DFW

Thursday, Sep. 30, 2010

Big food, big fun, in the shadow of Big Tex June Naylor

The rites of autumn around here may be numerous, but none is as special (in our book) as that of going to the State Fair of Texas. We rushed out there last Friday for opening day, and it's possibly better than ever this year. And with the promise of exquisite weather over the next several days, there's a multitude of reasons for you to head on over there.

Here are the top 5 (food) reasons we came up with; we think they're so good, we're already planning a return trip.

1. Yes, the fried food. Save yourself the trouble of trying the fried beer, which are little raviolis holding a teaspoon or two of hot beer; it's a truly awful experiment in culinary tragedy. Instead, go for fried grilled cheese sandwich, fried peaches with whipped cream, fried s'mores and fried salad, the latter inspired by Oprah, who declared she was going on an all-salad diet after eating too many fried treats when she visited the State Fair last fall. The latter is a lightly fried spinach wrap rolled around a club salad filling of meats and cheeses. There's salad dressing for dipping; find it at The Dock, a restaurant inside the Embarcadero Building.

2. The Fletcher's Corny Dogs may be better than ever, but it's probably that we don't eat them but once a year, so they just seem especially fabulous on that special occasion. Do not make the mistake of getting just any corny dog at any stand! You must go to a Fletcher's stand, where they're made fresh, by hand, throughout the day. There's a Fletcher's stand right by Big Tex, and a scattering of Fletcher's stands in the Midway. You want the one by the Fun House; we are sure it's the best of all.

3. Speaking of mustard (the only thing to put on a corny dog, for Pete's sake), you can get a taste of Dijon at the Fair this weekend. On Friday, between 2 and 6 p.m., there will be five Michelin-star chefs from the Burgundy region of France cooking at the Celebrity Kitchen in the Creative Arts Building (right behind the Cotton Bowl). They're in town to help the Dallas Museum of Art launch its Dijon Must'art promotion for the opening next Monday of "The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the

Court of Burgundy." They'll be cooking exquisite things from their hometown, and we're dying to know what they make of fried Frito Pie. (There's also a Dijon mustard sampling at NorthPark Mall on Saturday, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.)

4. In that same Celebrity Kitchen, there are cooking demos with free samples every day, several times a day. At 12:30 p.m. each day, chef Karel Ann Tieszen is doing something fascinating with Wolf Brand Chili. At 6 p.m. Saturday, Top Chef DC star Tiffany Derry will be cooking for the crowd. At 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, our buddy Paula Lambert from the Mozzarella Company will be making something delightful with her cheeses. Check the daily calendar daily to see who's on deck.

5. Do you love the big, gooey cinnamon rolls that make our bellies so warm and happy during the Fort Worth Stock Show? Does the thought of them send you into a dough-and-sugar jones? You'll be happy to know there is one Crown Cinnamon Roll stand at the State Fair, dispensing those same bundles of sweet sin. It's on the Midway, just a short walk due south of Big Tex.

Monday, Oct. 04, 2010

In a Dallas, centuries-old statues of grief An amazing collection of statues from the Middle Ages goes on display at the DMA.

By Gaile Robinson

DFW.COM

The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures From the Court of Burgundy Through Jan. 2 Dallas Museum of Art 1717 N. Harwood St., Dallas $5-$10 214-922-1200 www.dm-art.org

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 and now, almost 40 alabaster statues from his tomb in Dijon, France, are on display through Jan. 2 at the Dallas Museum of Art in "The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures From the Court of Burgundy."

The statues of hooded clergy and lay people are known as "The Mourners," because 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; they provided a mute soundtrack of perpetual grief for the dead ruler. The ornate assemblage is a cenotaph, a memorial only, as the actual bodies of the duke and duchess were buried elsewhere.

For 200 years, the duke's tomb sculpture and a very similar one for his father, Philip the Bold, have been the centerpiece treasures of the MusĂƒÂŠe des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, but renovations in the museum allowed John's cenotaph to be disassembled. "The Mourners" have been sent on a sevencity tour of the U.S. under the auspices of FRAME, the French Regional and American Museum Exchange. Their first stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, then St. Louis, and now they are in Dallas at the institution that organized their tour.

