Every year between 1908 and 1952, Swedish-born American artist Sven Birger Sandzén (1871-1954) traveled into the Colorado Rockies and produced vibrant interpretations of the state’s “beauty of bigness.” Thanks to the generosity of the DAM Westerners, the Petrie Institute of Western American Art’s acquisitions group, Sandzén’s A Mountain Symphony (Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado) is on display to the public for the first time in 90 years.
The 'American Van Gogh'
Note: This blog was originally published for the exhibition Drawn to Action. Since Don't Buy Ivory is on view again in Stampede: Animals in Art, we are republishing it.
Artists have used varnishes to coat their paintings since the 1400s—some claim as early as the eleventh century. Varnishes serve to saturate the paint colors, provide some degree of protection for the paint surface, and to impart an even surface sheen. Some artists have used varnishes as an aesthetic medium, mixing resins into wet paint to create rich translucency or selectively applying them to juxtapose areas of matte and gloss.
Conservation & Varnish
Thomas Evans, a.k.a. Detour, is an interactive visual artist experimenting with the intersections of art, music, and technology. Detour is the Denver Art Museum’s Fall 2017 Creative-in-Residence. His residency runs October 1 through November 30, 2017.
Laura Ann Samuelson is a choreographer, dancer, teacher of performance. She was the DAM’s creative-in-residence in July and August, 2017.
For a painting that is over 300 years old, The Virgin of Valvanera is in remarkably good condition. One would fully expect that a painting of this age has undergone several attempts at restoration (by both skilled and amateur hands). Contrary to what is usually the case, this painting has not incurred major structural damage in the form of tears or losses, has never been lined (i.e. attached to a secondary canvas or solid support material), and has not been severely over-cleaned or extensively repainted.
The DAM is amongst a small group of museums that have such a captivating card catalog.
As part of the research for the conservation treatment of the painting The Virgin of Valvanera, attributed to Cristóbal de Villalpando, a team from the Denver Art Museum traveled to Mexico City in March, 2017. There, the team was fortunate to visit several sites and meet with specialists on Mexican painting of the baroque period.
Art conservation is a field that encompasses a breadth of expertise. As we roll up our sleeves in anticipation of improvements and potential discoveries, a plan that will provide optimum preservation is essential.
Entering its seventh year, the Bank of America Art Conservation Project has funded more than 100 projects in 29 countries, on six continents. In 2016, the Denver Art Museum was among 21 institutions to receive one of these prestigious grants. As a result of this generous support, the conservation and New World curatorial departments will be able to undertake the full scope of historical and technical research as well as the conservation treatment of a very important painting from the museum's Spanish Colonial collection.
The Denver Art Museum is looking for its next creative-in-residence to work alongside staff and visitors May through August 2017 (selection criteria and submission guidelines). Our creative-in-residence program invites creatives working in a range of non-traditional mediums to cocreate work with us that responds to our museum collections and also looks to actively engage visitors in new ways.
Mar Williams worked with local “hackers” on an interactive installation which explored the connection between technology, art, and individual identity.