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Books on Ukiyo-e from the Russell Estate

Traci Timmons on Dec 5 2014

The McCaw Foundation Library at the Asian Art Museum recently received a generous gift from the estate of Harry A. Russell. Mr. Russell, a native of the New York City, was an aficionado of Ukioy-e, a style of Japanese woodblock print. His collection of books on the subject includes an extensive encyclopedia of prints, many exhibition catalogues, and several guides for the preservation of Ukioy-e prints. Xiaojin Wu, SAM’s Curator of Japanese and Korean Art, accepted the donation on behalf of the library from members of the Russell family.

These donated books contain a wealth of rich pictorial content, as evidenced in these images from Genshoku Ukiyoe Daihyakka Jiten = Color Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ukiyo-e (Tokyo: Taishukan Shoten, c1981):

Uo Zukushi Ayu Tenpo by Andō Hiroshige (Volume 1)

Uo Zukushi Ayu Tenpo by Andō Hiroshige (Vol. 1)

Kenyu Hujo Ooiko by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Volume 9)

Kenyu Hujo Ooiko by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Vol. 9)

Ukioy-e is a type of woodblock print that became popular in Japan during the Edo period (16th– 19th centuries). The colorful figures and landscapes depicted in the crisp, rich colors of these prints created a substantial surge in the popularity of Japanese art at home and abroad. The influence of Ukiyo-e can be seen in western art styles such as Impressionism and Art Nouveau.

Amerika Yokohama Honmura Honmakido by Andō Hiroshige (Volume 9) Print depicts an American woman wearing an Indian bonnet on a horse.

Amerika Yokohama Honmura Honmakido by Andō Hiroshige (Vol. 9)
Print depicts an American woman wearing an Indian bonnet on a horse.

Musashi Nono Tsuki, from the series 月百姿　Moon Hundred Gesture by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Volume 9) Yoshitoshi brough one wolf to the vast field of Mushashino. The wolf sees his reflection on the surface of water. Yoshita expresses the loneliness of the wolf.

Musashi Nono Tsuki, from the series 月百姿　Moon Hundred Gesture by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Vol. 9)
Yoshitoshi brough one wolf to the vast field of Mushashino. The wolf sees his reflection on the surface of water. Yoshita expresses the loneliness of the wolf.

Shoshin by Tanaka Kyoukichi (Vol. 1)

Yueh-Lin Chen, Associate Librarian at the McCaw Foundation Library, is working with volunteers to catalogue the Russell donation. The titles will be easily retrieved by searching for “Harry A. Russell” through a keyword search in the SAM Research Libraries’ online catalogue (OPAC). A catalogue search for “Ukioy-e” will bring up many books about the general genre of Ukioy-e, as well as books about the ways Ukioy-e has influenced western art.

We would like to thank the Russell family for this generous donation.

– Yoshiko Boley and Kate Nack, McCaw Foundation Library Volunteers

These and many other books about Asian art are available for consultation in the McCaw Foundation Library for Asian Art, located on the lower level of the Asian Art Museum. Library hours are Thursday and Friday from 2:00 – 5:00 pm, and Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm.

Pictures and Words: National Gallery by Frederick Wiseman

Seattle Art Museum on Dec 2 2014

One of the abiding pleasures of my job is that I get to spend so much time in museums—not just the Seattle Art Museum, but great institutions throughout Europe and the United States. That’s where I spend my business trips, and many vacations too. Working in a museum, I am familiar with the teamwork and myriad decisions that go into creating collection installations and exhibitions. Now a gorgeous new film, Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery (playing December 5-11 at the Northwest Film Forum), invites viewers to watch the activity behind the scenes at one of the finest collections of European art in the world, London’s National Gallery.

Wiseman edited down hundreds of hours filmed on-site to craft a paean to the art of looking. We observe masterpiece after masterpiece–close-up, within the grand architecture of the galleries, and unframed in the attic conservation studio. We observe people—the professional staff of the Gallery, which includes the director Nicholas Penny, curators, educators, marketing specialists, scientists, framers, conservators, art handlers, maintenance staff—as well as studious visitors who scrutinize these paintings looking for answers or just marveling at the talents of great artists of the past.

In contrast to many documentaries, there is no narration, no interviews, and no identification of the speakers. We take a fly-on-the-wall position and watch the business of the museum unfold in a non-hierarchical way. The closest thing to a dramatic crisis is a series of conversations among museum staff about whether the august Gallery should succumb to marketing opportunities to appear more hip and reach a broader audience. I was fascinated to recognize that the National Gallery–which has free admission and welcomes over five million visitors annually—is as concerned as we are at SAM to understand our audiences and develop programs with their needs in mind. But in a film that lasts nearly three hours, this is just one of many activities that hum through the museum, seemingly no more or less important than installing a new lighting system, managing a blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci exhibition, or conserving paintings.

The curators and conservators have unparalleled knowledge about the works of art in their care, but their conversations here are often quite insular and subtle. For me the heroes of the film are the talented and passionate gallery educators who are marvelously effective in helping visitors to understand what the artist was trying to do all those years ago under circumstances that feel quite foreign to us today. All of these dedicated professionals prize active looking, as does Wiseman. He lets scenes unfold in real time, which will require an adjustment from viewers used to quick-paced, plot-driven films. But patience has its rewards, and in the final scene the film achieves poetry as a pair of dancers perform in an empty gallery before two of the most moving works that Titian ever painted. These wordless moments where music, dance, and painting come together resonate with a power beyond all of the eloquent words that came before.

–Chiyo Ishikawa, Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art and Curator of European Painting and Sculpture

Image: Courtesy of Zipporah Films.

SAM Art: Honoring Veterans

Seattle Art Museum on Nov 11 2014

Relief fragment with warrior and horse, 668-627 B.C., Neo-Assyrian (ca. 1045-610 B.C.; modern Iraq), Nineveh, Southwest Palace, Room XXXIII, stone, overall 17 1/4 x 22 1/4 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 57.54. Currently on view in the Ancient Mediterranean and Islamic art galleries, Seattle Art Museum.

WHEREAS it has long been our custom to commemorate November 11, the anniversary of the ending of World War I, by paying tribute to the heroes of that tragic struggle and by redirecting ourselves to the cause of peace; and

WHEREAS in the intervening years the United States has been involved in… other military conflicts, which have added millions of veterans living and dead to the honor rolls of this Nation…

NOW, THEREFORE I, DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon all of our citizens to observe… November 11… as Veterans Day.

-Presidential proclamation on the first Veteran’s Day, 1954

The Seattle Art Museum and Asian Art Museum are closed on Veteran’s Day. The Olympic Sculpture Park is open today until 30 minutes after sunset.

SAM Art: Vote!

