Like many artists before her, Jordan Casteel is drawn to Harlem's vibrant street life and arts scene. Casteel's early paintings depicted black men and their relationships with one another. Later, the people and streets of Harlem became the subject of her work. As the artist shifted her gaze to her community at large, a focus on locally owned businesses emerged—the Ethiopian restaurant that she frequents, a shop owned by an acquaintance—which led to more frequent representations of women.
An example of the Eames' effort to design and produce economical household furniture.
The Only Woman Artist in the Berger Collection
As the only woman artist in the Berger Collection, Angelica Kauffman was ahead of her time—way ahead.
Let’s dive a little deeper into the history of one of the photographs in this exhibition: Frank Eugene’s The Cat.
A selection of old favorites and exciting new additions from the Western American Art collection are currently on display in the Hamilton Building. The oldest oil painting in the western American art collection—Charles Bird King’s portrait of Hayne Hadjuhini, the young wife of an Oto chief—was painted in 1822, when many American Indian tribes traveled to Washington, DC to negotiate treaties. In fact, most of the nineteenth-century western paintings now on display were painted on the East Coast.
Studio Paintings
Looking for something fun to do Memorial Day Weekend? The Denver Art Museum has you covered. Check out current exhibitions including the new Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer (already generating a lot of buzz), Stampede: Animals in Art, and visitor favorite La Musidora (which is back for another summer!). All exhibitions and activities this weekend are included with general admission, which is free for members and youth 18 and younger.
Friday, May 25
Frederic Remington’s The Cheyenne is considered one of the most important works in the Denver Art Museum's western American art collection. The title, The Cheyenne, gives the tribal affiliation of the rider, but the rest of the narrative has been left to the viewer’s imagination. He could be in pursuit of startled prey, calling back to his fellow hunters to excite fervor for the chase, or perhaps he is the prey, and his head turns slightly to look at his pursuer.
In the Saddled/Ensillados section of Stampede: Animals in Art a string of multi-colored horses gallop, buck, and rear above other equine-related artworks. In 1936 artist Frank Mechau (pronounced “may-show”, 1904–1946) prepared this 60-foot-long study for a mural in the courtyard of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Uniting the diverse influences of his travels to artistic hubs of the early twentieth century–including Chicago, New York, Paris, Munich, and Florence–this work also reflects Mechau’s lifelong interest in the subjects of his native American West.
The DAM invites you to summon your inner turtle for our inaugural Slow Art Day, an international event with the simple mission to help more people discover for themselves the joy of looking at and loving art. On April 14, people all over the world will visit museums and galleries to look at art slowly, lingering with five works of art for 10 minutes each and then joining back up for a conversation about the experience. Though simple in design, you might be surprised at the discoveries that happen just by taking the time to look.
The Denver Art Museum is one of the largest art museums between Chicago and the West Coast, with a collection of more than 70,000 works of art. While the North Building is being renovated, the museum will be hosting cross-departmental exhibitions to display artworks from visitor favorites to ones that are rarely seen. The first such exhibition, Stampede: Animals in Art, is a celebration of the DAM's extensive collection that explores how animals are used in art.
The annual Western American Art Symposium this year is called Beyond America’s Heartland: Regionalism and the Art of the American West. This full-day event hosted by the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum takes place on Thursday, January 4, 2018. Featuring four presentations by leading scholars from across the United States, this symposium examines regionalism and its impact on artists working in the American West.
Before the symposium, take our quiz to see how much you know about regionalism.
QUIZ