Displaying items by tag: dallas museum of art

The Dallas Museum of Art today announced the debut of the first Friends membership pilot program at The Grace Museum in Abilene, Texas. Grace Friends offers free membership to all visitors and is modeled on the DMA free membership platform, which since its launch in January 2013 has welcomed more than 62,000 new Friends members. The introduction of the membership model in Abilene represents the first stage of a broader national expansion supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Other participating museums considering aspects of the Friends platform include the Denver Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Along with the launch of the program, The Grace Museum has also announced reduced general admission to support visitor participation.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Dallas Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York are joining forces with the Outdoor Advertising Association to execute the “outdoor art show,” Art Everywhere. The interactive art campaign will display images of the greatest American artworks on billboards and signs in select cities across the United States.

The participating museums have created a master list of 100 American artworks from their combined holdings and are asking the public to visit www.ArtEverywhereUS.org and vote for their favorite pieces. The 50 most popular works will be featured throughout August on approximately 50,000 billboards and signs across the country. Art Everywhere’s master list includes paintings, drawings, decorative objects, photographs, and multimedia works from the 18th century to 2008. Artists represented on the ballot include Edward Hopper, Mark Rothko, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Frank Lloyd Wright, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Jackson Pollock.

Voting will remain open until June 20 and the chosen works will be unveiled on August 4.

Three Texas museums -- the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas -- are adding more than a combined 1,700 high-resolution works of art to the Google Art Project. The Art Project, which is part of the Google Cultural Institute, allows users to virtually explore works of art from international museums, institutions, and archives. Currently, there more than 57,000 high-resolution images of works ranging from oil on canvas paintings to sculpture and furniture.

The Amon Carter Museum has submitted 1,200 images to the Google Art Project, showcasing works by American artists such as Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler. The museum also contributed 200 photographs from its collection. The Dallas Museum of Art submitted around 500 works from its collection including “Sheaves of Wheat” by Vincent van Gogh. The Nasher Sculpture Center, which houses a collection of modern and contemporary sculpture, submitted images of works by Auguste Rodin and Mark di Suvero.

The exceptional quality of the images coupled with the Google Art Project’s custom-built zoom view, allows users to explore the finest details of  each object. Visitors can browse works by artist, title, medium, museum, country, time period, or collection. Virtual guided tours by experts are available on the site so that users can learn more about a particular work or topic.

To view works from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center, visit the Google Art Project.

Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” which was discovered by American art dealer Alexander Parish at an estate sale in the mid-2000s, was sold to an unidentified collector for between $75 million and $80 million in May 2013.The details of the sale, which was organized by Sotheby’s, remained confidential until this week.

“Salvator Mundi,” a half-length portrait of Christ holding a crystal orb in one hand, was created around 1500. Since 1900, the heavily over-painted canvas was attributed to Boltraffio, an artist who worked in da Vinci’s studio. It wasn’t until Parish acquired the work and it underwent extensive cleaning and research that it was deemed an original da Vinci formerly owned by King Charles I of England. Prior to last year’s sale, Parish and two other art dealers shared ownership of the work.

In 2012, after raising tens of millions of dollars, the Dallas Museum of Art attempted to buy “Salvator Mundi.” Museum officials made a formal offer to Parish and the painting’s other owners but were rebuffed after some discussion.

The first four paintings from private collections to undergo conservation treatment in the Dallas Museum of Art’s new Paintings Conservation Studio are currently on view in the institution’s European galleries. The studio, which opened in November, is part of the museum’s initiative to create a more comprehensive in-house conservation program.

One of the works, ‘The Blacksmith Cupids’ by the French painter Charles-Antoine Coypel, has entered the Dallas Museum of Art’s permanent collection. It is the first work by the artist to enter the museum’s collection. The other newly restored works -- Jean-Baptiste Oudry’s ‘Dogs Playing with Birds in a Park,’ a Renaissance painting titled ‘Saint Ursula Protecting the Eleven Thousand Virgins with her Cloak’ and an Italian 14th-century painted wood panel--will remain on loan to the museum.

The institution’s new conservation program involves collaborating with private collectors on the study and care of their illustration collections. The works will then be presented in the Dallas Museum of Art’s galleries for public viewing. The museum’s conservation studio, which features cutting-edge technology including a digital X-ray system, is enclosed by a glass wall so that guests of the museum can observe daily conservation activity.

This May, the Dallas Museum of Art will welcome one of the most comprehensive collections of Islamic art in private hands. The works will be on long-term loan to the museum and will transform the institution’s Islamic art collection into the third largest of its kind in North America. The collection’s signature work, a rock crystal pitcher, will go on view at the Dallas Museum this year, followed by more than 50 works in 2015.