Seattle Art Museum on Nov 4 2014

City Fathers, Hoboken, N.J., 1955, Robert Frank, American, born 1924, gelatin silver photograph, 14 3/4 x 18 7/8 in., Pacific Northwest Bell, the Photography Council, the Polaroid Foundation, Mark Abrahamson, and the National Endowment for the Arts, 84.116. © Robert Frank. Not currently on view.

Today is Election Day—don’t forget to vote!

Twenty-Six Roadkills from Twentysix Gasoline Stations

Traci Timmons on Oct 31 2014

The Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Library at the Seattle Art Museum has a small collection of books by artists. In conjunction with the exhibition Pop Departures, we are currently showcasing one particular artist’s book, Twenty-Six Roadkills by Daniel Teoli Jr., and the example that inspired it, Twentysix Gasoline Stations by Pop Departures artist Ed Ruscha.

Twentysix Gasoline Stations
In 1963, artist Ed Ruscha (born 1937) produced his seminal artist’s book: Twentysix Gasoline Stations. The book, held in SAM’s object collection (2000.223), consists of twenty-six black and white photographs of gasoline stations that Ruscha encountered on Route 66 between Oklahoma City, where he grew up, and Los Angeles where he moved in 1956. He saw these stations frequently on his trips home, and stated that he had “a personal connection to that span of mileage between Oklahoma and California… it kind of spoke to me.”

The book was self-published when the artist was 26 years old. Ruscha found a commercial printer in Los Angeles to mass produce 400 copies and sold them for $3 each.

In 2013, NPR correspondent Caroline Miranda interviewed Ruscha about Twentysix Gasoline Stations—deemed the first modern artist’s book— on its 50th anniversary. Ruscha recalled initial reactions to it: “If I showed this book to somebody who worked in a gas station, they might be genuinely interested in it, saying ‘Oh yeah, I remember that place…’ [but] people who were in the art world, [would say things] like, ‘What is this you’re doing? Are you putting us on?’”

At the time, the intellectual establishment didn’t take it seriously and even the Library of Congress refused to put it in their collection because of its “unorthodox form and supposed lack of information.” They still don’t own the 1963 edition. But the work persevered and acquired cult status. It inspired artists like Daniel Teoli Jr. to create their own versions.

Twenty-Six Roadkills
Photographer Daniel Teoli Jr. (born 1954) grew up in Los Angeles, very close to where Ruscha lived and worked and was aware of his art from his own earliest beginnings as a photographer in the 1970s. When Teoli moved to the Northeast in the late 1980s, Ruscha “dropped off his radar.” Then, Teoli heard Miranda’s interview with Ruscha on NPR and felt moved to create his own work, wanting to memorialize Twentysix Gasoline Stations on the 50th anniversary—Twenty-Six Roadkills was the result.

Twenty-Six Roadkills is hand printed, letter size in landscape format, spiral bound with rounded corners. The book has beautiful artisan-made marbled endpapers and incorporates clear protectors between each photograph. The edition is limited to 50 artists’ books and two pre-production proof books.

Roadkill from Twenty-Six Roadkills by Daniel Teoli Jr, 2013

From: Twenty-Six Roadkills. Pittsburgh: Daniel D. Teoli Jr., 2013. SPCOL TR 647 T393 T94 2013. Gift of Daniel D. Teoli Jr. in honor of Lewis Hine and Ray Metzker. Image used by permission from the artist.

So how did Twenty-Six Roadkills come about? The NPR story reminded Teoli of his early interest in Ruscha. He had just completed two other artist’s books and decided, then and there, that his next book would honor the artist. He then asked himself: what twenty-six things could he use for his book? “We have a lot of roadkill [near where I live], so I settled on that.”

When I lived in L.A., we may have had a few dogs or cats as roadkill,… but when I moved to the Northeast, I was shocked at both the amount and variety. [In addition to the animals included in the book,] I’ve also seen turtles, frogs and snakes. In the nearly twenty-five years I’ve lived here, I’ve never once gotten out of the car to look over roadkill. If you live here, seeing roadkill is a daily affair; you become immune to it.

Unlike Ruscha’s “mundane” gas stations, Teoli’s subject matter may have a more visceral effect on its viewers. But he acknowledges that some viewers might think he went out of his way to show gore, but that’s not the case, he didn’t. More uncommon occurrences—like a deer Teoli saw that seemed to have exploded after being hit by an 18-wheeler—were not included.

Teoli’s book is on view just outside the Bullitt Library on the fifth floor of the Seattle Art Museum, during the library’s public hours: Wednesday-Friday, 10 am-4 pm.

SAM Art: Halloweeeeeeeeeen Edition!

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 28 2014

Seated demon figure, 14th century, Chinese, bronze with gilt, 3 1/4 x 2 x 1 7/8 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 52.45. Currently on view at the Asian Art Museum.

‘Tis the season… for ghosts and ghouls and demons!

Supernatural beings appear in artwork spanning centuries and continents, and play distinct roles in different cultures. Even within individual cultures, these creatures have different attributes that can mean different things. It has been suggested that this demon is shivering from cold, suffering that is being imposed upon him.

SAM celebrates Halloween this week with the help of Nancy Guppy and New Day Northwest (KING 5, 11 am). Nancy will be in SAM’s galleries on Thursday, October 30, in full costume inspired by Pop Departures. Join her, and SAM, for a little Halloween inspiration!

SAM Art: How did they say “selfie” in 16th-century Italy?

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 14 2014

Portrait of a Young Woman “C A C,” dated 1565, attributed to Scipione Pulzone, Italian, 1540/42–1598, oil on wood panel, 7 1/2 x 21 3/8 in., Samuel H. Kress Collection, 61.153

Portrait of a Young Woman “C A C,” dated 1565, attributed to Santi di Tito, Italian, Florentine, 1536-1603, oil on wood panel, 7 1/2 x 21 3/8 in., Samuel H. Kress Collection, 61.153

In our image-saturated age, it’s hard to imagine a time before selfies, Snapchat and Instagram. But before photography made it a simple matter to capture a life, painters strove to convey an individual’s unique character in ways that would endure through the ages. Costume, gesture, and accessories tell us about the sitter’s family and status in society, while facial expression and gaze give as much of a sense of personality and inner life as the sitter was willing to reveal.

A new installation in the European galleries (fourth floor, Seattle Art Museum) introduces you to individuals who lived in 16th-century Italy, a time when prosperous citizens considered themselves worthy of the same kinds of visual commemoration that had previously been reserved for royalty. These portraits honored important life events—a new job, a new marriage—or simply served as visual reminders of people and places long gone—just like our digital photo albums do today.

SAM Art: Poetics of paint and place

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 8 2014

The Cornish Hills, 1911, Willard Metcalf, American, 1858 – 1925, oil on canvas, 35 x 40in., Partial and promised gift from a private collection, 2005.160. On view in American Art Masterworks, American Art galleries, third floor, Seattle Art Museum, starting this Saturday, October 11.

