Object of the Week: Street

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 21 2021

Kenjiro Nomura 1933 painting, "Street," immortalizes the busy intersection of Fourth Avenue and Yesler Way in Seattle where Nomura launched Noto Sign Co., a signage manufacturer and popular gathering place for artists. Read more about this SAM Object of the Week now on SAM Blog.

Object of the Week: Leaves

Pam McClusky on Oct 14 2021

White flecks on a black background, over and over, could be an invitation to savor minimalism, or is it also something else? Learn about Gloria Petyarre's "Leaves," our SAM Object of the Week, now on SAM Blog.

Object of the Week: Blanket Stories

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 8 2021

Indigenous artist Marie Watt's artwork illustrates the intricacies of history, community, and storytelling. Read more about "Blanket Stories: Three Sisters, Four Pelts, Sky Woman, Cousin Rose, and All My Relations," SAM's Object of the Week, on SAM Blog!

Object of the Week: Soundsuit

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 1 2021

October 11 is National Coming Out Day! To celebrate, SAM is featuring a work by queer artist Nick Cave as our Object of the Week! Learn about how Cave's Soundsuits exemplify artifice, performance, and reinvention—three elements inherent to realizing one's sexuality and coming out.

Object of the Week: Form 19-3

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 24 2021

Japanese artist Fujino Sachiko manipulates clay as if folding and shaping fabric to create abstract and geometric sculptures. Learn more about "Form 19-3," our SAM Object of the Week, on SAM Blog then see this work in "Folding Into Shape: Japanese Design and Crafts" in-person at SAM.

Object of the Week: Untitled

Elisabeth Smith on Sep 17 2021

"Untitled," a muted palette of dark, purplish browns—verging on black—emphasize Mark Rothko's signature style: a large-scale canvas comprised of bands of color that vibrate with quiet depth and intensity. Read up on this Object of the Week on SAM Blog!

Object of the Week: No. 19

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 10 2021

Fang Lijun’s paintings and woodblock prints often feature groups of lookalikes. They tend to communicate a singular emotion by simultaneously donning blank stares, maniacal grins, or awestruck expressions. Learn more about this Object of the Week on SAM Blog.

Object of the Week: Sequential Views

Elisabeth Smith on Aug 27 2021

Unsatisfied with the information derived from a single image, Robbert Flick took multiple images to show a complete understanding of the landscape around him. Read up on the object of the week, "Sequential Views," on SAM Blog.

Object of the Week: The Survival Series

Elisabeth Smith on Aug 13 2021

For decades, language and its public dissemination has been at the center of Jenny Holzer’s practice. A previous Object of the Week post by Rachel Hsu chronicles the artist’s Inflammatory Essays, multi-colored posters anonymously wheat pasted throughout New York City …

Object of the Week: Torso Fruit

Elisabeth Smith on Aug 6 2021

Among some of the newly installed works in Seattle Art Museum’s third floor galleries is this 1960 plaster sculpture by French artist Jean Arp (1886-1966), titled Torso Fruit. As a sculptor, painter, and poet, Arp’s life and career defy easy …

Object of the Week: Pool with Splash

Elisabeth Smith on Jul 30 2021

Having grown up in Los Angeles, there is something uniquely comforting about the scene of a sun-drenched swimming pool. David Hockney, of course, is one artist whose pools come immediately mind: his bright, seductive paintings of the 1960s and 70s …

Object of the Week: Salt cellar

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 23 2021

In the 15th-16th century, this ivory salt cellar would have belonged to a wealthy European collector, adding precious salt to their meals or variety to their cabinet of curiosities. The crocodile motif, masterfully carved by Sapi artisans in Sierra Leone, …

Object of the Week: Canoe Breaker

Chelsea Werner-Jatzke on Jul 16 2021

I draw on the lessons of our ancestors. Our ancestors left an incredible legacy of art and, in order to honor them, it’s our responsibility to relearn that legacy, whether it’s through the art, whether it’s through the song, or …

