Artifacts Spring 2021 by Dallas Museum of Art

ON VIEW

MEMBER VOICES

8 EDITH O’DONNELL

DONOR HONOR ROLL

FRIDA KAHLO CONSERVATION

CELEBRATING DETERMINATION

Cubism in Color: The Still Lifes of Juan Gris is co-organized by the Dallas Museum of Art and The Baltimore Museum of Art and is presented by Texas Instruments. Additional support is provided by Acción Cultural Española and the Robert Lehman Foundation. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

JUAN GRIS

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he changes we’ve faced together this past year are immeasurable, and I want to thank you, our members, for being with us every step of the way. While we shifted to virtual offerings, postponed countless programs, and rearranged an ever-changing exhibition schedule, you offered your enduring support, and I am truly grateful. Any new exhibition season at the DMA brings with it a sense of excitement, but after this past year, I have a particularly reinvigorated outlook on our upcoming offerings. Perhaps this fresh perspective is fitting—Cubism in Color: The Still Lifes of Juan Gris provides new insights and an opportunity to reconsider the legacy of this important yet underappreciated modernist painter/artist. As the first exhibition in over 35 years dedicated to the Spanish artist Juan Gris, this extraordinary exploration of more than 40 paintings and collages highlights the artist’s pioneering and revolutionary contributions to the Cubist movement, and we are thrilled to share it with you. In this same spirit of innovation, we are coming up with new and exciting ways for visitors of all ages to experience the exhibition. Handson take-home art kits, virtual talks, and new scholarship in the form of a fully illustrated catalogue co-published by the DMA and the Baltimore Museum of Art provide perfect opportunities to take a deeper dive into Gris’s transformation over the course of his brief but prolific career. I hope you will visit us soon and experience all the DMA has to offer. Artistic expression, in all its forms, has the power to provide solace, inspiration, and hope for the future, and I’m certain this exhibition will be well worth the wait. We look forward to seeing you at the DMA soon.

ON THE COVER: Juan Gris, Chessboard, Glass, and Dish, 1917, oil on wood panel, Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950-134-98

Agustín Arteaga The Eugene McDermott Director

CATCH THESE EXCITING EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW AT THE MUSEUM THIS SEASON. FIND VIRTUAL TOURS, DIGITAL EXPERIENCES, ART ACTIVITIES, AND MORE FOR THESE AND OTHER EXHIBITIONS AT VIRTUAL.DMA.ORG.

DALÍ’S DIVINE COMEDY TO MAY 16, 2021 FREE

Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí’s reputation as an illustrator is a story that often goes untold. This exhibition showcases selections from Dalí’s most ambitious illustrated series: his colored wood engravings of the Divine Comedy, an epic poem by the medieval Florentine writer Dante Alighieri.

CUBISM IN COLOR: THE STILL LIFES OF JUAN GRIS MARCH 18 TO JULY 25, 2021 FREE FOR MEMBERS

The first US exhibition in over 35 years dedicated to the Spanish artist Juan Gris highlights his revolutionary contributions to the Cubist movement by focusing on his fascination with subjects drawn from everyday life. Through nearly 40 paintings and collages that span all major periods of the artist’s evolving practice, the exhibition reveals the transformation of Gris’s innovative style and exquisite compositions.

CONCENTRATIONS 63: JULIAN CHARRIÈRE, TOWARDS NO EARTHLY POLE

MOTH TO CLOTH: SILK IN AFRICA

Berlin-based French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière creates work that bridges the realms of environmental science and cultural history. This focused exhibition provides immersive encounters with the artist’s melancholic and beautiful portraits of nature in the human era, culminating with his most recent video project, Towards No Earthly Pole.

Associated with wealth and status, silk is used throughout the world to make cloth. Indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa, this rare natural fiber was traded between African peoples across the continent and was also imported from Europe, India, China, and the Middle East. This installation of cloths drawn from the DMA’s collection explores the production of silk and silk textiles in Ghana, Nigeria, and Madagascar.