Rather suddenly, as a mature painter at the age of fifty, the impressionist painter Willard Metcalf found a landscape subject that would engage him as never before. In the winter of 1909 Metcalf traveled to the artists’ enclave of Cornish, New Hampshire, where he discovered the beauty of the winter landscape, reduced to a few solid forms and strikingly contrasting colors. Thereafter, Metcalf made the scenery around Cornish something of a specialty year-round, his magnificent paintings earning him the title “poet laureate of the New England Hills.”

The Cornish Hills is just one of the paintings included in a new installation, American Art Masterworks, opening this Saturday in the American Art galleries of the Seattle Art Museum.

SAM Art: False embroidery, real whales

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 16 2014

Basket with Orca whale design, ca. 1910, Tlingit, spruce root, maidenhair fern stem, grass, and dyes (twining), 8 1/2 x 10 in., Gift of John H. Hauberg, 91.1.100. Currently on view in the Native American art galleries, third floor, Seattle Art Museum.

Baskets made for collectors (rather than for use) were produced in large numbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Tlingit women. They often took the form of functional Tlingit berry and cooking baskets and displayed traditional false embroidery designs—but the fine weaving betrays its decorative intentions. This example, depicting orca whales, is of a rare type developed in the late 19th century.

SAM Art: Back from summer break!

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 3 2014

E Pluribus Unum, 1942, Mark Tobey, American, 1890 – 1976, opaque watercolor on paper mounted on paperboard, 19 3/4 x 27 1/4 in., Gift of Mrs. Thomas D. Stimson, 43.33, © Mark Tobey / Seattle Art Museum. Now on view in Modernism in the Pacific Northwest: The Mythic and the Mystical, fourth floor, Seattle Art Museum.

This week, we are embracing the end of summer with the coming of Labor Day, the return of NFL football, and the end of Modernism in the Pacific Northwest: The Mythic and the Mystical.

Our Super Bowl champion Seahawks return to The CLink in their season opener on Thursday. Whether you’re cheering from the stands or from your living room, stop by the Seattle Art Museum before the game to see Modernism before it closes. The stunning collection of Northwest masters is only on view through Sunday, September 7.

Electronic Resources at the SAM Libraries

Traci Timmons on Jun 30 2014

Did you know that in addition to our numerous printed resources, the SAM Libraries provide access to important electronic resources on art and art history through our online library catalogue (OPAC)?

For those digital immigrants among us, “electronic resources” in the SAM Libraries are documents, reports, e-catalogues, and websites that provide research-level information just like printed materials. They’re just in digital formats: .pdf files, websites, Google Books, etc.

Here are some great examples:

e-Catalogues: Chinese Painting & Calligraphy (Seattle Art Museum, 2011)
Part of the Getty Foundation’s Online Scholarly Catalogue Initiative (OSCI), this catalogue, which allows unprecedented access to SAM’s Chinese painting and calligraphy collection, allows you to do things online that could never be done in person: view a thirty foot handscroll in its entirety on the screen, zoom in so close you can see paper fibers, and have marks and text translated with ease.

Patron viewing SAM’s Chinese Painting & Calligraphy catalogue. Photo by Traci Timmons.

Reports: Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Art Historians (Ithaka S+R, 2014)
This report, gleaned from 70+ interviews with faculty members, curators, librarians, visual resources professionals, and museum professionals (including several from the Seattle Art Museum), investigates the research practices of scholars and shares how digital resources both enhance and created some challenges for the field of art history.

Collected Papers: Studying and Conserving Paintings: Occasional Papers on the Samuel H. Kress Collection (The Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2006)
This electronic version of the original print publication records the processes, with an emphasis on elements of discovery, that accompany conservation on paintings in Kress Collections throughout the United States. Many of the works currently on view in the Seattle Art Museum’s European galleries are Kress Collection works.

Patron viewing the electronic version of Studying and Conserving Paintings: Occasional Papers on the Samuel H. Kress Collection. SAM’s Kress painting, Hagar and the Angel by Bernardo Strozzi (61.168), is featured. Photo by Traci Timmons.

Print to Digital: Native Paths: American Indian Art from the Collection of Charles and Valerie Diker (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998)
Published to accompany the exhibition of the same name at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1999, this catalogue, originally in print, is now available via Google Books and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We’ll be hosting an exhibition of works from the Diker Collection in 2015.

See the full list of more than 250 resources. Many other online resources from the Seattle Art Museum are included. We’re constantly adding new material, so check back often.

To search for any of our library materials, start at the SAM’s website. Click on Programs & Learning, then Libraries & Resources. Click on Art Research, then Search Catalogue.

Our library staff are here to help you with any of your research needs. Start here.

SAM Art: Lailat al’Miraj

Seattle Art Museum on May 30 2014

Muhammad’s Ascent to Heaven (Miraj), 16th century, Persian (modern Iran), Safavid period (1501-1722), opaque watercolor and gold on paper, 9 3/16 x 5 3/8 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 47.96. Not currently on view, but accessible online (link below).

A prophet enters an ancient holy place, where he is met by angels. They present him with a gift, a horse with wings who immediately flies the man to a faraway place. Here, the man and winged horse leap into the air, and ascend to heaven itself. The prophet speaks with God. When they come back down to earth, the man dismounts the horse armed with one cornerstone of a faith. Lailat al’Miraj, celebrated this week by Muslims around the world, commemorates this journey, and the prophet Muhammad’s return to earth with the knowledge that God wants Muslims to pray five times daily (Salat).

The story behind the holiday provided inspiration to artists in earlier eras, who often illustrated it as a frontispiece to volumes of the Khamseh, five epics by the Persian poet Nizami. While figures are forbidden from religious settings, illustrating this journey within books of secular sagas proved popular for centuries across the Islamic world.

Meet Echo

Seattle Art Museum on May 19 2014

Echo, Seattle Art Museum’s massive new addition to the Olympic Sculpture Park, is starting to take shape.

A spectacular and iconic addition to the park, the 46-foot-tall sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, will greet visitors as they wander the shoreline.

Echo has been given to the Seattle Art Museum from the collection of Barney A. Ebsworth. It was originally commissioned by the Madison Park Association in New York and installed at Madison Square Park in 2011 to great acclaim. It is made from resin, steel, and marble dust, and altogether weighs 13,118 pounds.

Echo was modeled on the nine-year-old daughter of the owner of restaurant near the artist’s studio in Barcelona. With computer modeling, Plensa elongated and abstracted the girl’s features. The sculpture’s title references the mountain nymph of Greek mythology of the same name.

As told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Echo offended the goddess Hera by keeping her engaged in conversation, and preventing her from spying on one of Zeus’s amours. To punish Echo, Hera deprived the nymph of speech, except for the ability to repeat the last words of another.

