These traveling locavores (me and Steve) are enjoying our visit with our friends who live near Dallas. We won’t be back in Dallas this time around, so I thought I would re-share with you, a post about the outstanding Dallas Museum of Art that we visited 2 years ago.
We are very excited that our friends are going to join us for a visit to Fort Worth and hopefully Abilene. We are kindred spirits – we both love RVing and would travel long distances to eat at a good restaurant that was on our radar!
I promise there will be lots of new posts to come, but in the meantime enjoy this trip down memory lane!
Dallas Museum of Art originally published on March 14, 2022.
As I’m sure you have realized by now, Steve and I enjoy visiting art museums and galleries where ever we go. So the Dallas Museum of Art was just calling out for us to come by. What a spectacular museum!
Dallas Museum of Art
Looking out to the entrance of the Dallas Museum of Art
There were so many vast galleries to wander into that we spent hours gazing at all of the art. Some pieces were artifacts that were from a couple hundred years BCE, but most of the art was more current. All of it enthralled us as well as educated us about ancient civilizations.
Dallas Museum of Art
Nude Study by Henri Matisse, about 1943-1947
Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is among the 10 largest art museums in the country. At the heart of the Museum and its programs is its global collection, which encompasses more than 24,000 works and spans 5,000 years of history, representing a full range of world cultures. Located in the nation’s largest arts district, the Museum acts as a catalyst for community creativity, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds with a diverse spectrum of programming, from exhibitions and lectures to concerts, literary events, and dramatic and dance presentations. Since the Museum’s return to free general admission in 2013, the DMA has welcomed more 3.2 million visitors.
DMA History
Work 1965 is a colorful oil on canvas by Jiro Yoshihara who was born in Osaka, Japan 1905 and died in Ashiya, Japan in 1972
The Dallas Art Association was organized in 1903 as a direct outgrowth of the Art Committee of the Public Library. At the suggestion of Frank Reaugh, the well-known Texas artist, an art gallery, with proper lighting and curation, was provided for in the building.
When completed, this room was most attractive, piquing the interest of the late Mr. J. S. Armstrong, a member of the building committee. In fact he became so interested in procuring pictures for the gallery that he offered to give half of any amount that could be raised for the purpose. Accordingly, the Art Committee of the Dallas Public Library was formed
Pollination 1968, by American artist Lee Krasner
In the autumn of 1902, they gave an exhibition in the art gallery that was by far the best collection which had ever been brought to Texas at that time. An admission fee of twenty-five cents was charged for the exhibit.
From this collection, two pictures were purchased by the Art Committee, the selection being decided upon by popular vote. The first two pieces purchased by the Art Committee were My Gondolier’s Kitchen by Herbert Faulkner and September Moonrise by Childe Hassam. At the same time, Frank Reaugh also presented one of his best paintings, The Road to the Brazos. Gustave Wolf, of St. Louis, also presented one of his pictures, a landscape, making four fine pictures acquired by the Committee in its first year.
Osaka born artist Yuko Nasaka used resin and lacquer spray on panel and cotton to create this piece. Nasaka was born in 1938 and is still active in Osaka.
Foreseeing the possibilities of the future and feeling the necessity of a closer and larger organization, the Dallas Art Association was formed in 1903 under its own constitution and bylaws. The Association was supported by voluntary membership fees of five dollars each year and gave to its members an annual exhibition of pictures and a lecture by someone recognized as an authority on art. Besides this, the Association hosted an occasional social function in honor of some artist or distinguished guest, when the members and friends came together for a better understanding and acquaintance.
Until February 1909, the pictures were hung in the gallery at the Public Library, which was open to the public every Saturday afternoon from November to May.
Transfer of ownership to city of Dallas
This brightly colored piece by Osaka born Atsuko Tanaka is resin and enamel on canvas.
With the completion of the beautiful building at the fairgrounds, negotiations were opened with the city through Mr. Edgar Pike, representing the Park Board, who wished to place the collection there and transfer ownership of the pictures to the city, that they might formally recognize the gallery as a permanent institution and give to the people a more liberal use of the pictures than was possible under the old management.
