Dallasnews

The Mourners arrive at the Dallas Museum of Art

This coming weekend is, of course, Texas-OU weekend, with the Cotton Bowl serving as the site of "the Red River Rivalry." For those seeking an alternative, you might want to consider the Dallas Museum of Art, which director Bonnie Pitman says will offer "a wonderful counterbalance to football." It opens Sunday, this extravagant new show at the DMA, which represents a partnership between Dallas, the DMA and the French Regional & American Museum Exchange, otherwise known as FRAME. Wednesday marked the press preview of the new show, "The Mourners: Medieval Masterworks from the Court of Burgundy," whose copresenters are the DMA and Musee des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, France. This year marks the Mourners' first and only U.S. tour, with Dallas being a key stop. The Mourners consists of 40 individual alabaster figurines from the 15th-century Ducal Tomb. Before returning to France, the Mourners will have gone to New York, St. Louis, Dallas, Minneapolis, Los Angeles , San Francisco and Richmond, Va. Carved by Jean de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier between 1443 and 1457, the devotional figures known as "mourners" were commissioned for the elaborate tomb of the second duke of Burgundy.

"The Mourners" connects the DMA to France

A cluster of nearly 40 pieces, described as some of the greatest masterpieces of medieval sculpture and never seen in their entirety outside France, is headed to the Dallas Museum of Art in October 2010. "The Mourners" is an exhibition organized by the DMA and MusĂŠe des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, France, which DMA officials note is Dallas' "sister city." It's a show carried out under the auspieces of FRAME, the French Regional & American Museum Exchange.

The two-year, seven-city touring exhibition opens in March at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York before heading to Dallas from Oct. 3, 2010, to Jan. 2, 2011. Carved by Jean de La Huerta and Antoine Le Moiturier between 1443 and 1470, the unique devotional figures known as "mourners" were commissioned for the tomb of the second Duke of Burgundy. DMA officials describe the alabaster sculptures as being "crafted with astonishing detail," noting that they "exemplify some of the most important artistic innovations of the late Middle Ages." DMA Director Bonnie Pitman called the exhibition an opportunity to connect "Dallas residents and visitors with extraordinary art and cultural treasures from around the globe. These are incredibly beautiful works that are as powerful and meaningful today as they were the day they were created." Richard R. Brettell, who directs the U.S. headquarters of FRAME -- whose offices are in Dallas -- called the exhibition "a shining moment in the history of FRAME, a testament to shared friendship and shared knowledge."

Photo: Mourner from the Tomb of Jean Sans Peur (John the Fearless), second Duke of Burgundy

DMA to host exhibit of French medieval sculptures 04:07 PM CST on Friday, November 6, 2009

By MICHAEL GRANBERRY / The Dallas Morning News mgranberry@dallasnews.com

A cluster of nearly 40 pieces, described as some of the greatest masterpieces of medieval sculpture and never been seen in their entirety outside France, is headed to the Dallas Museum of Art in October 2010.

"The Mourners" is an exhibition organized by the DMA and MusĂŠe des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, France, which has been designated as Dallas' sister city. It's a show carried out under the auspices of FRAME, the French Regional & American Museum Exchange. The two-year, seven-city touring exhibition opens in March at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York before heading to Dallas from Oct. 3, 2010, to Jan. 2, 2011.

Carved by Jean de la Huerta and Antoine Le Moiturier between 1443 and 1470, the devotional figures known as mourners were commissioned for the tomb of the second Duke of Burgundy. DMA officials describe the alabaster sculptures as being "crafted with astonishing detail," noting that they "exemplify some of the most important artistic innovations of the late Middle Ages."

DMA Director Bonnie Pitman called the exhibition an opportunity to connect "Dallas residents and visitors with extraordinary art and cultural treasures from around the globe. These are incredibly beautiful works that are as powerful and meaningful today as they were the day they were created."

Richard Brettell, who directs the U.S. office of FRAME, headquartered in Dallas, called the exhibition "a shining moment in the history of FRAME, a testament to shared friendship and shared knowledge."

Art Notes: DMA unveils 'The Mourners' 12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, October 3, 2010 Michael Granberry mgranberry@dallasnews.com Given that it's Texas-OU weekend, which coincides with a lavish new show at the Dallas Museum of Art, our inner cut-up feels the need to wonder:

RODGER MALLISON/Special Contributor 'The Mourners' at the DMA features 40 sculptures carved in 15th-century France.

Bubba, are you ready for some Mourners?

Bonnie Pitman, director of the Dallas Museum of Art, calls her newest exhibition "a wonderful counterbalance to football," and we agree. The show opens today, and unlike anything you'll see at the Cotton Bowl, these are alabaster sculptures carved with immaculate detail between 1443 and 1457.

"The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy" consists of 40 pieces never before seen as an entire group outside Dijon, France – until this seven-city tour, which presenters say will be the only time you can see them outside France. "The Mourners" is a partnership between the DMA and the French Regional & American Museum Exchange, known as FRAME. Co-presenters are the DMA and MusÊe des Beaux-Arts in Dijon.

Carved by Jean de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier, the devotional figures known as mourners were commissioned for the tomb of the second duke of Burgundy and exemplify, curators say, "some of the most important artistic innovations of the late Middle Ages."

