Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

We have only just begun... to blog that is. We want to hear from you about topics for new blog categories at the Nelson-Atkins. Tell us here what collections, programs or other ideas related to the Museum that you believe merit their own category. As interest grows, we will look to create new categories to meet the demand. Blog on.

The photography galleries are displaying a new rotation of works from the Hallmark Photographic Collection. The range of this collection is truly astounding. I was excited to see a few works that I recognize from revered American photographers.

The first one that caught my eye is Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California by Dorothea Lange. Lange was employed by the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression and became deeply influential on American documentary photography.

Lange’s photograph is very moving. You can feel the concern emanating from her face and the desperation of the children she holds. It’s very powerful and should definitely be seen in person.

Gordon Parks’ work, Man Emerging, is also really interesting. It’s always great to see a local talent represented in a gallery (he was born in Fort Scott, KS). The photograph was taken in 1952, so I think the title of the work serves as an interesting metaphor for his contemporary society.

This new rotation is chock full of great photographers: Imogen Cunningham, Diane Arbus, Alfred Stieglitz and many more. This time around the photographs are a fantastic mixture of humor, humanity and nature. This rotation is not to be missed!

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.

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.

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.”

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!