MAY 2 TO AUGUST 8, 2021 FREE

TO OCTOBER 24, 2021 FREE

FOR A DREAMER OF HOUSES TO JULY 4, 2021 FREE FOR MEMBERS

FRIDA KAHLO: FIVE WORKS TO JUNE 20, 2021 FREE

Through five works, this focused installation explores key aspects of acclaimed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s practice, including her unique visual language, exploration of still-life painting, and reflection on the events of her adventurous life.

For a Dreamer of Houses brings together more than 50 works from the DMA’s collection, ranging from immersive installations to intimate photographs, all related to the idea of home. Inspired by philosopher Gaston Bachelard’s influential 1958 book The Poetics of Space, the exhibition highlights major recent acquisitions, including works by Alex Da Corte, Olivia Erlanger, EJ Hill, Francisco Moreno, Pipilotti Rist, and Do Ho Suh.

CURBED VANITY: A CONTEMPORARY FOIL BY CHRIS SCHANCK

TO AUGUST 29, 2021 FREE

For his first solo museum exhibition and first museum commission, designer Chris Schanck created a new work inspired by the 19th-century Gorham Manufacturing Company dressing set, an icon of the DMA’s collection. Curbed Vanity pairs the historical object with Schanck’s contemporary interpretation in a conversation across time about craftsmanship and material. Now based in Detroit, Schanck was raised in Dallas and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

MY|GRATION

TO OCTOBER 31, 2021 FREE

Inspired by Dallas’s diversity and organized with input from community partners, this installation traces the migration of people, objects, and ideas in art across times and cultures. Composed of works from the DMA’s collection, My│gration highlights the contributions of artists who immigrated to the United States, examines how the movement of people is expressed through art, and illuminates ways cross-cultural connections inform artistic production.

DEVOTED: ART AND SPIRITUALITY IN MEXICO AND NEW MEXICO TO JANUARY 2, 2022 FREE

Featuring over 35 paintings and sculptures from the DMA’s collection, Devoted explores two significant traditions of devotional art from Mexico and New Mexico: bultos, wooden sculptures of saints and other holy figures, and ex-votos, paintings that commemorate personal miracles. Created between the early 19th and mid-20th centuries, the featured works are historical examples of traditions dating back hundreds of years that continue to be practiced today.

GIVING COUNCILS

DMA CIRCLE MEMBERS

THE MUSEUM WITH AN ANNUAL GIFT GREATER

THAN $50,000.

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YOUR GIFTS TO THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART ENABLE THE MUSEUM TO BE A SPACE OF WONDER AND DISCOVERY WHERE ART COMES ALIVE. WE ARE DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND WANT TO THANK ALL OUR MEMBERS AND DONORS, ESPECIALLY THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS OF THE DMA COUNCIL AND DMA CIRCLE.

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SOGAND SHOJA GARRY WEBER SHARON AND MICHAEL YOUNG LISTING AS OF FEBRUARY 1, 2021

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COLLECTOR ANONYMOUS

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OR MORE.

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SUPPORT FROM DMA MEMBERS IS VITAL TO THE WORK WE DO ACROSS THE MUSEUM AND IN OUR COMMUNITIES. This sentiment has proven even more true in these times. Here, we ask a few members to reflect on why they support the DMA and what they most look forward to seeing.

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MEMBERSHIP TYPE: CONTEMPORARY ART INITIATIVE, DECORATIVE ARTS & DESIGN INITIATIVE, AND FAMILY FORUM MEMBER SINCE: 2006