Plensa offers us Echo with her eyes closed, seemingly listening or in a state of meditation. Envisioning Echo looking out over Puget Sound in the direction of Mount Olympus (a further reference to Greek mythology that is already embedded in the landscape), Plensa also intends for the sculpture to serve as a gathering point for introspection and contemplation. In our increasingly networked culture where information is endlessly copied and repeated, it is a work that invites viewers to pause.

Drop by the park and check out the progress when you have a moment. It’s easy to spot Echo. Join her near the water and spend a few quiet moments next to her thoughtful presence at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

SAM Art: Consider the figure

Seattle Art Museum on May 7 2014

Male standing figure, 20th century, Tanzanian, Nyamwezi/Sukuma culture, wood, natural pigments, cloth, height: 26 in., Gift of Dr. Oliver E. and Pamela F. Cobb, in honor of Mark Groudine, 2012.28.21, Photo: Elizabeth Mann. On view beginning 24 May, African art galleries, Seattle Art Museum.

If only we could hear the songs that once surrounded this figure! Distinctively long limbed sculptures like this were never seen in quiet spaces, but in the middle of stirring tornados of dance and song. This figure may originally have been dressed, but is now able to show off a lean angular stance that is near, but not exactly, symmetrical.

This figure, as well as other recent acquisitions of African art, goes on view in a new installation starting on May 24.

SAM Art: An old new thing

Seattle Art Museum on Apr 29 2014

Jingdezhen ware saucer, Chinese, Ming dynasty (reign of the Wan Li emperor, 1573-1619), porcelain with decoration in underglaze-blue, overglaze-enamels, height 1 in., diameter 5 7/16 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 51.90. On view beginning 30 April, Chinese art galleries, Asian Art Museum.

For the first time in a decade, these three figures are catching a glimpse of Seattle.

This saucer, last displayed in the early 2000s, shows three men in a garden, their idyllic setting framed by a pine tree, a mountain, and a stream. This newly on view saucer is, in fact, quite old: it was made during the Ming dynasty, in the reign of the Wan Li emperor (1573-1619).

There is always something new (or old) to discover at the Asian Art Museum. This week, look for recently installed ceramics and textiles in the Chinese art galleries.

SAM Art: Quick! Before it’s too late!

Seattle Art Museum on Apr 10 2014

A Fuller view of China, Japan and Korea, the museum’s celebration of our Asian art collection closes this weekend. See the Hell of Shrieking Sounds, Deer Scroll, Crows Screen, and other favorites before they disappear from our galleries. Before they go, make sure you see the stunning Hell of Shrieking Sounds scroll, which relates a Buddhist sutra on the different representations of hell. The inscription on the SAM scroll reads, in part:

“…there is a place called the Shrieking Sound Hell. The inmates of this place are those who in the past, while human beings, …[failed] to conduct themselves properly and having no kindness in their hearts, they beat and tortured beasts.”

(Translation by Mr. K. Tomita for the Seattle Art Museum)

Segment of the Hell Scroll: Hell of Shrieking Sounds, ca. 1200, Japanese, Heian period (794 – 1185), handscroll; ink and color on paper, 10 3/8 x 25 3/4 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 48.172. On view until Sunday, 13 April, at the Asian Art Museum.

SAM Art: New Installation at Olympic Sculpture Park by Sol LeWitt

Seattle Art Museum on Apr 10 2014

Experience the Olympic Sculpture Park’s PACCAR Pavilion as it transforms into a canvas for Sol LeWitt’s Seven cubes with color ink washes superimposed, now on view through March, 2015.

As a new intern for the Seattle Art Museum’s Communications department, I can’t wait for the next sunny day to escape my office and walk to see the Sol LeWitt installation at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Until I started my internship I wasn’t very familiar with Sol LeWitt, and only knew of his sculptures. LeWitt is more than just a sculptor. He was a proponent of artistic concepts driving the force behind visual work. He famously regarded the principles of conceptual art by writing, “the idea is the machine that makes the work of art.”

Aside from sculpture, Lewitt created wall drawings that existed only as a set of instruction for others to carry out. LeWitt’s drawings come to life without his own presence, as they are realized by others, and are contextualized by the spaces they are produced in. Lewitt provided a scale that nearly anyone can adjustment and create. The Olympic Sculpture Park’s Pavilion walls are slightly narrower than the original scale, creating a surprise perspective for viewers and an image specific to the Pavilion’s space.

LeWitt bridged minimal art of the 1960’s with what would become conceptual art. LeWitt was interested in cube and grid structures throughout his career. Here, the cubes emphasize flatness, causing the cubes to appear as if they are tilting forwards, yet simultaneously remaining rooted to the wall. This calls attention to the relationship between the viewer’s space, the drawing, and the architecture of the Pavilion.

In this installation video, it is fascinating to watch the process of layering colors on top of each other to create depth, producing bold colors and geometric lines that fill the Pavilion walls. I also enjoyed the video’s commentary from Catharina Manchanda, SAM’s Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, as she explains details of the installation and gives insight into the mind of LeWitt.

Don’t miss this installation on view now through March 8, 2015 at the Olympic Sculpture Park’s PACCAR Pavilion.

– Maddie Thomas, Seattle Art Museum’s Communication Intern

Seven cubes with color ink washes superimposed, 1997, Sol LeWitt, American, 1928-2007, India ink washes, 130 x 670 in., Seattle Art Museum, Gift Of The Artist; Installation donated By Preston, Gates, & Ellis, in honor of William H. Gates, 98.4. © Sol LeWitt. Photo: Nathaniel Willson

SAM Art: Flowers by an expert

Seattle Art Museum on Apr 2 2014

Victoria Dubourg was trained as a portrait painter and met her future husband, the celebrated portraitist and still-life painter Henri Fantin-Latour, while both were copying paintings at the Louvre. Like her husband—and many women artists before her—she specialized in flower still lifes. This exquisite study of crisp paperwhites against a plain brown ground shows both formal restraint and compositional precision.

In the new installation, France: Inside and Out, landscapes, domestic interiors, and decorative arts invite us to think about the different worlds of men and women in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This painting by Dubourg represents the beginning of broader opportunities for women that were to come.

Narcissus, late 19th-early 20th century, Victoria Dubourg Fantin-Latour (French, 1840–1926), oil on canvas, 11 x 12 3/8 in., Gift of the Seattle Garden Club, 59.123. Currently on view in France: Inside and Out, fourth floor, Seattle Art Museum.

SAM Art: Visions of Cathay

Seattle Art Museum on Mar 25 2014

As global trade increased in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Europeans became enthralled with visions of Cathay, as China was popularly known. Chinoiserie, the ornamentation featured on this tapestry, is an enchanting decorative motif depicting imaginary and whimsical interpretations of life in Asia. An eighteenth-century European concept, chinoiseries typically present exotic figures clothed in flowing robes and elaborate headdresses, and situated in fantastical landscape settings. Whether these figures represent people of China, India, the Middle East, or Japan is often difficult to determine; they are a mélange of peoples referring not to geographical and cultural boundaries so much as to a general concept of Asia.

