Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City , Missouri, USA . It is located in a park-like area southwest of the city center and goes back to foundations of the two patrons William Rockhill Nelson and Mary McAfee Atkins. The museum opened to the public for the first time in 1933 and was able to build up collections of art from all ages and cultures within a few years. The focus of the collection is on the departments for American, European and Asian art. With more than 30,000 works of art, it is one of the most important art museums in the Midwest of the United States .
history
When William Rockhill Nelson and Mary McAfee Atkins, the two later donors of the museum, moved to Kansas City around 1880, the city had a population of around 55,000 and apart from a few theaters had no noteworthy cultural institutions. In the next 30 years to 1910, the population quintupled and Kansas City transformed into a modern city with parks and wide boulevards. The town planner and landscape architect George Kessler , who redesigned the city in the spirit of the City Beautiful Movement , played a decisive role in this . One of his key supporters was real estate entrepreneur William Rockhill Nelson, who was the founder and publisher of The Kansas City Star and had significant influence in the city.
Nelson had his country estate Oak Hall built in the south of the city on today's Oak Street . He lived in the property on a plot of 120,000 m² until his death in 1915, and in his will he ordered that after the death of his family an art museum should be built from his property, as such a museum was absolutely necessary for a modern city. His wife only survived him by six years and in 1926 Nelson's daughter Laura died. According to a decree by the founder, the University Trustees of the William Rockhill Nelson Trust , which consisted of representatives from the universities of Missouri , Kansas and Oklahoma , then sat down for the first time . This initially had the task of selling the founder's assets. From 1926 to 1930, the Trustees sold two newspapers, The Kansas City Star and Kansas City Times , Kansas City stocks, real estate, and commercial buildings, and personal items such as family jewelry.
In 1927, Irwin R. Kirkwood, Nelson’s son-in-law, offered the Trustees the Oak Hall estate as a possible location for the museum to be built. He died that same year and left the museum with further financial resources. All of Oak Hall's inventory was sold and the building was demolished to make way for the new museum building. The move of the Kansas City Art Institute , a private art college, planned at the same time , from downtown to the Marburg property across from Oak Hall also spoke in favor of this location in the south of the city , which promised advantages for both cultural institutes. Only Nelson's library remained of the Oak Hall establishment . This was part of the museum exhibition for many years and is now in the depot after the collection has been reorganized. Most of the family's works of art also met with no interest from the trustees, and even the paintings in Nelson's possession View of Argenteuil by Claude Monet and Poplars, Sunset at Éragny ( Soleil couchant à Éragny ) by Camille Pissarro were up for sale. The museum later bought the latter back. Overall, the sales were $ 12 million.
The other namesake of the later museum, Mary McAfee Atkins, was a Kentucky teacher and had married the Kansas City mill owner and real estate entrepreneur James Burris Atkins. After his death she had a considerable fortune. Encouraged by several trips to Europe, during which she visited important museums in London, Paris and Dresden, the donor, who died in 1911, bequeathed $ 300,000 in her will to establish an art museum. Originally, the Atkins Museum of Fine Arts in Penn Valley Park was to be built as an independent museum with this foundation , but efforts were delayed due to the First World War. Clever asset management increased the foundation's capital to $ 700,000 in 1927, when the Atkins estate administrators decided to work with Nelson’s to build a museum building to house the Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts and the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art . A major contributor to this decision was Herbert V. Jones, who acted as both trustee of the Nelson estate and one of the two administrators of the Atkins estate.
In 1930, both the building work for the museum and the building up of the collection began. At that time there was neither a director nor qualified staff for the planned departments of the museum. Only in the course of the year was Harold Woodbury Parsons able to be engaged by the Cleveland Museum of Art as a consultant for the purchase of European art, which made the first major purchases from art dealers in New York and London. The museum was able to benefit from the global economic crisis of 1929 and its consequences, as numerous high-quality works of art were offered on the art market at moderate prices. In January 1931, Langdon Warner joined the Fogg Art Museum as a consultant for Asian art, and in 1932 Paul Gardner took up his position as its first director.