WHAT DOES THE DMA MEAN TO YOU? Art is not created in a vacuum. It is a product of so many elements, including culture, political climate, current events, and the personal experiences of the artist in relation to it all. Being able to view a work of art in a museum alongside works by other artists is an experience like no other. It allows us to see the world through different eyes. I think visiting a museum with friends and discussing the works can help us understand historical events as well as develop empathy for others. I appreciate the time and energy that the curatorial staff invests in creating thought-provoking and moving exhibitions like the recent To Be Determined. I am so thankful to live in Dallas, where we all have access to such a phenomenal treasure. WHICH EXHIBITION ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? I am really looking forward to the upcoming Expressive Abstractions exhibition. I had always been drawn to the works of American Abstract Expressionist painters and was introduced to the Japanese Gutai movement when perusing the 2015 TWO x TWO Auction Catalogue, where I fell in love with a work by artist Aine Kinash. I am looking forward to exploring works from the Korean Dansaekwa and the Brazilian Neo-Concretism movements, with which I am less familiar but am sure will equally blow me away. WHY DO YOU SUPPORT THE DMA? It is important to me that everyone in our community has the ability to access and experience art. The Dallas Museum of Art provides free admission to all, and I think it is important to join as a member of the Museum to support this program and the DMA’s many educational outreach programs, including the collaboration with the Dallas Public Libraries to provide conversations about art and art-making activities for children, as well as efforts like the Stewpot Art Program, which provides class time and art supplies for individuals experiencing housing insecurity. I am also personally enriched through my memberships in the Contemporary Art Initiative, the Decorative Arts and Design Initiative, and the Family Forum. The programming is always fantastic, and I have made some wonderful friendships through our mutual interest in the specific areas that these groups support.

“I AM SO THANKFUL TO LIVE IN DALLAS, WHERE WE ALL HAVE ACCESS TO SUCH A PHENOMENAL TREASURE.”

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MEMBERSHIP TYPE: ADVOCATE AND GLFD MEMBER SINCE: 1979

MEMBERSHIP TYPE: DMA CIRCLE ASSOCIATE MEMBER SINCE: 2005 WHAT DOES THE DMA MEAN TO YOU? The DMA is an incredibly important part of my history here in Dallas. Ever since I arrived in Dallas 20 years ago, I have been visiting the DMA and not long after became a member. I have so many fond memories of visiting the DMA with my family and friends. One particular memory that stands out is when I took my children to meet one of their favorite children’s book authors—to this day we still talk about how fun it was and how it fostered their love of reading and encouraged them to be more creative. To me that is one of the most incredible aspects of the DMA: the ability to create such inspiring and touching moments for so many people. WHAT MUSEUM EXHIBITION DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING? I look forward to one day seeing Cruz Diez, Soto, and other Venezuelan geometric artists in an exhibition. WHY DO YOU SUPPORT THE DMA? Art is a balm for the soul. When individuals in a society have art in their daily lives, I truly think they become more gentle and inspired people. Having beauty in our lives is transformational.

“ART IS A BALM FOR THE SOUL.”

WHAT DOES THE DMA MEAN TO YOU? The DMA allows me to experience a broad sample of what people from around the world found important enough to illustrate. Seeing what they illustrated and how they chose to do it provides a tantalizing incentive to explore the entire universe of civilizations, both present and past. The DMA is a resource for me to do just that. WHICH EXHIBITION ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? Hands down, I am looking forward to seeing the Mylgration exhibition. What exhibition better exemplifies what the DMA means to me? WHY DO YOU SUPPORT THE DMA? For me, the DMA is a window to the world for all residents of Dallas and for all who visit us. It represents lives, both past and present. It is a repository of ideas, both deadly serious and pure flights of fancy. For Dallasites, it is an invitation to explore. It is a key to what is, what was, and what we think can be.

“IT IS A KEY TO WHAT IS, WHAT WAS, AND WHAT WE THINK CAN BE.”

fig. 1

fig. 2

FRIDA CONSERVING

Dr. Mark A. Castro, The Jorge Baldor Curator of Latin American Art Laura Eva Hartman, Paintings Conservator

SUN AND LIFE

THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXHIBIT A COLLECTION OF EXCEPTIONAL FRIDA KAHLO WORKS.

