, Chagall, Leger, Braque and Picasso. My favorite print would be Chagall's Basket of Fruit and Pineapples because of it's happy, vibrant colors. It is the story that goes with it that makes it even more meaningful. After having endured wars, persecution, and personal loss, Chagall created this delicate composition. He is quoted as saying, "in our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love."