The construction time for the building was only two years. The interior construction took another year before the new building was opened to the public on December 11, 1933. The east wing was named the Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts and the west wing and the great entrance hall were named William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art . The total cost of the new building was 2.75 million US dollars, but only part of the building was used for the museum from the start. Only 36 rooms on both floors of the east wing were used to display the collection of more than 4,500 works of art, while the west wing was still empty and was intended to be used for future extensions. The ground floor of the west wing was not opened until 1949 and the second floor was also completely used in 1976.
In the 1930s, the Asian art department in particular grew. Laurence Sickmann, who lives in China, bought Chinese art for the museum on site and became museum curator for Asian art in 1935, had a major influence on this. He followed in 1953 as museum director and remained in this office until 1977. His successor as director was Ralph T. Coe, who held this position until 1982 and promoted the expansion of the collection in the area of works of art of French Impressionism . Marc F. Wilson followed him as director. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the museum's opening in 1983, the two previously formally separate museums were combined to form the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art . Under the direction of Wilson, the museum acquired large amounts of American art and several 20th century works of art. During his term of office the construction of the extension building also fell, which since 2007 has provided additional space for the collection as the Bloch Building . In 2017 the museum received a donation from the patron Henry W. Bloch, the co-founder of the tax consultancy company H&R Block , with works of impressionist and late impressionist painting.
Julián Zugazagoitia has been running the museum with its more than 30,000 works of art since 2010.
The buildings
For the building to be built, the trustees chose the architects Thomas Wight (1874–1949) and William Wight (1882–1947) from the Kansas City-based company Wight and Wight . Your design is a 120-meter-long and 53-meter-deep modern steel frame building , which appears externally as a building in the style of neoclassicism . The yellow-brown limestone used for the facade comes from Indiana , the home of the founder William Rockhill Nelson. It is adorned with 23 reliefs by the sculptor Charles Keck , which show the colonization of the American West. A portico is positioned in front of each of the building sides . In the middle of the building is the 12 meter high entrance hall Kirkwood Hall , whose two-story arcade corridors are kept in the style of the Renaissance. The two exhibition wings adjoin this hall. In front of the south facade of the museum, the park-like area opens onto the course of the Brush Creek over several terraces . This area serves as the museum's sculpture garden and shows, for example, a cast of Auguste Rodin 's The Thinker in the monumental version or oversized shuttlecocks by Claes Oldenburg .
The building of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, inaugurated in 1933, remained almost unchanged in its architecture for more than 70 years and offered sufficient space for the constantly growing collection. In 1999 the museum management decided to launch a competition for an extension, from which the architect Steven Holl emerged as the winner. He had already completed a highly acclaimed new museum building, the Kiasma Museum in Helsinki . His design for the extension in Kansas City represents an architectural counterpoint to the old building. The elongated new building is located laterally across the east wing of the old building and is connected to it underground. Most of the building itself is also underground and only five glass pavilions are visible above ground. The new building was opened on June 9, 2007 as the Bloch Building . It is named after Henry W. Bloch and his wife Marion, who supported the museum several times as patrons. Henry W. Bloch was also chairman of the museum's board of trustees.
The collection
Ancient art
This section displays ancient art from the Middle East, Greece and the Roman Empire. One of the museum's earliest acquisitions is a group of archaeological finds from Lagaš , today's Tell el-Hiba in Iraq. Below is a kneeling male figure made of bronze from the 3rd millennium BC. Another exhibit is an Assyrian relief depicting a winged male figure with a date plant from around 884/860 BC. From Persepolis the museum shows a limestone figure in the form of a bull from the late 6th / early 5th century BC. Other finds come from Tepe Yahya and Hafaǧi . Ancient Egyptian art is represented in the museum through exhibits from different eras and locations. A seated male figure comes from the necropolis of Giza and shows the tax officer Nefu (5th dynasty). Various representations of the guard Metjetji come from Saqqara . The museum has an approximately 80 cm high wooden sculpture of him and also shows two limestone reliefs, some of which have colored paintings. On these he is shown sometimes with his sons, sometimes with a son and a daughter (5th dynasty). The museum also shows the head of Pharaoh Sesostris II (XII Dynasty) made of yellow quartzite . Other items in this collection include a painted banquet scene from Thebes (XVIII Dynasty), a relief with the Princess Maketaton from Tell el-Amarna (XVIII Dynasty), a relief depicting the Pharaoh Ramses II (XIX Dynasty) , from Ptolemaic times the figure of Horus as a falcon made of basalt and from Roman times a wooden mummy portrait of a woman.