Frida Kahlo: Five Works is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

fig. 3

n advance of their display, we received permission from the owners to study three of the paintings—Still Life with Parrot and Flag (1951), Sun and Life (1947) (fig. 1), and Diego and Frida 1929–1944 (1944)— in the DMA’s paintings conservation studio. Conservators and curators often collaborate on this type of research, bringing together their distinct knowledge, training, and perspectives to better understand a work of art. Although some artists’ works have been extensively studied in this fashion, Kahlo has received surprisingly less attention, making this an especially unique opportunity. Using infrared photography, X-radiography, and microscopic examination, we brought to light novel information regarding each work. X-radiography allows us to visualize compositional changes made in paint. This type of imaging provided a fascinating new perspective into Frida Kahlo’s working practice, particularly for the painting Sun and Life (fig. 2). In this work, Kahlo depicts a vibrant red sun surrounded by a dense array of rich green vegetation. As if drawing energy

directly from the star in their midst, the leaves of the plants sprout roots that reach for the soil below, while the large pods that dominate the upper half of the painting ripen and split open. The pods reveal dark interiors, some of them full of glistening phallic appendages. Directly behind the sun, a small embryo appears inside one of the pods, tears dropping from its unformed eyes. Often interpreted as a rumination on the cycle of life and mortality, Sun and Life is a pivotal work from the end of Kahlo’s career. The X-ray taken of Sun and Life revealed an exciting evolution in the painting’s creation. Kahlo’s basic composition was generally established from the underdrawing to the early painting phase of its creation, but the details evolved significantly in later phases of painting. The pods surrounding the sun, for example, initially had smaller openings, but these were widened during the painting process. Another interesting discovery was that the embryo-like element in the pod directly behind the sun was added as Kahlo finalized the painting; the X-ray shows that this pod was originally closed. The blue lines overlaid onto the painting in this image (fig. 3) represent a tracing made from the X-ray and indicate where

compositional changes took place during the painting process. These findings offer us important insight into how Kahlo conceived of her works at this point in her career. While she utilized drawing to map out the general structure of the composition, she clearly did not allow this to dictate its final appearance or content. As she worked, she made adjustments and additions, revealing that her own conception of the work evolved with each new layer of paint. It’s worth noting that although the X-ray offers us a glimpse into Kahlo’s working practice, none of the changes are visible to the naked eye. Sun and Life’s long, sinuous brushstrokes demonstrate Kahlo’s mastery of her medium and betray none of the process behind it. The painting’s final appearance is cohesive and seamless, an example of Kahlo’s ability to combine vibrant color with captivating compositions. Examining these works together was a great privilege, and we have enjoyed discussing them with our colleagues at the DMA, including Dr. Agustín Arteaga, The Eugene McDermott Director. We hope that you’ll visit Sun and Life and the other works in Frida Kahlo: Five Works, on view through June 20, 2021. SPRING 2021 ARTIFACTS |

GUITAR AND FRUIT DISH, 1926–27, oil on canvas, Telefónica Collection, Madrid. Photo © Fernando Maquieira; courtesy Fundación Telefónica

STILL LIFE BEFORE AN OPEN WINDOW, PLACE RAVIGNAN, 1915, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950-134-95

UAN GRIS: BEGUILING VIRTUOSO

This month, when the world premiere of Cubism in Color: The Still Lifes of Juan Gris opens at the DMA, an illustrated catalogue that reconsiders the artistic practice and legacy of this important yet underappreciated titan of modernism will be simultaneously published. Here are exclusive pre-publication excerpts from two of the book’s contributing authors: the exhibition’s curator Dr. Nicole R. Myers, The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Senior Curator of European Art, and Dr. Anna Katherine Brodbeck, Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art.