Altar of the Three Buddhas (detail), commissioned in 1717, Judocus de Vos (Flemish, Brussels, 1661-1734), wool, silk, metallic threads, 105 1/2 x 85 1/16 in., Gift of Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheeff Endowment for the Decorative Arts, Anonymous, General Acquisition Fund, Mildred King Dunn, Richard and Betty Hedreen, Decorative Arts Acquisition Fund, Margaret Perthou-Taylor, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Art Acquisition Endowment Fund, Ann Bergman and Michael Rorick, Mr. and Mrs. David E. Maryatt, 2002.38.1. Now on view in the European art galleries, fourth floor, Seattle Art Museum.

Congratulations David Snead, 2014 Seattle Tourism Ambassador of the Year!

Seattle Art Museum on Mar 24 2014

September 1, 2010 was my first day as a fresh-faced, green member of the Seattle Art Museum family, and the first day I met David Snead, Lead Admissions Representative and the 2014 recipient of the Seattle Tourism Ambassador of the Year Award!

Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of meeting David knows, and can appreciate, his talented ability to make ANYBODY smile and his love for the city of Seattle. He has an impressive wealth of knowledge about the Pacific Northwest including, and not limited to, history, geography, food, wine, and secrets and hidden gems in the region. For a newbie like me, he was a diamond found. And he continues to shine.

His winning nomination was selected from dozens by a regional judging committee that represented a cross section of the tourism industry. Judges reviewed nominees on criteria ranging from visitor service and high professional standards to job knowledge, professional leadership and influence, representing the industry and serving as examples of achievement and success.

During his five-year tenure at SAM, David has set the standard for customer service, knowledge of permanent and travelling exhibitions, as well as city knowledge, and proactive outreach to hotels and concierge professionals to educate them about SAM and its offerings.

In short, David is AMAZING.

What makes him so great?

Let’s put it this way, if David were a public figure or celebrity he wouldn’t have to kiss any baby’s forehead to win a vote (as a matter of fact, babies would probably jump up and walk to catch a glimpse of him), he’d have crowds cheering outside his private jet (Beyoncé would have a visual album dedicated to David), and people would travel great distances to see him (no stadium needed to know the ground beneath you shook), but he’s much too modest and humble to be THAT guy. Instead, he focuses on the visitor, the tourist, the wanderer, the friend looking to venture, explore, in search of a good time.

In the end, David is just an all-around phenomenal example of a human being who is loved by everyone at the Seattle Art Museum and we applaud him.

Cheers to you, my friend!

– Carlos Garcia, Seattle Art Museum’s Communications Coordinator

SAM Art: Lecture tonight

Seattle Art Museum on Mar 19 2014

Bronze abides forever. That idea changed the course of Frederic Remington’s career, and shaped the work of Alexander Phimister Proctor.

Frederic Remington was in his day and remains now the most famous painter and illustrator of the western cowboy. His early adventures in the far west introduced him to the Mexican vaqueros, admiring their derring-do as they fought to tame wild horses, the bronchos, and had done for generations. The Broncho Buster was displayed for years in the window of Tiffany & Co. in New York, where Gilded Age admirers eagerly ordered casts of Remington’s masterly vaquero.

A westerner by birth, Alexander Phimister Proctor earned an international reputation as one of the most accomplished sculptors of his generation. Animals became a specialty: Heroic horse and rider monuments by Proctor can be found from Portland, OR to New York, NY.

Buckaroo and other works by Alexander Phimister Proctor are currently on view in the American art galleries at SAM. Also on view (as a Super Bowl loan from the Denver Art Museum) is The Broncho Buster by Frederic Remington. Learn about both works in today’s members art history lecture.

Members Art History Lecture Series:
Curator’s Choice with Patricia Junker
Buckaroos in Bronze
March 19, 2014
7–8:30 pm
Plestcheeff Auditorium, Seattle Art Museum

Buckaroo, modeled 1914, cast initially 1915, Alexander Phimister Proctor (American, 1862-1950), bronze, Phimister and Sally Church.
The Broncho Buster, modeled 1895, cast before May 1902, Frederic Remington (American, 1861-1909), bronze, Roman Bronze Works, cast number 12, Denver Art Museum; The Roath Collection, 2013.91.
Currently on view in the American art galleries, third floor, Seattle Art Museum.

SAM Art: Glass is back!

Seattle Art Museum on Mar 7 2014

Glass Art at SAM

The Northwest is known the world over for its association with the studio glass movement. With the Pilchuck Glass School and the studios of such luminaries as Preston Singletary, Ginny Ruffner, and Dale Chihuly, western Washington is a hotbed for glass art. See great examples of work by artists associated with Pilchuck in a new installation at the Seattle Art Museum, opening on March 8.

Cadmium Yellow Venetian #84, 1989, Dale Chihuly (American, born 1941), blown glass, 28 x 19 x 12 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection and gift of the Estate of Mark Tobey, by exchange, 90.28, © Dale Chihuly. On view in the modern and contemporary art galleries, third floor, Seattle Art Museum.

Celebrate Miró with SAM at Community Night Out!

Seattle Art Museum on Mar 4 2014

From live music, to dance lessons, and great art, Community Night Out at Seattle Art Museum has something for children, young adults and whatever classification of other adults there is for a non-young adult like me. I think childish-adult would be fitting, not that it’s a bad thing and I’ll tell you why.

I’m looking forward to nerding out at SAM with the night’s diverse performances and activities. There’s nothing like cutting loose and enjoying the simple things in life. Remember how great it was to be a kid? You didn’t have to know how to move your body to dance and you didn’t have to know great art to know your art was the best, mostly because mom or dad said so.

The cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time, aside from photos of babies, puppies and kittens, is the work a group of children at Early Masters has hanging in the Community Corridor inside SAM. Inspired by the works of Miró, which you can see for yourself in Miró: The Experience of Seeing. They’ve reminded me why being a kid was so great!

As a result, you’ll likely catch me and a couple of friends making a silly painting with Ryan Henry Ward and Xavier Lopez Jr., making a clay sculpture with Sandra Farmer for home décor, or rewriting history with Storme Webber.

The one thing I will be missing out on is the teen-only Art Lab kickoff, which features a tabletop moviemaking workshop and the exclusive screening of all films made. Young adults looking to find a space to vibe with friends, or make new friends, should look no further. To think, I could have been the next Scorsese!