The show carries with it more than a few parallels to the much-ballyhooed King Tut exhibition. It's yet another touring extravaganza, which allows folks from Mesquite , Plano, Hurst and wherever else the rare opportunity to see foreign works of art without flying to Cairo and Dijon.

Please check out a review of "The Mourners" in Monday's GuideDaily section.

The ever-progressive Nasher Sculpture Center launched another new concept Saturday, with a show by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based artist Alyson Shotz. It inaugurates what the Nasher dubs "Sightings." Sightings is described as a series of small-scale exhibitions and installations that explore work by established and emerging contemporary sculptors from across Texas and around the world.

Working with translucent and reflective materials, Shotz "challenges traditional notions of sculpture," the Nasher says, "as closed, massive or weighty. Her airy, open-form sculptures define volumes without mass."

Nasher officials were among those celebrating a $30 million gift from philanthropist Margaret McDermott that allows the University of Texas at Dallas to undergo a campus enhancement. The designer is worldacclaimed Peter Walker and Partners, which also designed the landscape of the Nasher Sculpture Center.

The Walker firm has a contract to landscape the World Trade Center Memorial in New York.

Dallas Contemporary is opening its doors to yet another "New Sounds for a New Space" performance, this one organized by composer Christina Rusnak. It begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at the museum's copious new space, at the corner of Glass and Riverfront in the Design District. Rusnak's co-composers are Cindy McTee and David Stout.

A dual exhibition, featuring the work of Awadh Baryoum and Scott Dykema, opened Saturday at Eclectic Expressions, 201 E. Sanford in Arlington.

"Monumental and Intimate Art," the new show at the Museum of Geometric and MADI Art, opens with a reception from 6 to 8 Friday night at 3109 Carlisle St., Dallas. The show features works from six contemporary artists working in geometric abstraction.

Visual art review: 'The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures From the Court of Burgundy' at Dallas Museum of Art 12:02 PM CDT on Monday, October 4, 2010

By GAILE ROBINSON / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News One of the perks of wealth and power during the Middle Ages was the design and commission of your memorial resting place.

John the Fearless, the second Duke of Burgundy (1371-1419), ordered an extravagant sculptural homage for his wife and himself. Now, almost 40 alabaster statues from his tomb in Dijon, France, are on display at the Dallas Museum of Art in "The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures From the Court of Burgundy."

Also Online GuideLive.com: Events details, write a review Upcoming events: Visual arts | Performing arts | Comedy | Dance | Buy tickets Plan around the: weather forecast | traffic reports More arts: Blog | News Twitter: Follow @guidelivearts The statues of hooded clergy and lay people are known as The Mourners as they eternally grieve the death of their duke. They stand about 16 inches high and were placed under an ornate gothic arcade that supported a black marble slab on which life-size effigies of John and his wife, Margaret of Bavaria, rested.

The two royal figures are dressed in sumptuous robes, their bejeweled slippers rest on the back of a lion, and John's head is cradled by two angels. The mourners were the extras in the tableau. The ornate assemblage is a cenotaph, a memorial only, since the actual bodies of the duke and duchess were buried elsewhere.

For 200 years, John's tomb sculpture and a very similar one for his father, Philip the Bold, have been the centerpiece treasures of the Musèe des Beaux-Arts in Dijon. Renovations in the museum allowed John's cenotaph to be disassembled, and The Mourners have been sent on a seven-city tour of the U.S. Their first stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, then St. Louis, and now Dallas, at the institution that organized the tour.

In Dijon, The Mourners are overwhelmed by the elaborate arcade, but separated from the architectural recesses of the gothic arches and placed on spotlighted pedestals, they hold their little stages in glory.

The humble figures draped in robes, their heads often hidden by cowls, are beautiful examples of sculpture. Each one is different; each has a unique posture and expression of grief. Although they were only meant to be seen from the front, the artists, Jean de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier, realized each figure from all sides so that each can stand alone.

Close examination of the alabaster sculptures reveals substantial differences. The quality of the materials is evident in the folds and abundance of fabric. The Carthusian monks in the cortege have simple vestments constructed of modest fabrics. The wealthy mourners wear heavy cloaks lined with fur, and their garments are bejeweled and belted. The quality and size of buttons, swords, books and rosaries denote class standing.

Many of these accessories bear the evidence of painted surfaces. Yet the mourning robes and hoods, provided by the family of the deceased, were supposed to reduce the entire processional to a level field, all people being mortal.

In New York, The Mourners were mounted double file on a large display plinth in the center of a gallery, much like the finale to a fashion show when all the models come out while the designer takes a bow.

Museum-goers had to walk the length of the runway and could not get any closer to the sculptures than three feet, meaning they couldn't see the minute details. The DMA noted the problem and separated the figures. One double-file group gives a facsimile of their original staging, but others are mounted alone or by twos or in threes so visitors can get close.

John the Duplicitous?

The Mourners appear sincerely sorry to see John the Fearless gone, but his political contemporaries were not. He inherited the dukedom in 1404 and spent the next 15 years wrangling with his uncle Louis d'Orleans for control over the heir apparent to the French throne. John had his uncle assassinated, and the dauphin, the future Charles VII, had John assassinated in return.