Denver Art Museum - Part 2

A view of downtown Denver, Colorado, December 2009 from a Denver Art Museum window.  See Part 1 of my visit to this museum at this link.

Even before I read the title I knew this was a Georgia O'Keefe painting, but had no idea what it was!  Can you guess what it is without looking closely at the sign?  I think I would have hung it horizontally, instead of vertically, as it would have made more sense that way, but on second thought in this position, it almost looks like one of the flowers O'Keefe was famous for painting.

The Denver Art Museum's European and American art collection includes more than 3,000 artworks. It is composed of paintings, sculptures, and prints. The European collection is rich in Renaissance and 19th-century French paintings and includes the Berger Collection of British paintings, on loan to the museum.

 

Two paintings by the Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. On the left is "Summer" painted in 1572, and on the right is "Autumn" also painted in 1572.  Please click on each painting to enlarge them to see their delightful details.  Each portrait is composed of images of fruits and vegetables!

The museum website says: "During the 1500s, people associated the seasons with stages of human life. Spring stood for youth, and winter conjured up images of old age. Summer shows a man in his prime—a

 man, that is, composed of the ripest produce the season has to offer. In this painting, the different qualities of each fruit and vegetable add character to the face. A row of peas makes for straight, even teeth, and cucumber makes for a bumpy-skinned nose."

Again, there were so many wonderful paintings in the Denver Art Museum's collection that it was difficult for me to choose just a few to show in this blog post, but the following have click-able links with more information about each painting, that I thought you might enjoy:

Claude Monet

Childhood Idyll, William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Three Young Girls, William Larkin, ca. 1620

There were also examples of Modern Art such as the painting by Roy Lichtenstein on the left, and the Mondrian on the right (both will enlarge when clicked on)

The Modern and Contemporary art collections contain more than 4,500 works in a wide variety of media, with an emphasis on both internationally known and emerging artists. The collection includes photography, from 19th-century landscapes to the work of contemporary photographers.

Fox Games, Sandy Skoglund

"Garden Party On the Terrace of a Country Home" --Folding Screen -- Mexico City - circa the 1700s

 
The Denver Art Museum's collection of Spanish Colonial paintings, silver, Santos, and other art objects represents much of Latin America, including Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and the southwestern United States is extensive. For information about the Mayer Center for Pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial Art at the Denver Art Museum, visit the Mayer Center link. 
 

 
One of the paintings in the collection is the beautiful "Madonna and Child with Bird," by Ignacio Chacón which was used as a United State Postal Service Christmas stamp in 2006, which I also showed on my Christmas post.  (click on to enlarge)
 
 

Virgin of Guadalupe, Sebastián Salcedo, 1779

Hayagriva mandala, monk-artists of Sera Je Monastic University, India

The Denver Art Museum's  Asian Art galleries are devoted to the arts of China, India, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Tibet, and Nepal. Two changing galleries, the William Sharpless Jackson Jr. Gallery and the Sze Hong Gallery, feature exhibitions drawn from the museum's holdings and other Asian art collections.  Asian Art was one of my favorite exhibits, as the museum's collection was extensive and unlike any, I've ever seen.

 

 

Shiva, King of Dancers (Shiva Nataraja)

Guanyin

 

Hanuman South India 1800's

 

The Storyteller's Box

Japanese Suit of Armor and Helmet, circa the 1700s

 

The Denver Art Museum's Architecture, Design, and Graphics collection number more than 4,000 works. The museum’s diverse collection encompasses a broad range of design practices, including architecture, decorative design, graphic design, industrial design, and functional craft.

I wish I could have taken this antique desk home with me!

A work of art.....or not?

This photo is a view of the Colorado State Capital building from one of the museum windows.  Reality becomes art in this impressive museum! 

I hope that you enjoyed this little tour of some of the many wonderful exhibits in the collection of the Denver Art Museum and that you will make it a point to visit it if you visit beautiful Denver Colorado

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Denver Art Museum - Part 1

When I was in Denver Colorado for a week in early December, in order to attend my grandson's first birthday party, my husband and I was able one afternoon to visit the beautiful Denver Art Museum, located on 13th Ave between Broadway and Bannock Street in the Civic Center Cultural Complex.  The museum is comprised of two buildings-- the North Building and the Frederic C. Hamilton Building. The 356,000-square-foot museum complex includes collection gallery space, three temporary exhibition venues, and the Lewis I. Sharp Auditorium. In addition to its extensive art collections, the museum has a family-friendly environment and has received critical acclaim for encouraging art appreciation through interactive activities.

This is one of the children's play areas in the museum, which encourages children to be creative through play activities and the use of art materials.

There are also comfortable "Discovery Libraries" for adults located within the museum; two examples can be seen below. Many wonderful art books and resource books were available on the libraries' bookshelves. If I were a resident of Denver I would definitely purchase a full year's membership, so that I could visit frequently and curl up on one of the couches, and read to my heart's content! (all photos will enlarge when clicked on)

The Denver Art Museum is known for its collection of American Indian Art and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 60,000 works from around the world. The museum has nine curatorial departments: architecture, design, and graphics; Asian art; modern and contemporary; native arts (American Indian, Oceanic, and African); New World (pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial); painting and sculpture (European and American); photography; Western art; and textile art.  The museum's motto is "Never the Same," as their exhibits change frequently to make viewing the collections more interesting for the frequent visitor.

One of the temporary exhibits we saw was called "Shape & Spirit" and consisted of more than 200 selections from the Lutz Bamboo Collection.

Examples of baskets made entirely from bamboo.

Another temporary exhibit that will run through April 4, 2010, is called "Embrace." For this exhibit, the Denver Art Museum asked 17 artists to create one-of-a-kind installations for the Frederic C. Hamilton Building -- the angular building designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind.

The unique space was transformed into amazing works of modern art, many of which were three-dimensional.

"Fox Games" by Sandy Skoglund, 1989

Information from the Denver Art Museum website:

" Our American Indian art collection includes more than 18,000 art objects representing the heritage of all cultures and tribes across the United States and Canada. Recognized as one of the best of its kind in the United States, the collection spans more than 2,000 years of artistic creativity, from prehistoric times to the present.

The collection includes diverse artistic traditions such as Pueblo ceramics, Navajo textiles, Northwest Coast sculpture, basketry, Plains beadwork, and oil paintings, representing the full range of American Indian art styles. Over the past 80 years, these artworks have been featured both nationally and internationally in scholarly publications, innovative exhibitions, and educational programs."

"The Living Necklace"  Pawnee tribe. Circa 1870, refurbished in 1920.  Made with otter fur and the claws of an extinct species of a grizzly bear.  It has a religious, artistic, and historical legacy.

The Elk Tooth Dress.  It is the most valuable dress a Crow woman can own. connoting her wealth and prominence in the community.

It was hard for me to narrow down the many beautiful artworks I saw to show just a few here.  The painting above is titled "Young Plains Indian" by James Bama, in 1980.

 

"The Stagecoach" by Norman Rockwell, 1966

 

"Estes Park, Long's Peak" by Albert Bierstadt, 1877

  

"The Open Range" by Herbert Dunton, 1914

Some examples of Western sculpture by Frederic Remington and furniture crafted from animal horn.

There is so much more of interest to show from the museum, so I will be back with Part 2  of the Denver Art Museum tomorrow, so that I can showcase some European and American Art, as well as Asian and Spanish Colonial Art, within their collection

Part two can be read at this link.

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