From ancient Greece, a belly amphora with a lid can be seen in the museum, the red-figure painting of which shows Achilles' choice of weapons . Another exhibit is the marble sculpture of a lion (possibly from Attica ) from around 325 BC. A kneeling figure of the satyr made of bronze (2nd century BC) and from the same time a figure of Heracles (Roman copy based on a Greek model) are among the other exhibits.
The museum owns a few pieces from the Etruscan period, including a bronze statue of Heracles from the 4th century BC. And the statuette of a warrior from Apiro 460/450 BC. The collection includes a gold necklace with coins from Roman times showing portraits of emperors (around 238/43 AD), an ivory sculpture with the motif of Achilles and Penthesilea (1st century BC / AD) .) and marble busts of the emperor Hadrian (130 AD) and his favorite Antinous (140 AD). In addition, a figurative relief from the sarcophagus of Praecilia Severiana (225/250 AD) can be seen in the museum.
Asian art
The collection of Asian art is one of the most significant in size and quality in the United States. A special focus within this collection is the Chinese art department . The earliest objects include daggers from the Shang Dynasty . This around 1200 BC Exhibits made from jade and handles made of bronze, materials that were also used for later objects, were created. From the 12th to 11th Century BC BC - also Shang dynasty - the museum shows richly decorated ritual wine and cooking vessels from Yinxu . The same vessels from the 11th – 10th centuries Century BC BC owns the museum from the western Zhou dynasty . The collection also includes a bronze zoomorphic spiral from the same dynasty, dating back to the early 9th century BC. And a bronze tiger mask from the 10th – 9th centuries. Century BC Other bronze objects - including a ritual bell from the 5th century BC. And small sculptures such as horse representations from the 3rd century BC. BC - shows the museum from the eastern Zhou dynasty. Various pottery items from the Han Dynasty , such as vases and bowls, are in the collection. Below is a wine jug with a striking depiction of the head of a duck and a model of a three-story watchtower with figures. The museum has other clay sculptures from the Wei dynasty . These objects from the 6th century show, for example, a few acrobats or two men carrying a drum. A silver-plated bronze mirror with depictions of animals, made around 740 AD, is one of the examples of handicrafts of the Tang Dynasty . Other clay objects from this period show horses, camels and warriors. From later epochs there are sculptures made of wood or bronze depicting Buddha or Bodhisattva , but also lion and dragon figures made of stone.
Some of the earliest porcelains in the museum include vases from the 10th century of the Liao Dynasty . There is also glazed earthenware, such as an ornate vase with dragon decorations from the Song Dynasty . An example of glazed porcelain is a Guanyin figure from the Yuan Dynasty . Colored objects such as vases, plates and figures can be found in the collection from the Ming dynasty . The extensive holdings of the Qing dynasty include small sculptures such as two bisque- porcelain rats , which are dated to the period 1736–95. Other small sculptures made of jade also show animal motifs such as camels, monkeys or lions. In the arts and crafts area, there are also a number of lacquer works such as cans and plates, some of which are inlaid with silver. Some furniture from the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty such as dining tables, tabourets chairs , bookcases and a four-poster bed with alcoves also belong to this collection area.