Object of the Week: Dead or Alive

Pam McClusky on Jul 9 2021

Nancy Worden made art that ignited conversations with narratives to be worn, inviting curiosity so as to bypass shyness. A necklace in the museum’s collection illustrates her gifts, and emerged after she visited the Seattle Art Museum in 1993. There …

Object of the Week: Raven Releasing the Sun

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 2 2021

The Warmth of the SunRecently, we have really been feeling the heat of the sun! This wonderful and mysterious celestial body is a life-giving force and, without its presence, we would be in darkness with our companion species and without …

Object of the Week: Diamond Dust Shoes

Elisabeth Smith on Jun 25 2021

“I’m doing shoes because I’m going back to my roots. In fact, I think I should do nothing but shoes from now on.”[1] – Andy Warhol, July 24, 1980 When invoked, Andy Warhol brings to mind a near-infinite number of iconic …

Object of the Week: Blocks

Elisabeth Smith on Jun 18 2021

Quilt-making, as a genre, is as vast and varied as America itself, and the stories and histories embedded in each unique quilt, pieced together and often stitched by many hands, are part of what makes the craft a quintessential form …

Object of the Week: Untitled

Elisabeth Smith on Jun 11 2021

“One of the most modernist gestures of the last century was the effort of liberation. Creative work is not just about representation, or creating a cultural mirror. . . . Creation, whether in writing, music and visual making, has also …

Object of the Week: Gray Jar

Chelsea Werner-Jatzke on Jun 4 2021

With a simple and rustic appearance, this gray jar embodies an unassuming aesthetic that proliferated throughout Korea’s Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Utilized for a wide range of objects including tea cups, utensils, and kimchi jars, this style of pottery became emblematic …

Object of the Week: Flower Ball

Seattle Art Museum on May 21 2021

During his time in New York in 1994, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami developed a style of art he describes as “East-meets-West” or “high-meets-low.”[1] Featuring bright colors and a vivid style that is ingenious in its simplicity, Murakami quickly became a …

Object of the Week: Hanging Scroll

Seattle Art Museum on May 14 2021

Intrigue, deception, mistaken identity, and overlapping love triangles carry Chapter 51 of the Tale of Genji to the heights of drama. Caught in between a love for two suitors who could not be more different, except in their indefatigable adoration …

Object of the Week: Lined Robe

Seattle Art Museum on May 7 2021

This show-stopping bingata robe comes from Okinawa, the southernmost islands of Japan. With brilliant colors and a rhythmic pattern of cherry blossoms, swallows, irises, and flowing water, it is descended from an important textile tradition. See if you can spot …

Object of the Week: Sarong (kain kapala)

Seattle Art Museum on Apr 23 2021

When I first saw this Javanese sarong on display, its indigo dye was its commonality with other works on view in the 2016 Seattle Asian Art Museum exhibition, Mood Indigo: Textiles from Around the World. The label for this particular …

Object of the Week: Figurative Weight (abrammuo)

Elisabeth Smith on Apr 16 2021

Expanded vaccine eligibility—and this amazing spring weather—is making the prospect of gathering with friends and family a palpable reality. As I imagine and anticipate what these reunions will look and feel like, an Asante work currently on view in the …

Object of the Week: Loser + Clark

Elisabeth Smith on Apr 9 2021

“I’m making landscapes that I can live in through an ongoing definition of contemporary life and art. Not about America, but from America.” – Brad Kahlhamer It is a painting that, for many SAM staff, is one of the first …

Object of the Week: Sky Landscape I

Elisabeth Smith on Apr 2 2021

Louise Nevelson was a pioneering American artist, perhaps best known for her large-scale monochromatic wooden wall sculptures. Born Leah Berliawsky in Kiev, Russia (now Ukraine), Nevelson emigrated with her family to the United States in the early 20th century. After …
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