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ICOLE R. MYERS ON GRIS'S STUDIO PRACTICE

Upon reviewing Juan Gris’s first solo exhibition in 1919, [French author] Raymond Radiguet observed, “Juan Gris paints like all painters, that is to say on canvas or cardboard or wood. Did I say he is no different from the others? There is always a certain professional secret, many people would like to know it.”1 With this simple yet insightful commentary, Radiguet put his finger on an essential aspect of Gris’s work that has received scant attention in the modest body of scholarship dedicated to this foundational member of Cubism—namely, the concept of Gris as a skilled draftsman and brilliant painter, as a beguiling virtuoso who concealed his methods even as he revealed them across the surfaces of his paintings. . . . So seamless are Gris’s images, so finished and complete in their appearance, that they beg us to focus on the artist’s aesthetic—which shifted dramatically over the span of his short career—rather than on how the works were made. Gris himself urged this chronological consideration of progress in his work, signing and dating the majority of his paintings from early 1913 until at least 1922 with both the month and year of their production. This unusual practice, unique among his peers, gives us an unprecedented view of Gris’s artistic development. . . . The nervous, searching hope that his paintings showed steady progress is a constant refrain in Gris’s letters, as are his frequent expressions of doubt and crises in confidence. . . . Underscoring this general sense of anxiety was Gris’s conviction that his technical abilities lagged behind his conceptual ideas, a belief undoubtedly fostered by his brief period of formal training and rapid entry into the Parisian art scene. . . . Gris’s persistent doubts and self-deprecating comments give the impression that while the conceptual underpinnings of his work were solid, based as they were on clear and logical organizational systems, he was not a gifted painter. This view of Gris as the rigorous and austere doctrinaire of Cubism, in contrast to Pablo Picasso’s irrational passion, Georges Braque’s painterly refinement, and Fernand Léger’s energetic modernism, set up a false dichotomy between Gris the Great Artist and Gris the Mediocre Painter. . . . One has only to look closely at his paintings, however, to see that this notion of Gris as an artist, not a painter, is a gross underestimation of his considerable talent. He was a master manipulator of materials who could achieve a stunning array of wide-ranging effects that oscillate between the subtlest of formal harmonies to the most jarring and dazzling. Lauded for their legible and rational compositions, his “perfect” still lifes belie the considerable amount of labor that went into their creation, not only intellectual but also manual. . . . In every phase of his career, Gris deliberately underscored the presence of his hand in the making of his works, producing astonishingly tactile paintings whose subtlety is often lost in reproduction. . . . . . . [I]t was only through his incredible virtuosity, his mastery of materials and process, that he achieved the ultimate balance between poetry and prose, color and line, theory and practice—that Gris the Painter became Gris the Artist. Notes 1. Raymond Radiguet, “Allusions,” Sic 42–43 (March 30–April 15, 1919): 330, [340]. Cited in Christian Derouet, ed. Juan Gris, Correspondances avec Léonce Rosenberg, 1915–1927, Les Cahiers du Musée national d’art moderne (Paris: ADAGP, 1999), 98. Author’s translation.

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LAMP (detail), 1916, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950-134-96

GRAPES (detail), 1913, oil on canvas, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Bequest of Anna Erickson Levene in memory of her husband, Dr. Phoebus Aaron Theodor Levene, 1947. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art / Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY

NNA KATHERINE BRODBECK ON GRIS AND THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF GEOMETRY

Joaquín Torres-García was arguably the greatest proponent of abstract art in the Americas. After a long and diverse career in Europe from 1891 through 1934 (interrupted by a stint in New York from 1920 to 1922), he moved back to his native Uruguay to establish the School of the South, which would go on to influence some of the most important artists to emerge from Latin America. . . . Gris’s influence resonates in the work of artists who followed in the Uruguayan master’s footprints, notably the groundbreaking Argentine concretists and the Brazilian Neoconcretists. Through Torres-García’s influential pedagogy, Gris’s forms would find new life in important aesthetic developments in South America. . . . . . . Torres-García had flirted with several styles before coming to his signature brand of post-Cubist abstraction, which he developed as he was exposed to, and collaborated with, some of the most important artists of the day. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, soon after Gris’s death, he would partake in the development of international Constructivism with the diverse group of artists living in Paris. . . .