After I stuff my masterpieces of art into my satchel, I’ll shuffle over to catch A Cedar Suede beat, who not only have a mean accordion and violin player, but they’re sound is so diverse and distinct that one moment you’ll hear an afro-Cuban beat you’re moving your feet to and the next second you’re pondering if you’re catching a hint of bluegrass in the same song. #musicnerdproblems

Speaking of happy feet, Flamenco Seattle is sure to show you a thing or two when it comes to tearing up the dance floor. In true flamenco fashion, their emotionally intense guitar playing, foot stamping, and hand clapping will take your breath away. I’ll likely consider bringing along an oxygen tank because they’ll also have flamenco dance lessons throughout the night.

If your jam is something more contemporary, DJ 100proof is sure to have the right mix to get you groovin’ and moving. I’ve seen this cat keep a room cool, calm, collected, but I’ve also seen him turn venues into a madhouse dance party. Why not grab a drink at Taste Bar and see what way your your friends sway?

On the complete opposite of madhouse, I’m looking forward to taking Nathan Vass’ My Favorite Things tour through SAM’s galleries. This was a pleasant surprise on the night’s bill. Not only because I know Nathan to be one of the nicest and most considerate people I have ever met, but because he is a talented photographer who has a passion for the arts and a love for the community he serves while working as a Metro Bus Driver. He’s also a huge film nerd.

If there’s one thing events like Community Night Out have taught me it’s that I can always forget my age and make room for the simple joys of life. Especially when it’s free! After all, it’s the little things in life that matter most, like candy for breakfast and cereal for dinner. 😉

– Carlos Garcia, Seattle Art Museum’s Communications Coordinator

“What Use Is Art, Anyhow?”

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 11 2014

This is the story of a young scholar named Sherman Emery Lee (1918-2008).

Lee was first drawn to art and art history during college, in depression-era Washington, DC, before pursuing graduate studies at the Western Reserve University (today, Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, OH. While completing his studies, he served as the assistant curator of Oriental Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. After receiving his PhD in 1941, he was hired by the Detroit Institute of Arts as Curator of Fine Eastern Art. Like many men of his generation, he joined the armed forces reserves in the 1940s, and he served in the United States Navy during World War II (1944-46)

Why are we now so interested in young Dr. Lee? Because, after he completed his Navy service, Sherman Lee became a Monuments Man. And, right now, we are more aware of Monuments Men than we ever were before.

In advance of Japan’s capitulation in August, 1945, Lee’s mentor from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Howard Hollis, wrote to a friend on the Roberts Commission (the American body responsible for recommending policy regarding art, monuments, and archives during WWII, leading to the establishment of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section), recommending his young colleague for a role as a Monuments Man in Asia, if the section were to expand into the Pacific theatre. Hollis himself soon joined as Chief that newly established division, the Arts and Monuments Division (A&M) of the Civil Information and Education Section (CIE), for the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan (SCAP).

By 1946, his Navy duty complete, Lee joined his mentor in the A&M office in Tokyo. Initially an Advisor on Collections, Lee’s work as a Monuments Man after leaving the Navy reflects the post-war identity of the A&M section, as a civilian force. Unlike the story told in the George Clooney movie, The Monuments Men (2014), Lee’s work unfolded over the course of several years, and never involved him stepping on a land mine. Believing that art was both useful and important to human identity, Lee and his fellow post-war Monuments Men were charged with protecting, cataloguing, recovering, and repairing art and monuments, including those of their former enemies.

Initial discussions had Lee traveling to China, a country of his expertise, but instead he was sent to Japan. There, his reports tell of power and lighting issues hindering the repair of a pagoda, “fire hazard” threatening historic murals, and a long list of tedious but necessary tasks integral to the protection and saving of Japan’s cultural heritage. The process was expected to last five to ten years. To accomplish his mission, Lee and his colleagues worked closely with both the Japanese imperial family and government officers to help identify National Treasures, and protect them in future; they helped the Japanese plan and establish a new national archive; they helped collectors and private businesses recover objects that disappeared during wartime (including historic swords that were looted by Allied troops); they helped the National Museum set new “best practices,” and brought loan exhibitions to Japan from museums in the United States and Europe, for the people of Japan to enjoy; and they even helped Japan establish a system of National Parks, similar to the one in the United States. By the time he left Japan in 1948, Sherman Lee was Acting Chief of the Arts and Monuments Division.

While he never published his experiences as a Monuments Man (as did some others, including James Rorimer, upon whom Matt Damon’s character is loosely based in the movie), Sherman Lee did write about his experiences as they happened—in the form of letters to his superiors as well as to his colleagues. George Stout (the basis for George Clooney’s own character in the movie), the art conservator who, after cessation of hostilities in Europe, shifted his Monuments work from Europe to Asia, was the first Chief of the A&M in Japan, before the arrival of Hollis. After his departure in 1946, he remained in touch with Lee; the two even corresponded into their later years, after Stout had retired as director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Lee was still serving as the director of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

So, what does a Monuments Man—a former curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts and future director of the Cleveland Museum of Art—have to do with SAM? I will let Dr. Richard E. Fuller, founding director of the Seattle Art Museum, tell you himself:

Seattle Art Museum Annual Report, 1948

In fact a native of Seattle (he was born here in 1918), Lee went to work for SAM even before his arrival, on the Fourth of July, 1948. Dr. Fuller sent Lee a Leica camera, to “make his trip to India as rewarding as possible” (Fuller, A Gift to the City, p. 26) before flying to Seattle to begin his work here. Lee’s experience and contacts initiated a new era of ambitious exhibitions and collecting for SAM. The National Museum of Japan, with whom Sherman Lee had worked so closely during his time as a Monuments Man, willingly lent National Treasures to the Seattle Art Museum’s Survey of the Art of Japan (9 November – 4 December 1949), and other National Treasures were exported and acquired by SAM during Lee’s time in Seattle. One of these Treasures was the renowned Poem Scroll with Deer (or, more popularly, the Deer Scroll), the largest extant portion of which is in SAM’s collection.

But Lee was known as “an outstanding scholar of art history both in the Oriental and Occidental fields” (Dr. Richard E. Fuller, SAM Annual Report, 1947), which he proved soon after his arrival in Seattle. Lee was instrumental in convincing the trustees of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to make a significant gift of painting and sculpture to SAM. The results of his negotiations were no less than the establishment of a European art collection in a museum that had formerly displayed framed facsimiles (high quality color photographs) of the Mona Lisa and other paintings in our galleries. He also made his own gifts of art to the collection, as well, unsurprisingly comprising both “Oriental and Occidental” objects.