The Chinese painting collection is particularly rich . The representations date from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty and mostly show landscape or animal motifs, occasionally also portraits of people. These include works by well-known artists such as Lǐ Kàn , Rèn Rénfā , Wáng Fú , Shěn Zhōu , Zhou Chen , Chén Chún , Lù Zhì and Qiú Yīng . Other works of art come from Wén Zhēngmíng , Ding Yunpeng , Dǒng Qíchāng , Kūn Cán , Yun Shouping , Gōng Xián , Yuan Jiang , Zhū Dā , Gāo Qípeì , Zha Shibiao , Shi Tao , Luó Pìn and Jin Nong .
In the field of Japanese art , the museum has a collection of glazed pottery from the Azuchi Momoyama period and a larger group of porcelains with ornate paintings from the Edo period . In addition, the museum shows various lacquer works such as sake bottles , cans and furniture. Other important exhibits are samurai armor from the Azuchi Momoyama period, silk robes and Nō masks. In the field of sculpture, wooden sculptures from the Heian period are among the particularly early exhibits. They represent warriors or Ksitigarbha . Other wooden figures come from the Kamakura period and the Edo period. The holdings of Japanese painting are particularly extensive. The works on display include works by artists such as Tawaraya Sōtatsu , Katsushika Hokusai , Maruyama Ōkyo , Sakai Hōitsu and Yamamoto Baiitsu . Other artists represented in the museum are Shiokawa Bunrin , Torii Kiyomasu I. , Tōshūsai Sharaku , Kitagawa Utamaro , Tomioka Tessai and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi .
In the section for Indian art there are various sandstone heads from Mathura , which date from the 1st – 3rd centuries. Century. A bronze statue of a yaksha from the 2nd century also comes from this area . There are also various sculptural Buddha images. From Dhanesar Khera in Uttar Pradesh there is a bronze Buddha created as a standing figure around the year 400, while another standing Buddha from the Kashmir region is made of bronze with inlaid silver from the 10th-11th centuries. Century is dated. Other sculptural works show Surya , Vishnu , Ganesha or Shiva . In addition, the museum houses Indian paintings from 15-19. Century. From Southeast Asia the museum owns some sculptures from Indonesia ( Java ), Cambodia and Thailand.
The museum shows some small sculptures from the 14th to 18th centuries from Nepal and Tibet. Century, depicting the Bodhisattva , as well as Tibetan woven scroll paintings, so-called thangka . Elaborately designed and painted plates can be found in the holdings from Persia . The objects, mostly made of glazed earthenware, come partly from the city of Kashan . Under the metalwork is a bronze censer in the shape of a tiger from the 12th century, possibly from the area around Khorasan . The museum also has some Persian manuscripts and paintings on paper as well as carpets from the 17th century.
Art from Africa, Oceania and the indigenous peoples of America
It was not until the late 1950s that the systematic development of the African collection began with the purchase of two sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin . This included the depiction of warriors on a brass plate from the 16th or 17th century. Another piece from the Kingdom of Benin shows the head of the goddess Obba . A stool made of wood is lavishly decorated with silver work by the Ashanti in present-day Ghana from the 19th century. The museum owns other sculptures, masks and drinking vessels from today's Democratic Republic of the Congo , Republic of the Congo , Gabon , Cameroon , Nigeria , Ivory Coast and Mali .
A small number of objects come from the Oceania region . The exhibits, mostly made of wood, come from Melanesia , Micronesia and Polynesia . Especially richly decorated and colorful pieces come from Papua New Guinea and the Māori in New Zealand .
Pre-Columbian art in the museum includes exhibits from the Maya , Zapotec , Mixtec , Aztec and Inca . This part of the collection, which has only begun in 1959, includes, for example, a golden eagle sculpture from the Diquis Delta in Costa Rica , an urn made of clay with elaborate figurative decorations by the Zapotecs from Monte Albán in Mexico, or a clay figure of a standing Maya warrior. Other pieces are a cloth cloak with feathers from the Chimú culture or a clay vase from the Moche culture (both in today's Peru).