A contract transferring ownership of the art to the city was signed in March of 1909, and the gallery was formally opened and presented to the city of Dallas in April 1909.
Jackson Pollock, an American artist born in Cody, Wyoming in 1912, painted Cathedral in 1947 with enamel and aluminum paint on canvas.
A hailstorm broke the glass roof of the Fair Park Free Public Art Gallery of Dallas in May 1926, but only one painting suffered minor damage as a result.
New Building
In 1927 a city bond issue passed, providing $500,000 in city bonds for building and equipping a new Museum facility. The DAA moved its art collection to the Majestic Theatre in 1928, to better protect it from fire and weather conditions until the new Museum building in Fair Park could be used. The first professional director, John S. Ankeney, was hired for the DAA. Ankeney increased the importance of exhibits and the Museum began offering weekly lectures, started a program of children’s classes, and sent members a monthly newsletter, Art Notes. Museum membership reached 650. Director Ankeney stated, “Nature made Dallas rich, Time will make her powerful, but only Art can make her great.”
New Name
Port Arthur born Texas artist Robert Rauschenberg painted this delicate piece of art using ink on unstretched fabric.
In 1933 the name of the Museum was changed from the Free Public Art Gallery of Dallas to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (DMFA) on January 13, 1933, and subsequently moved to the ninth floor of the Dallas Power and Light Company building.
The Depression caused the city to cut the Museum’s budget to $5,500 per year. City bonds worth $500,000 were sold to build a new Museum facility in Fair Park.
Texas Centennial
Inside Out. Hard to tell but there’s a wall of glass separating the sculptures inside from the sculpture garden outside!
The Texas Centennial was celebrated in Dallas, prompting renovations and additions at Fair Park. The new Museum building opened in Fair Park May 31, 1936. The Centennial Exposition Art Exhibition drew over 154,000 visitors to the Museum from June 6 to November 26, 1936.
The Museum League was established in 1938. The League was responsible for providing entertainment such as concerts, printing programs, cataloging books in the library, keeping a clipping bureau, conducting radio programs, cataloging private art collections in Dallas, arranging certain exhibits, hosting children’s tours, providing relief lectures for tours, and encouraging membership in the Dallas Art Association.
1st exclusively African-American artists exhibition
This oil on canvas was painted in 1952 by Mark Rothko, who was born in Latvia in 1903 but emigrated to America. It is Untitled. He died in NY, NY in 1970.
The Dallas Art Association hosted its first exhibition devoted exclusively to African-American artists in 1939. Museum membership was 746.
In 1943 Jerry Bywaters was hired as Director of the DMFA, a position he kept for 21 years. Under his leadership, the Museum focused primarily on exhibiting regional art. Museum attendance topped 100,000 and the city increased its contribution to almost $27,000.
First Annual Texas Crafts Exhibition
Shozo Shimamoto, born and died in Osaka, Japan 1923-2013, painted this oil on canvas. He produced this by pouring layers of paint onto the canvas, removing the paintbrush as a mediating tool and leaving the final composition to chance and the physical, viscous qualities of the material itself.
The Crafts Guild of Dallas cosponsored with the DMFA the First Annual Texas Crafts Exhibition in 1949.
The Arts of Man in 1962 was an exhibition acclaimed by critics as the most significant accomplishment in the Museum’s 60-year history, attracted record attendance. Andrew Wyeth’s That Gentleman was purchased by the Museum after a community-wide fundraising effort.
Merger
Shades of ’73: Composition for 1980 Michigan born artist, Al Loving, created this mixed media on canvas. Partially inspired by African American quilting traditions, he began cutting up many of his paintings and experimenting with ways of putting them back together, integrating stained and dyed canvas with other fabrics, such as velvet.
The Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts (DMCA) merged with the DMFA on May 30, 1963, with both Museums being represented by the name the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The boards of the two Museums were also merged, increasing the total number of trustees to 82.
The Foundation for the Arts was established in 1964 as a holding agency for the former DMCA collection. This is when the art collection was supplemented with important acquisitions in pre-Columbian, ancient, Asian, and contemporary art.
New 2-story wing added in 1968
Carved from a single block of marble, this imposing statue of a brooding queen is a fictional portrait of Semiramis (seh-MIR-ah-miss), queen of Assyria around 800 B.C.E. Although a historical figure, by the late 19th century Semiramis had become the stuff of legend: an ambitious woman who seized power through the murder of her husband before being killed by her own estranged son. This view was popularized through the French philosopher Voltaire’s 1784 play and the Italian composer Rossini’s 1822 opera, both of which helped inspire William Wetmore Story’s composition. Semiramis epitomizes Story’s preference for female characters embroiled in tales of sexual power, murder, and vengeance. In his portrait, Story combined the monumental scale, idealized features, and classical drapery of European neoclassicism with historically accurate details of hairstyle and jewelry meant to evoke the ancient Near East.
A new two-story wing was added to the Museum building in 1968, nearly doubling the exhibition space. Henry Moore visited the Museum after it purchased his Two Piece Reclining Figure, No 3.
New building downtown
A city bond election was passed on November 6, 1979 and Dallas voters pledged $24.8 million toward the construction of a new museum building downtown. The exhibition Pompeii A.D. 79 was hosted by the DMFA, breaking attendance records at the Museum and increasing membership levels by 400%. A groundbreaking ceremony for the New Museum Building was held November 15, 1980.
Donations of art
From the Islamic Art Collection, this Base shard is from Iran: Kashan, c. 1210. Fritware: blue and turquoise painted on an opaque white glaze, overglaze black and red enamel, luster painting and leaf gilding.
Thirty-eight impressionist, post-impressionist and contemporary American paintings and sculptures were donated to the Museum from the collection of Algur H. Meadows and his wife, Elizabeth. Museum staff moved into the new downtown building, and the Sculpture Garden was opened to the public at noon on Monday, October 10, 1983. The Museum commissioned major works of art by Ellsworth Kelly and Claes Oldenburg, among others, to celebrate the new building downtown.
New name – Dallas Museum of Art
In 1984 the name was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art. The building was officially opened to the public on January 29, 1984. The first exhibition was of the newly installed permanent collection. New programming included the annual performance series Jazz Under the Stars and a lecture series. Wendy Reves donated her art collection to the Museum. An entire wing devoted to educational programming was unveiled.
Huge donation for a new wing
Cut from a single piece of rock crystal, this impressive carved ewer is considered one of the wonders of Islamic Art. It dates from 10th-11th century Fatimid Egypt (909-1171). Only 7 rock crystal ewers of this caliber from the entire medieval Islamic world are known. This is the only one of its type from the early period now in the US. The Keir ewer was set with gold mounts (top, handle and base) by the renowned goldsmith Jean-Valentin Morel (1794-1860).
Nancy Hamon donated $20 million toward the construction of a new Museum wing in 1989. The Nancy and Jake L. Hamon Building, a new addition of 140,000 square feet, opened to the public on September 26, 1993.
Museum League published a cookbook
The Museum League published The Artful Table cookbook in 1995.
These ceramics from the 14th Century are part of the DMA’s Keir Collection of Islamic Art
In 2000 construction began on the Nasher Sculpture Center. And the Museum began charging admission October 2, 2001.
January 21, 2013 marked the Museum’s return to free general admission.
Sunsets and BBQ
Pink clouds dot the blue sky as the sun begins to set.
The colors of sunset intensity from pink to coral to purple!
By the time we left the Dallas Museum of Art, we were exhausted but enriched. We decided to pick up awesome Texas BBQ on our way back to Ladybug. Thankful for take-out, we got to enjoy the magnificent sunset on the way back!
As the sun sinks slowly in the west…
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