Newspaper clipping from SAM archives, showing Sherman Lee with museum docents, 1950

Educational programming also increased and diversified during Sherman Lee’s time as Assistant —and later Associate— Director. He established a monthly Thursday evening lecture series for men (what not-appropriate-for-the-ladies topics might have been covered in these sessions, I wonder?), and trained the female corps of volunteer educators known as docents. In 1949 he gave a public lecture titled, “What Use Is Art, Anyhow?” His answer is not recorded in the SAM archives, but we know from his life and work that he found art greatly useful. He wrote the museum’s first handbook of the collection, published in 1951. He wrote scholarly articles on highlights of the museum’s Chinese, Japanese and South Asian collections, as well as on objects in Japanese public and private collections. He even participated in dialogues within his specialized field, writing a mixed review of a catalogue by a young scholar at the Los Angeles County Museum, Henry Trubner (who would later go on to a long career as SAM’s Curator of Asian Art and Chief Curator). Lee also had an influential presence in the local academic community, his position being a joint appointment between the museum and the University of Washington, where he taught Asian art history.

After four productive years in Seattle, Lee was lured away by the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he became Curator of Oriental Art (1952-58; he didn’t have to volunteer this time!), and ultimately Director (1958-83). Many years later, he returned to SAM when the downtown museum building first opened, in 1991. True to the lauded “Oriental and Occidental” perspective once celebrated by Dr. Fuller, this renowned scholar of Asian art declared the European Neoclassical art gallery his favorite in the new SAM.

SAM’s Monuments Man left a lasting impact on the museum—through his scholarship, connoisseurship and leadership, he proved the great usefulness of art in uplifting, educating and uniting communities, including Seattle.

Highlights of acquisitions made by Sherman Lee are currently featured in A Fuller View of China, Japan and Korea at the Asian Art Museum. Other works acquired by Lee are on view throughout the Seattle Art Museum and Asian Art Museum galleries.

-Sarah Berman, Curatorial Associate for Collections

Sources (all of which are accessible in the Seattle Art Museum’s Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Library):

Archival documents:

Roberts Commission – Protection of Historical Monuments collection, National Archives, via Fold3.com

Ardelia Hall collection, National Archives, via Fold3.com

George Leslie Stout papers, Archives of American Art, via aaa.si.edu

Sherman E. Lee papers, Archives of American Art, via aaa.si.edu

Unpublished minutes of the Board of Trustees meetings, Seattle Art Museum, 1947-1952, Seattle Art Museum archives

Fuller, Richard E. Seattle Art Museum Annual Report. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, Seattle Art Museum archives

Books and articles about Sherman Lee:

Clark, Bill. Celebrating the Lees. Self-published, 2004

Fuller, Richard E. A Gift to the City: A History of the Seattle Art Museum and the Fuller Family. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1993, pp. 26-30

Milliken, William M. “Appointment of Sherman E. Lee,” in The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 39, no. 8, Octover 1952, p. 217, via JSTOR.org

Stokrocki, Mary and Lee, Sherman. “The Making of a Curator: An Interview with Sherman Lee,” in Art Education, vol. 36, no. 3, May 1983, pp. 24-25, via JSTOR.org

Weber, Bruce. “Sherman Lee, Who Led Cleveland Museum, Dies at 90,” in The New York Times, July 11, 2008, p. C11

Books and articles by Sherman Lee:

Lee, Sherman E. Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: selected works from the permanent collections. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1951

Lee, Sherman E. “Review of The Art of Greater India, 3000 B.C. – 1800 A.D. by Henry Trubner,” in Artibus Asiae, vol. 13, no. 1/2, 1950, pp. 119-121, via JSTOR.org

Lee, Sherman E. “Japanese Monochrome Painting at Seattle,” in Artibus Asiae, vol. 14, no 1/2, 1951, pp. 43-61, via JSTOR.org

Lee, Sherman E. “A Kushan Yakshi Bracket,” in Artibus Asiae, vol. 12, no. 3, 1949, pp. 184-188, via JSTOR.org

Lee, Sherman E. “A Probably Sung Buffalo Painting,” in Artibus Asiae, vol. 12, no. 4, 1949, pp. 293-301, via JSTOR.org

Lee, Sherman E. “Sung Ceramics in the Light of Recent Japanese Research,” in Artibus Asiae, vol. 11, no. 3, 1948, pp. 165-175, via JSTOR.org

SAM Art: Enter the Horse

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 4 2014

Happy Lunar New Year, and best wishes for the Year of the Horse, from all of us at SAM!

Shadow puppet of a horse, 20th century, Chinese, donkey skin and paint, height 18 in., Gift of Wellwood E. Beall, 48.85.10. Not currently on view, but viewable online.

SAM Art: Rare and beautiful, and new to SAM

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 28 2014

Porcelain, such as this centerpiece, embodied the essence of taste for Europeans of the mid-eighteenth century. At that time, porcelain was costly and a European formula had only recently been attained through scientific and technological struggle. Using the recently devised formula, the white translucent ceramic could be molded or cast in wonderful, light, airy, sculptural forms—such as this basket-shaped bowl supported by a swirl of foliage and cavorting, fanciful putti.

Only two other examples of this form are known; both are in England. Previously unrecorded, this rarest, most beautiful piece of Bow porcelain was recently acquired by SAM. It will be installed in the Porcelain Room this spring.

Centerpiece, 1750, Bow Porcelain Manufactory, London, England, soft-paste porcelain, 7 × 9 ½ in., Kenneth and Priscilla Klepser Fund, 2013.15. On view in spring 2014, Seattle Art Museum, fourth floor, Porcelain Room.

SAM Art: More than a mere rabbit

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 24 2014

Masks have work to do, coming alive to interact with people in forceful ways. They can sing songs, ease pain, encourage laughter, and honor elders. A new installation in the African galleries brings together masks that align human desires with animal characters. Including several recent acquisition, these masks align human desires with animal characters. Birds, antelopes, bush cows, a hyena and a rabbit are ready to greet you on your next visit to the museum.

Rabbit mask, 20th century, Bwa/Bobo culture, Burkina Faso, wood, 18 in. height, Gift of Dr. Oliver E. and Pamela F. Cobb, 2012.29.11. Currently on view in the African art galleries, fourth floor, Seattle Art Museum.

Finding Miró: Fundació Joan Miró

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 17 2014

Join special projects intern Gabriela Ayala every Friday as she travels in Miró’s footsteps through Europe.

Barcelona, Spain

Fresh off the train from Madrid and I do not even have my hotel room yet. I sit in this Barcelona taxi with high anticipation. The car curves its way up the hill with trees gathered on all sides and flourished architecture appearing every now and then, as the trees allow. I learn that this mountain is called Montjuïc and was historically used as a military base. In 1992, it was where the Olympics were held. It also has a history of racecar driving until the city realized it was too dangerous, logically because these roads are wickedly narrow.