In addition, the museum has exhibited works of art by North American Indians and Eskimos since it opened in 1933 . These also include pre-Columbian pieces, such as clay vessels from the Pueblo de Cochiti and the Anasazi from what is now the state of New Mexico . The majority, however, dates from the 18th to the early 20th century. Exhibits include a dagger decorated with a bird's head from the Tlingit people of Alaska, a Cheyenne breastplate made from animal materials , basketry from the Apaches from Arizona , the Tsilhqot'in from British Columbia, and the Hoopa and Chumash from California . In addition, there are woven fabrics from the Navajo from Arizona, a cult doll from the Lenni Lenape , feather headdress from the Cheyenne or clothing from the Absarokee and Blackfoot, as well as a Hamatsa mask in the shape of a bird's head from the Kwakwaka'wakw . The museum owns, for example, a wooden mask with feathers from the 19th century from the Eskimos from Alaska or an ivory pipe from the 18th century with depictions of animals.
European art
The department for European art contains objects from the Romanesque to the present day. The earliest collection items include artifacts from European churches and monasteries such as capitals from the 12th century. These sculptures, which come from France, Italy and Catalonia, show people and animals carved in stone. A French reliquary with richly decorated bronze fittings dates from the period 1225–1250 . In the area of medieval sculptures, the museum shows a Catalan depiction of the crucifixion made of painted wood from the 13th century, a French Madonna statue made of ivory or a bronze aquamanile of German origin. Another important piece is a linden wood Madonna by Tilman Riemenschneider, dated 1510 . The museum also has some medieval manuscripts.
Significant works of early Renaissance painting include Italian works such as The Enthroned Virgin with Saints and Angels by Bernado Daddi , Saint Peter by Bartolo di Fredi and the Virgin with Child by Lorenzo Monaco . Other Italian works include A Virgin and Child by Giovanni Bellini and The Virgin with Child and John the Baptist as a Child by Lorenzo di Credi . Early works of the northern schools are The Holy Family of Peter Christ , Portrait of Jean de Carondelet by Jan Gossaert , Virgin with the Carnation by Joos van Cleve, and The Last Judgment and The Three Graces by Lucas Cranach the Elder . Other important paintings of the Renaissance are Portrait of Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle by Titian , Portrait of a Young Man by Bronzino , Christ and the Centurion by Paolo Veronese and Magadalena as Penitent and Portrait of a Monk by El Greco . In addition to some prints - for example by Andrea Mantegna or Albrecht Dürer - the museum also shows sculptures from the Renaissance, such as a Mercury by Giovanni Bologna , as well as Italian majolica , a splendid chest from Italy, and various tapestries .
The Baroque era is represented in the museum in a rich and high-quality way. One of the highlights of the collection here is the painting John the Baptist by Caravaggio . Other Italian baroque paintings are Saint Francis by Guido Reni , Saint Cecilie by Bernardo Strozzi , Wedding Feast at Canaa by Sebastiano Ricci , The Appearance of the Angel to Hagar and Ishmael by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and The Clock Tower in Piazza San Marco by Canaletto . There are also paintings by Spanish artists such as The Entombment of Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Francisco de Zurbarán and The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence by Jusepe de Ribera .
In addition to Flemish painting - for example The Sacrifice of Isaac by Peter Paul Rubens or Summer Harvest by Pieter Brueghel the Younger - there is an extensive inventory of Dutch Baroque painting. These include Portrait of a Young Man by Rembrandt van Rijn , Portrait of a Man by Frans Hals , Self-Portrait at the Age of 50 and Gerard Dou and Interior with Jan Steen and Jan van Goyen by Jan Steen . Other Dutch works are The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Joachim Wtewael , The Beheading of John the Baptist by Hendrick ter Brugghen , Christ is Crowned with Thorns by Dirck van Baburen , a still life by Pieter Claesz , a seascape by Willem van de Velde the Younger , as well Road in the forest of Meindest Hobbema and birds at the gates of a palace by Melchior de Hondecoeter .
