During the planning phases of Court to Café, one of three exhibitions in the Passport to Paris suite, the exhibition team wanted to create an immersive experience for visitors. While the paintings, decorative arts, and historic clothing on view “sing” on their own, we felt that adding music to the mix would offer another layer of delight to the galleries and give an additional peek into the culture of the 1600s–1900s, three rich centuries of French history.
While we generally shine the spotlight on one of our stunning works of art, in this blog post I want to illuminate the oft overlooked frame. Recently, museum supporter Kent Logan loaned a new artwork by Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman for the exhibition Sovereign: Independent Voices. The painting, titled History is Painted by the Victors, is steeped in historical art references and recreates a painting by nineteenth-century artist Albert Bierstadt.
Our celebration of textiles this year continues now that we have launched several more exciting projects at the DAM–the Thread Studio, a brand new textile gallery, and the opening of PreVIEW. The special spaces you may have discovered during Spun are still on view and now offer a suite of regular programming.
The successful conservation of the sedan chair now on display in Court to Café relied on a collaborative approach with conservators providing expertise in the treatment of furniture, objects, paintings, and textiles. As presented in Part 1 of this blog, the leather, paintings, and textile components of the sedan chair all needed attention. The goal of the treatment was to stabilize and visually integrate these elements through minimal treatment and using stable and reversible conservation materials, as required by conservation ethics.
In August, a conservation project on the sculpture Big Sweep was completed. Big Sweep was designed by artists Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg, who worked closely with fabricator Carlson & Co. to realize the sculpture in its final form.
Passport to Paris is in full swing at the Denver Art Museum, and it has been fueling lots of our projects and programs for families.
I have been using the amazing three-part exhibition as inspiration for our Winter Break called, Bienvenue (which is how you say "welcome" in French). I decided to focus on Court to Café, one of the three shows in Passport to Paris, because it’s all about the luxury and grandeur of 300 years of French art and culture.
Note: Passport to Paris was on view October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014. Degas: A Passion for Perfection opens at the Denver Art Museum February 11, 2018.
Edgar Degas was born in Paris in 1834 to a wealthy banking family. After spending three years in Italy copying Italian master paintings, he returned to Paris, focusing on a variety of contemporary subjects—including dancers, race horses, seascapes, and brothel scenes. Although he travelled extensively in the early 1870s, Degas spent the majority of the rest of his career in Paris.
Camille Pissarro was born in St. Thomas (then part of the Danish West Indies) and lived there most of his young adult life, except when he attended school in Paris from 1842 to 1847. He moved to France in 1855, first establishing himself in Paris and then living in various towns in the countryside outside the city. He did not travel as extensively as other impressionists, choosing to focus on painting the landscapes around the villages he lived in.
Vincent van Gogh was born in the Netherlands in 1853 and lived there during his formational years as an artist. He briefly attended the Academie des Beaux Arts in Brussels and moved around the Netherlands, immersing himself in the lives of the peasants that he painted. In 1886, he moved to Paris, where he met Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro through his brother Theo, who ran a successful art dealership. He moved to southern France in 1888, where the bright sun and rich landscapes further inspired his vibrant use of color.
Claude Monet’s love of water lilies is well documented in his artistic output. Monet’s pond in Giverny became his universe during the last two decades of his life, providing the subject for more than 300 artworks. He became a master gardener, continually adding new specimens for artistic inspiration. (See Monet's profile in our series of Passport to Paris artist profiles.)
The team at The Shop at the Denver Art Museum is ready to recommend creative and fun gift ideas to take the stress out of shopping this holiday season. Find something for everyone on your list – all at a great price! The Museum Shop offers unique, artistic merchandise that will make any celebration a memorable one. Read on for suggestions – grouped by budget and who is on your list.
Gifts for Women
Claude Monet moved to Paris in 1862 and worked in and around the city for the beginning of his career, briefly moving to his family home in Normandy in 1867 due to poverty. In 1870 he moved to London to escape the Franco-Prussian War. He moved to Giverny in 1883 where he spent the rest of his life creating and painting his elaborate flower garden. Facing poverty most of his life, Monet traveled extensively in order to find new subjects to paint and widen the range of appeal for his prospective buyers.
Key piece to look for: Waterlilies, 1904