Philadelphia Museum of Art
Title: Great Stair Hall, Philadelphia Museum of Art featuring
Alexander Calder's "Ghost" of 1964
Photo by: Graydon Wood, 1999
Image Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí, Italian Master Drawings and American ceramicist Toshiko Takaezu are among the current and future exhibits at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). Add their impressive collection of European art and any time is a good time to visit Philadelphia. An added bonus for those who visit before the end of March is a
rare opportunity to enjoy Vermeer's A Woman Seated at the Virginals.
Salvador Dali
February 16 - May 15, 2005
Title: Tilted Head Portrait, Salvador Dalí, 1942
Artist: Philippe Halsman (American, born Latvia, 1906-1979)
Medium: Gelatin Silver Print
Dimensions: 13 5/8 x 10 3/4 in
© Philippe Halsman Estate
Courtesy: Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York
Image Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Artist. PR genius. Eccentric. All are worthy descriptions of the unique
Spaniard Salvador Dalí. Celebrating the centennial of his birth an exhibit
has been organized that will be on view in Philadelphia in early 2005. There
will never be another with his joie de vivre and unique flair.
The artist famously lectured at the Sorbonne, with one foot in a pail of
milk. Another lecture he delivered while wearing a boiled lobster on top of
his head. His antics were legendary, and the most well known of all is
remembered for it nearly cost him his life.
In 1936 Salvador Dalí spoke at the London International Surrealist
Exhibition. He opted to wear a diving suit that he had bolted shut shortly
before walking on stage. In perhaps an err of judgment or oversight Dalí
neglected to have oxygen attached to the air tight suit. The audience
applauded loudly while enthusiastically watching the artist's realistic rendition
of suffocation for lack of air. As his gestures increased so too did the
thunderous cheers and applause. Luckily for Dalí one member of the audience
came to his rescue and the diving suit was opened allowing him to breath
again.
Title: The Railway Station at Perpignan, 1965
Artist: Salvador Dalí (Spanish 1904-1989)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 116 x 160 in
Permanent Collection: Cologne, Museum Ludwig
Image Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Certainly there is critical thought that his actions overshadowed his
work, or worse, brought him undeserved recognition. The obvious response is,
could a less impassioned eccentric produce the surreal masterpieces as Dalí
did? Like many arguments in the art world, it's a question that can't really
be answered. The works however stand as a testament to the genius of Dalí.
Title: Soft Construction with Boiled Beans - Premonition of Civil War, 1936
Artist: Salvador Dalí (Spanish 1904-1989)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 39 x 39 in
Permanent Collection: The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection,
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
Image Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, besides being a host of the Dalí
Centennial Exhibit, has loaned one of the of his most celebrated pieces,
Soft Construction with Boiled Beans - Premonition of Civil War, to the traveling exhibit.
Italian Master Drawings
1540 to the Present
Opens October 30, 2004 runs through February 20, 2005For over
thirty years various museum collections across the world have been featured in
each series of Grandi disegni italiani, or Italian Master Drawings. The
Philadelphia Museum of Art has been honored this year with the inclusion of
portions from their Italian Master Drawings in Grandi disegni italiani,
published by Amilcare Pizzi S.p.A.
"Anyone who is enchanted by the lure of Italy and its extraordinary artistic
legacy in painting and drawing will find this to be an especially auspicious
time to visit the Museum," opines Anne d'Harnoncourt, Director of the
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "When Amilcare Pizzi, the renowned publisher in
Milan of the Great Italian Drawings series invited us to offer a
selection from our collection for publication we were deeply honored."
Naturally, to coincide with this honor, the museum has organized an exhibit of
150 works from their Italian Master Drawings catalogue.
On display will be works by such noted Italians as Giuseppe Cades, Guercino,
Giovanni Boldini, Amedeo Modigliani and many more.
Title: Samson and Delilah, 1646
Artist: Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino (Italian, 1591-1666)
Medium: Pen and Brown Ink (Iron Gall), on Cread Laid Paper, mounted down on
Holkham
Dimensions: 201 x 242 mm (7 15/16 x 9 9/16 in.)