French Baroque painting is exemplarily represented in the collection through works such as The Triumph of Bacchus by Nicolas Poussin , Landscape with Watermill by François Boucher , Mill on the Tiber by Claude Lorrain , Still Life with Fish and Cat by Jean Siméon Chardin or the two port views of the port ancient ruins and port with pyramid by Claude Joseph Vernet . The portrait of August the Strong by Nicolas de Largillière is already at the transition to the Rococo . There is also the portrait of Marie-Gabrielle de Gramont by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun or The Terrace at Château de Marly by Hubert Robert . The museum also has a collection of English Baroque paintings, including some miniatures . An example of this is the portrait of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, painted by Nicholas Hilliard . One of the museum's earliest acquisitions is the portrait of Sir George Cooke, Bart. by Joseph Wright of Derby , of whom the museum also shows the landscape at Wyburn Lake . Another English landscape painting is Thomas Gainsborough's painting Repose .
The Baroque art department is also rich in graphic collections. Here you can find works by Francesco Guardi , Jean-Antoine Watteau , Poussin and Rembrandt , among others . In addition, the museum shows an extensive collection of handicrafts from this era. These include English silver work, such as a cup with a lid from the workshop of David Williaume I , or porcelain from the Meißen , Höchst , Sèvres , Sceaux and Vincennes factories . There is also baroque furniture such as an English bookcase, a secretary from Germany with elaborate inlay work, French tables and clocks.
The focus of the holdings of 19th century European painting is on French artists. The works range from the portrait of the sculptor Paul Lemoyne by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres to The Oath of Brutus after the Death of Lucretia by Théodore Géricault to Christ in the Lake of Galilia by Eugène Delacroix . This is followed by the paintings Waiting by Jean-François Millet , View of Lake Garda by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot and Portrait de Jo by Gustave Courbet . In addition, there is a group with impressionist painting , to which the pictures Boulevard des Capucines and Mühle bei Limetz by Claude Monet , The Garden of Les Mathurins in Pontoise , Forest Landscape near L'Hermitage, Pontoise and Poplars, Sunset near Eragny by Camille Pissarro , Portrait de Lise Campineanu by Édouard Manet , Daydream by Berthe Morisot , ballet rehearsal by Edgar Degas and portrait of Richard Gallo by Gustave Caillebotte . The museum owns the paintings Faaturuma by Paul Gauguin and Olive Grove by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, who worked in France, from the Late Impressionists . Other works by French artists of the 19th century are the pointillist pictures Study to the Bathers by Asnier by Georges Seurat and Chateau Gaillard, seen from Antibes by Paul Signac .
Examples of 19th century English painting include the portrait of Emily St. Clare as a Bacchante by John Hoppner , the Portrait of Mrs. William Lock of Norbury by Thomas Lawrence , The Dell at Helminghan Park by John Constable, and Interior of the Gold Room by Anna Alma -Tadema . The museum also has a larger collection of drawings from this period, including works by Honoré Daumier , James Ensor , Edward Lear and Karl Friedrich Schinkel . Important bronze sculptures in the collection are Hercules and Lichas by Antonio Canova , Jaguar kills a hare by Antoine-Louis Barye and Adam by Auguste Rodin .
The European art of the 20th century can be seen with a small number of works in the museum. From the beginning of the century there is a smaller group of French works such as the painting Mont Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cézanne , a water lily painting by Monet, the cityscape of Street in Sannois by Maurice Utrillo and the still life flower vase by the symbolist Odilon Redon . There are also works by German artists such as the portrait of the poet Guthmann by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner , the painting Masks by Emil Nolde , Gaberndorf No. 2 by Lyonel Feininger or the Pyramids of Gizeh by Oskar Kokoschka . Other modern artists represented in the collection are Juan Gris with coffee grinder and glass , Wassily Kandinsky with pink with gray or David Hockney with Invented Man Revealing . The museum also shows various sculptures from the 20th century, such as Great Bathers by Pierre-Auguste Renoir , Ile de France by Aristide Maillol , Der Berserker by Ernst Barlach , Bathers by Jacques Lipchitz and Portrait of Nancy Cunard by Constantin Brâncuși .
