This summer the Denver Art Museum will showcase the work of artist Tom Wesselmann, who is best known for his role in the development of pop art in the 1960s. Beyond Pop Art: A Tom Wesselmann Retrospective follows the evolution of the artist’s work through the course of four decades. This five-part blog series is designed to complement the exhibition by calling out five defining moments that shaped Wesselmann’s approach to artmaking.
Planning a visit to the Denver Art Museum soon? We put together some suggestions for fun things you and your family can see and do while you’re here.
Note: Check out summer activities at the Denver Art Museum to inspire you and your family and use the hashtag #FunAtTheDAM to show off your creations.
Not long after the opening of the Denver Art Museum’s exhibition Passport to Paris Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the DAM, received an unusual package. The last thing he expected to find inside of the manila envelope was a priceless piece of art.
The Shop at the Denver Art Museum is excited to launch an expanded selection of creative products for children, families, and the young at heart. We have completely transformed the Shop in the North Building. Beginning May 30 shelves will be full of supplies and kits that will spark imagination in kids of all ages.
Fascinated by science and technology, Lucio Fontana refused to think of science and art as two distinct entities. First known for his sculptures, it wasn’t until 1949, at the age of 48, that Fontana explored the style of 'spatial concepts' that he is most well-known for today. From that time on, Fontana began using “concetto spaziale” (spatial concepts) accompanied by a secondary, or more referential word or term. These 2-D pieces were characterized by holes, slashes, or cuts through the canvas surface.
“I tried to keep the paint as good as it was in the can.” American artist Frank Stella first gained the attention of the art world with his “Black Paintings,” which he created between 1958 and 1960. The compositions of these paintings fall into one of two groups: the earlier paintings are rectilinear and the later ones are based on a diamond pattern. Stella began these “Black Paintings” by drawing lines with pencil and ruler, the black stripes were then painted by hand without the use of any tape or other straight-line assistance.
Born in Barcelona in 1893, Joan Miró began sketching as a child, filling notebooks with his landscapes drawings. Sadly, in 1910 he was forced by his father to give up art altogether and thus stopped attending classes at the art academy La Llotja and became a clerk at a pharmacy instead. However, by 1911 he decided to go against family wishes and paint full-time. As a struggling artist, Miró was under such severe financial hardship that he would often go without eating for a day. However, in Miró’s eyes this was not a bad thing.
Note: Helen Frankenthaler is one of the artists featured in Women of Abstract Expressionism, which will be on view at the Denver Art Museum June 12-September 25, 2016. This blog was originally published for the Modern Masters exhibition.
As a museum educator, I find most of my days at work to be wonderful, but, every once in a while, my job provides me with some truly extraordinary experiences. Like when eight Colorado Scholastics winners were chosen by the Denver Art Museum for an “artist encounter” with our current Native Arts Artist in Residence, Rose B. Simpson. The artist encounter on March 24 was a rare opportunity for these young sculptors to speak with Rose, tour her works on view, and spend a little time in her studio creating. (Photos in slide show below.)
On March 11, the DAM and Children’s Hospital Colorado hosted a painting party at the hospital campus in Aurora for patients, families, and staff. Participants created paintings in the style of Jackson Pollock to celebrate the opening of Modern Masters: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Pollock is known for dripping, splattering, and pouring paint that created larger-than-life works of art.
The DAM is publishing a blog series that will highlight some of the artists whose work is in Modern Masters: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. We will share a little about the artist’s biography and inspiration, and details about a key artwork in the exhibition. Check back to learn more about some of the superstars of modern art whose work is on view in Modern Masters.
For Wassily Kandinsky, music and color were inextricably tied to one another. So clear was this relationship that Kandinsky associated each note with an exact hue. He once said, “the sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with bass notes or dark lake with treble.”