View from Montjuïc Park, Barcelona. Photographer: Gabriela Ayala

It is currently home to the Museum of National Art of Catalonia and a large theater for plays. For me, my focus and destination is the Fundació Joan Miró. At this point I had only researched photos of this building and studied its unique shape constructed by architect and friend of Miró, Josep Lluís Sert. The taxi driver announces we are close. Seeing the Foundation in person brightens the cloudy day I find myself in. I have been in contact with a conservator from the Foundation who granted my request to look through their archives, consisting of digital images only for conservation reasons. I admire thousands of drawings by Miró learning that when he had an idea, he drew it on anything. Receipts, envelopes, newspaper clippings, pocket calendars, you name it. I am able to see the link between these initial preparatory drawings and his paintings. Symbols constantly repeat themselves in his work and they all start out on these scraps of paper that are now historical treasures. When I finish, I refresh myself with some coffee and headed over to the Foundation’s permanent collection.

I enter the center atrium that leads me to another pair of glass doors. I turn into the exhibition and find myself immediately presented with a giant tapestry of color, texture, and movement. It may be the magnitude of it or maybe the gloomy day but I instantly become emotional. As I walk through the entire collection this sensation is heightened and in the end, creating sentences becomes difficult. All I have are single words:

Freedom
Feeling
Spirituality
Colorful
Astrological
Stars
Human Form
Sun
Moon
Symbols
Honesty
Thoughtful
Energetic
Explorative
Imaginative
Life
Shapes
Signature

Top image: Fundació Joan Miró, Montjuïc Park, Barcelona. Photographer: Gabriela Ayala

Finding Miró

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 10 2014

Join special projects intern Gabriela Ayala every Friday as she travels in Miró’s footsteps through Europe.

Madrid, Spain

I have officially started a focused three-week journey to a land of great coffee, beautiful colors, traditions, and unique elegance. I have been to Spain before but this is very different: I have come with a greater purpose. I take a couple days to adjust my internal clock to tick to a Spanish beat before making my way to one of the most famous museums in Madrid, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. The Reina Sofía has an incredible collection of 20th-century art. They house very famous pieces from Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Alexander Calder, and Joan Miró, just to name a few. It is Joan Miró who brings me to Spain to begin with. The Reina Sofía is partnering with the Seattle Art Museum to bring Miró’s late work to the United States for the first time. I am here to bring a firsthand account of my experiences while learning about Miró and living my life focused on him, seeing what I may be able to understand beyond his many art works.

The Reina Sofía is a combination of two very impressive structures. A contemporary building that has an extensive library, a space for exhibiting, and the offices of all the people who make this museum work every day. Across from this, connected by a sky bridge, is a former 18th-century hospital with major modern renovations. This is where their entire collection can be found. One of the many historical and stirring art works you can see here is Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, a very famous mural that I have the intention of exploring in further detail later on in my trip. The space leading up to Guernica sets the scene for where this piece is shown and what other artists are showing there. And so naturally I run into a large collection of Joan Miró’s art. As my eyes follow the bold black lines and simple compositions of his pieces, I start to think about how interesting it is that my study of Miró starts here. Madrid is my home base because the Reina Sofía is here, but in truth Miró did not spend a lot of time here. What Madrid is really showing me is that Miró expanded his presence in life and after, to all parts of Spain and the world. And so I begin with evidence of Miró’s everlasting impact, but these short three weeks have a lot of plans packed in, plans that hopefully bring me closer to feeling a bit more familiar with who Miró was. To do this, I must go to where he spent more of his time and places that meant a lot to him. I bring myself back to the present moment: at this point I have found a stone bench to sit and digest everything my eyes and mind have just received. I leave the Reina Sofía with a charged sensation of excited interest in what is to come next, on the destination list I have: Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, and none other than Paris, France.

Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, and Paris. Photo by Gabriela Ayala

There is one thing that connects these three locations for me: Joan Miró, the subject of my exploration. I have taken the task upon myself to follow Miró’s remarkable footsteps. I will pass where he passed and see what is left behind from his talent and involvement within the art world. I will see what and who inspired him, like Pablo Picasso. I will visit the Joan Miró Foundation he created in Barcelona. This foundation is a space that is dedicated to him and to the avant-garde and future artists to come. In Palma de Mallorca, Miró’s home base starting in the late 1950’s, The Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation sits next to Miró’s old studio and is completely focused on his life and artwork. Miró traveled between Paris and Spain for many years. He first visited in the 1920’s where he met Pablo Picasso and was surrounded by Surrealist artists and poets. Important to note is that Joan Miró never wanted to be tied down to any description of his art and concepts. He was a part of this circle but he was still very much a man who “did his own thing”. He says it best:

Just as Picasso has been labeled a Cubist, I’ve been labeled a Surrealist. But what I want to do above and beyond anything else, is maintain my total, absolute, rigorous independence. I consider Surrealism an extremely interesting intellectual phenomenon, a positive thing, but I don’t want to subject myself to it’s severe discipline.

In Paris, I will visit a mural at UNESCO and explore the streets in which Miró ventured. For example, his old studio that was next to poet André Masson’s at 45 rue Blomet. I am determined to see what he saw and be inspired by what inspired him.

The other facet to this study is that I am an artist. My passions, likes, and wants, are somewhat closer in relation to that of Miró’s. Although we live in different time periods, with different wars, different expectations, advances, and social norms, his art is immune to all those changes. That immunity is what makes Miró, and art in general, such a beautiful and important thing.

About Me

I am an artist, a writer, and a student of life. I started research on Joan Miró in late July and found that I relate to him and deeply agree with his way of thinking. I like what he has to say and how he chooses to express himself. His concepts of life, the way he humbly and harshly viewed his own work, and his intense passion. Miró believed in freedom. This was basically instilled into him because of when he was born and the many wars he lived through. He believed in freedom in many senses, freedom for people but also for ideas. That is why I respect him so much. He was not afraid. He took large risks for his time period and was consistently reinventing himself while also revisiting his past. He was a pioneer for new ideas and ways of working. This is what being an artist means to me, and that is the type of artist I aspire to be. If it is by means of paint, paper, writings, charcoal, wood, or clay, this is what I want for myself and conclusively, why I am humbly retracing the steps of Joan Miró.

Top image: Gabriela Ayala, Miró and Me, drawing, 2013

SAM Art: The DNA of Japanese Design

Seattle Art Museum on Dec 17 2013

Plants and animals of exceeding beauty and technical intricacy appear throughout Japanese design. The natural world is deeply rooted in the DNA of Japanese design, and is transmitted down through generations. Over the past few centuries, artists have begun reimagining traditional subjects in modern forms.

Nature and Pattern in Japanese Design, a new installation of Japanese art, celebrates the motifs of the natural world in folding screens, fan paintings, hanging scrolls, ceramics and lacquerware from SAM’s collection. On view at the Seattle Art Museum starting December 21.

Asagao no tane (Vine with Morningglory Seed Pods), 19th century, Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807 – 1891), lacquer and color on paper, 6 13/16 x 19 3/8 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 61.80.1. On view in Nature and Pattern in Japanese Design, Asian art galleries (new!), third floor, SAM Downtown, opening Saturday, 21 December.