However, Torres-García diverged with . . . artists on the role of figuration, which he believed could co-exist with the ideals of abstraction. In this way, he follows closely Gris’s love of the depicted object, which, distinguishing itself from Picasso’s approach, was not utilized as a mere premise for abstraction. Gris thus pointed the way toward a revolutionary reconfiguring of the depiction of reality within abstraction as developed by [South American] artists. . . . . . . Torres-García lauded Gris’s creation of a new world made of geometric abstract forms, never losing his love of the object in his quest for mathematically precise geometry. [In Brazil, contemporary artists Lygia Clark, Hélio Oiticica, and Lygia Pape] exemplify this complex duality, highlighting how TorresGarcía’s unique translation of Gris spoke to the organic and environmentally contingent innovations for which their work is known. . . . . . . Tracing [Gris’s] legacy through the works of his successors in Brazil and Argentina offers a salient reminder that these South American artists have only recently come into mainstream critical acclaim for their own contributions to our new understanding of the transformative power of geometry.

IN NOVEMBER, THE MUSEUM MOURNED THE PASSING OF EDITH O’DONNELL, A VISIONARY PHILANTHROPIST AND PASSIONATE SUPPORTER OF THE ARTS AND EDUCATION. HER GENEROUS SPIRIT AND DEDICATION TO THE DMA HAD AN IMMEASURABLE IMPACT ON THE MUSEUM’S TRAJECTORY, THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE IN DALLAS, AND GENERATIONS OF TEXANS SEEKING ACCESS TO THE ARTS.

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Edith O’Donnell DMA Trustee Photo, early 1980s

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n 1952, four years before Mrs. O’Donnell and her husband, Peter, founded the O’Donnell Foundation, she began her deep engagement with the Museum as a volunteer. Over the next seven decades, she served as a docent, participated in a number of Museum committees (chairing the Education Committee in 1992), provided valuable guidance as a trustee, and generously funded countless major institutional initiatives and milestones. Mrs. O’Donnell’s foresight and unwavering commitment to making art accessible for all ages and abilities transformed the DMA. In 2013 Edith and Peter personally and through the O’Donnell Foundation made a multiyear gift of $9 million to reestablish a free general admission policy and to support the digitization of the Museum’s entire global collection. This gift positioned the DMA as a leader at the intersection of the arts, education, and technology and further cemented the Museum’s commitment to better serving the Dallas community. Her warm and spirited philanthropy touched the lives of more than 20,000 students through the O’Donnell Foundation’s AP Fine Arts Incentive Program, which she created to support high school students’ interest and success in collegelevel arts courses. The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at The University of Texas at Dallas, established through a $17 million gift, continues to partner with the DMA to present programs, mentor students, and co-curate an exhibition case in the research center at the Museum. Countless students, scholars, faculty, and visitors of all ages have benefitted from Mrs. O’Donnell’s generosity, which serves as a testament to her passion for education and the arts. Her legacy continues to live on at the DMA, in the social and cultural fabric of Dallas, and through all those whose lives she so beautifully impacted. Edith and Peter O’Donnell at a dinner celebrating the 2008 King Tut exhibition

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Edith was passionate about the Young Masters exhibition, which featured juried works from high school students who were part of the O’Donnell AP Fine Arts Incentive Program; (pictured here) The 2015 Young Masters exhibition

The O’Donnells celebrating the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Museum location in the Arts District on November 15, 1980; (l to r) Ed Cook, Edith O’Donnell, Mary Jean Cook, Peter O’Donnell

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1. Rick Berg and Harriet Raskin 2. Claire Gogel, Vivian Crockett, Michael Corman 3. DMA President Catherine Marcus Rose 4. Manju and Venu Menon 5. DMA Director Agustín Arteaga 6. Diana Gutman, Jim and Genie Bentley 7. Charlie Caulkins 8. Michael Fountas and David Liu Photos: © Tamytha Cameron

LAST FALL, DMA CIRCLE AND CAI MEMBERS GATHERED IN NEWLY ESTABLISHED SAFE AND SOCIALLY DISTANT WAYS TO CELEBRATE THE OPENING OF TO BE DETERMINED AND THE RECENTLY OPENED CONTEMPORARY ART + DESIGN: NEW ACQUISITIONS SPRING 2021 ARTIFACTS |