Purchased with: The Alice Newton Osborn Fund, The Lola Downin Peck Fund, and the
John D. McIlhenny Fund, 1994.
Image Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri is more commonly known by his nickname Il
Guercino or The Squinter. It is believed he was so named because of an eye
problem that resulted from a childhood accident. The artist was largely self
taught. In 1621 his Patron, Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi became Pope Gregory XV
and the artist was almost immediately summoned to Rome. The Pope's subsequent
death two years hence prompted the artist to return to his native Centro before
moving to Bologna in 1642. Guernico was regarded as the leading painter of
Bologna until his death.Importantly, Guernico was widely regarded as among
the best draftsmen of Italy and luckily he did not destroy his preparatory
drawings as some did, notably Michelangelo. Guernico particularly enjoyed
creating drawing and produced many for his own personal enjoyment rather than studies for his commissions.
Title: Armida Gazes on
the Sleeping Rinaldo, c 1785
Artist: Giuseppe Cades, (Italian 1750-1799)
Medium: Black, white, yellow, orange, blue,
brown, and
gray chalks, on heavy cream laid paper,
Dimensions: 12 3/8 x 17 3/8"
Purchase: with the Henry P. McIlhenny Fund in
memory of Frances P. McIlhenny, with funds contributed by George M. Cheston, and
with the Lola Downin Peck Fund and the Carl and Laura Zigrosser Collection (by
exchange), 1990-49-1,
Image Courtesy: The Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Poetry of Clay
The Art of Toshiko Takaezu
Opened August 7, 2004 runs through March 6, 2005
Hawaiian native, Toshiko Takaezu, studied ceramics with Maija Grotell and
weaving with Marianne Strengell.
Takaezu altered the then accepted norm of creating functional
ceramics, such as vases, bowls and plates, by sealing the openings and
taking the medium to a dynamic new level. This process began in 1958 and she
has continued to modify and create these, as she calls them "forms", ever
since.
As she explained, "You are not an artist simply because you paint or
sculpt or make pots that cannot be used. An artist is a poet in his or her
own medium. When an artist produces a good piece, that work has mystery, an
unsaid quality; it is alive."
Felice Fischer, the Luther W. Brady Curator of Japanese Art and Curator
of East Asian Art at the PMA adds, "Takaezu embarked on an exploration of
her own Japanese heritage during a trip to Japan, where she studied the
traditional tea ceremony, lived in a Zen Buddhist temple and visited renowned
Japanese ceramists, Hamada Shoji, Kitaoji Rosanjin and Kaneshige Toyo among
others. In the process Takaezu discovered that what really held resonance
for her was not necessarily the pottery itself, but the ineffable
aesthetic and philosophy of the East."
Title: Ceramic Form, 1980
Artist: Toshiko Takaezu (American, b. 1922)
Medium: Porcelain
Dimensions: Height 7 3/4 inches
Permanent Collection: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Gift of: Mrs. Robert L. McNeil, Jr. 1997
Image Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art
The exhibit spans the artist's oeuvre from small objects that can fit in
the palm of one's hand to items over six feet tall.
Permanent Collection
Title: Aerial View Philadelphia Museum of Art
Photo by: Bob Crist
Image Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art
The PMA was founded in 1876 and its collection comprises over 300,000
objects. Among its many notables are
- Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers
- Paul Cézanne's Large Bathers
- Henri Matisse's Mademoiselle Yvonne Landsberg
- Pablo Picasso's Self-Portrait, 1906
- Constanin Brancusi's The Kiss
- Fernand Leger's The City
- the most important collection of works by Thomas Eakins, a native
Philadelphian
That is just a sampling of the numerous objects available to the visitor.
The PMA collection spans many genres such as East Asian art , Renaissance
masterpieces, Impressionist works, a collection of refined furniture and
silver by early Philadelphia artisans and so much more. The neoclassical
building contains over 200 galleries covering some 600,000 square feet.
Anytime is a good time to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art! With the
the Dalí Centennial, Italian Master Drawings and
Poetry of Clay exhibits alongside the wonderful permanent collections this
is time to plan a trip to the city of Brotherly Love.
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