The Keir Collection of Islamic art was assembled over five decades by the late art collector Edmund de Unger. According to museum officials, the collection “is recognized by scholars as one of the world’s most geographically and historically comprehensive, encompassing almost 2,000 works in a range of media that span 13 centuries of Islamic art-making.” The Keir Collection, which is named after the 18th-century British mansion where is was housed, includes textiles, carpets, ceramics, rock crystal, metalwork and works on paper from the western Mediterranean to South Asia.

The lender is covering all costs related to the packing and shipping of the collection to the Dallas Museum of Art, along with any conservation that is required and any print publications the museum plans to produce. The museum was not charged a fee for acquiring the collection, but it will pay to have the works insured as well as any costs relating to the display of the objects.

The Dallas Museum of Art is currently hosting the traveling exhibition Hopper Drawing: A Painter’s Process. The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York organized the show, which is the first of its kind to focus on the drawings and working process of American painter Edward Hopper.

The exhibition features over 200 works including drawings, watercolors, prints and paintings drawn mainly from the Whitney’s revered collection of the artist’s work. Hopper Drawing reveals a mostly unknown side of the renowned artist, allowing visitors an intimate glimpse into Hopper’s mind at work. Maxwell L. Anderson, the Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum, said, “Through this presentation, we are able to better understand the gestation of Hopper’s ideas and the transformations they underwent from paper to canvas.”

Hopper Drawing will be on view at the Dallas Museum of Art through February 16, 2014.

On November 22, 2013, the Dallas Museum of Art will unveil its new Paintings Conservation Studio as part of the institution’s initiative to create a more comprehensive in-house conservation program. The studio features a digital X-ray system and a center for the study and treatment of artworks as well as research into cutting-edge conservation techniques. The studio, which is enclosed by a glass wall, will be open to visitors so that guests of the museum can observe daily conservation activity.

The opening is accompanied by an exhibition of paintings from the Dallas Museum of Art’s collection including works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Childe Hassam and Julian Onderdonk; the paintings will be on view in the Conservation Gallery, which adjoins the studio. A number of works including a painting Gustave Courbet and a Renaissance portrait by Alessandro Allori will be permanently displayed in the studio.

 Maxwell L. Anderson, the Museum’s Eugene McDermott Director, said, “The launch of these new conservation initiatives supports the Dallas Museum of Art’s commitment to responsible stewardship of our collection, and the advancement of conservation research and practices in the region and across the museum field. We look forward to strengthening the Dallas Museum of Art’s culture of conservation with the opening of this new facility and integrating conservation into the fabric of the Museum experience for the benefit and enjoyment of our community.”

The Dallas Museum of Art announced an anonymous gift of $9 million to be spread out over the course of three years. The donation was made to ensure free general admission to the museum and enable the institution to digitize and ultimately publish its entire collection online.

The Dallas Museum of Art is the largest museum in the region and provides access to its collection as well as educational and public programming for the community. In January 2013, the institution implemented a free general admission policy in order to reflect its dedication to ever-increasing accessibility. The digitization of its entire collection will help the Dallas Museum further this particular goal. The images and data will be available to students, teachers and scholars under Open Access licenses for free personal and educational use.

Maxwell L. Anderson, the museum’s Eugene McDermott Director, said, “This is an exciting moment in the Museum’s history, and we are deeply grateful to our donor for the exceeding generosity and the significance of this gift. With this donation, the DMA will become one of the world’s most open and accessible museums. This opportunity reinforces our deep commitment to serve as an important educational resource for our local and regional community, as well as for our growing online audiences worldwide.”

In November 2013, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) will unveil its new Paintings Conservation Studio as part of the institution’s initiative to establish a more comprehensive on-site conservation program. Three long-term research projects that will utilize new analytical techniques and technologies will inaugurate the space.

The DMA’s new conservation studio features cutting edge technology including a digital x-ray system and will serve as a center for study and research as well as conservation treatments. The studio, which is enclosed by a glass wall, will be open to visitors so that guests of the museum can observe daily conservation activities.

As part of its efforts to improve its conservation capabilities, the Dallas Museum of Art has embarked on a number of projects with museums and universities in north Texas. The DMA is currently working with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas in Denton on various initiatives including the study of ultramarine pigment discoloration, the pigment and medium analysis of a work by Paul Gauguin, and the development of atomic sampling techniques for silverplated objects.

Maxwell L. Anderson, the Dallas Museum of Art’s Eugene McDermott Director, said, “The launch of these new conservation initiatives supports the DMA’s commitment to responsible stewardship of our collection, and the advancement of conservation research and practices in the region and across the museum field. We look forward to strengthening the DMA’s culture of conservation with the opening of this new facility and integrating conservation into the fabric of the Museum experience for the benefit and enjoyment of our community.”