In Dijon, "The Mourners" are overwhelmed by the elaborate arcade, appearing as little more than dust bunnies under a coffee table. Separated from the architectural recesses of the gothic arches and placed on spot-lit pedestals, however, they hold their little stages, and this is their glory. The humble figures draped in mourning 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 the figures were only meant to be seen from the front, artists Jean de la Huerta and Antoine le Moiturier realized each mourner 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. 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 men being mortal.

In New York, the sculptures 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. Met visitors had to walk the length of the runway and could not get any closer to the sculptures than three feet. Grousing was heard in the gallery, because it was impossible to see the statues' minute details. The DMA noted the frustrations and separated the figures. There is one double file group to indicate a facsimile of their original staging, but others are mounted alone, by twos or in threes so that visitors can come close and really marvel at the details.

The matte surface of the carved alabaster, with its pinkish undertones, gives organic warmth to the figures that marble could never achieve. There is honesty to the mourners, their gestures and their postures that signifies abject sadness. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for John.

The Burgundian Dynasty (1363-1477) The four dukes of Burgundy, who ruled from 1363 to 1477, marked the century when Burgundy was rich and powerful, and the rulers envisioned a new state separate from France. As France was embroiled in the 100 Years War with Britain, its rulers were too busy to notice the machinations going on with their cousins in Burgundy.

The dynasty began with Philip the Bold (1363-1404), the youngest son of King John II, who was given the duchy of Burgundy for his valor (hence the "bold") at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356.

Philip was an art patron and collector with residences in Paris, Flanders, Artois and a castle in Burgundy. He built the Chartreuse de Champmol as a mausoleum for his dynasty in Dijon, and that became the seat for his artisans. He commissioned the royal sepulcher that was later copied by his son John the Fearless.

John inherited the dukedom in 1404 and spent the next 15 years wrangling with his uncle for control over the heir apparent to the French throne. John had his uncle, Louis d'Orleans, assassinated, and the dauphin, the future Charles VII, had John assassinated in return.

John's son, Philip the Good, took control in 1419 and sought an alliance with the British, then reconsidered and rejoined the French. Rather than make direct overtures to the French throne, he spent the remainder of his almost 50 years in power increasing the Burgundian land holdings. He also was an art patron on the scale of his grandfather. In 1435 he began work on his father's tomb, which was not completed until after Philip's death. Seeing how long it took the artisans to complete such complicated work, neither Philip nor his son Charles indulged in a permanent memorial to his reign.

Philip's son, Charles the Bold (1467-77), aka Charles the Rash and Charles the Terrible, continued the conquests, adding Alsace and Lorraine to the Burgundian map. Upon Charles' death at the Battle of Nancy in 1477, the French king, Louis XI, thought it best to rein in the Burgundian relatives and absorbed the countries controlled by Burgundy into the French empire.

The first three dukes of Burgundy are buried at Champmol, as Philip originally envisioned. Charles, who had no interest in the family's burial rituals, is interned at Notre Dame.

Desecration during the revolution The tombs of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless in Champmol were heavily damaged in 1793 during the French Revolution. In 1794, the MusĂƒÂŠe des Beaux-Arts in Dijon gathered up all the remaining pieces for safekeeping. Of the 80 "Mourners" for the two tombs, only 70 could be found.

(Eventually three more were found in Europe and were returned to Dijon. Four were taken out of France in the late 1930s and were acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art, one is in a private collection and two have disappeared.)

The tomb sculptures were repaired in the early 19th century, missing mourners were recarved and the restored tombs went on display in 1827. This is the first time any of the Dijon pieces have traveled, and it is only because the Musee des Beaux-Arts is undergoing renovations. When "The Mourners" are reunited with their duke, it is not likely they will travel again, at least not during our lifetime.

Gaile Robinson is the Star-Telegram art and design critic, 817-390-7113