American art
One of the earliest works of American painting in the museum is the pair of paintings Portrait of Mr. John Barret and Portrait of Mrs John Barrett by John Singleton Copley from around 1758 . Other early works include Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. John Custance by Benjamin West , Portrait of the Right Honorable John Forster, and Portrait of Dr. William Aspinwall by Gilbert Stuart and Venus Rising from the Sea - A Deception by Raphaelle Peale . The pictures Canvassing for a Vote and Fishing on the Mississippi by George Caleb Bingham and Woodland Waterfall by John Frederick Kensett date from the middle of the 19th century . Landscape painting can be found in the paintings Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives by Frederic Edwin Church , Gloucester Harbor by Winslow Homer , Marsh Scene by Martin Johnson Heade , Schooner Close-Hauled by Alfred Thompson Bricher or The Hudson River at Milton by George Inness . In the style of 17th century Dutch painters, Severin Roesen shows his still life Two-Tiered Still Life from 1867. A typical example of Frederic Remington's Wild West painting is his painting Teaching a Mustang Pony to Pack Game .
Examples of American Impressionist painting are The Duke Pond by Theodore Robinson , Sonata by Childe Hassam , At the Theater by Mary Cassatt or Beach Scene by William Merritt Chase . The portrait of Mrs. Cecil Wade by John Singer Sargent comes from the same period . American art from the early 20th century is represented in the collection through works such as Portrait of Monsignor James P. Turner by Thomas Eakins , Frankie, the Organ Boy by George Bellows , Castle Island by Maurice Prendergast and Portrait of an Irish Boy by Robert Henri . The museum has paintings from the 1930s such as Apple Blossoms by Georgia O'Keeffe , Juggler by Walt Kuhn or Light Battery at Gettysburg by Edward Hopper .
Abstract expressionism as a typical form of expression in American art after the Second World War can be found in the works Boudoir and Woman IV by Willem de Kooning , Number 6, 1952 by Jackson Pollock , Space Ritual No. 6 by Mark Tobey , No. 10 by Ad Reinhardt , Turin by Franz Kline , Untitled by Ellsworth Kelly or Untitled No. 11, 1963 by Mark Rothko . This is followed by close work of Pop Art as Baseball by Andy Warhol , Still Life No. 24 by Tom Wesselmann and Tracer by Robert Rauschenberg . Other American artists like Charles Sheeler with Conference No. 1 , Larry Rivers with Berdie with the American Flag , Andrew Wyeth with Battleground , James Rosenquist with Venturi and Blue Pinion or the hyperrealist Richard Estes with Central Savings can also be found in the collection.
The museum also shows sculptural works such as Switches Sketch by Claes Oldenburg , Large Stack by Donald Judd , Horse by Deborah Butterfield and The Crommelynck Gate with Tools by Jim Dine . The museum also collects works by well-known photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz , Walker Evans and Ansel Adams . American handicrafts include furniture from the Declaration of Independence as well as porcelain and silver work from the end of the 19th century.
photography
In 2006 the Hallmark company donated the Hallmark Photographic Collection to the museum , which includes works from the history of photography from 1839 to the present day. The collection focuses on works by American photographers such as Southworth & Hawes , Carleton Watkins , Timothy O'Sullivan , Alvin Langdon Coburn , Alfred Stieglitz , Dorothea Lange , Homer Page , Harry Callahan , Lee Friedlander , Andy Warhol , Todd Webb , Manuel Rivera-Ortiz or Cindy Sherman . The museum thus contains one of the most important photography collections in the world.
literature
- Roger Ward, Patricia J. Fidler: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, A Handbook of the Collection. Hudson Hill Press, New York 1993, ISBN 1-555-95090-6 .
Web links
- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (English)
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 39 ° 2 ′ 42 " N , 94 ° 34 ′ 51" W.