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.
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.
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.”
Boulder niche perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes is becoming somewhat of a creative fixture at the Denver Art Museum. She’s taken inspiration from various exhibitions and programs to develop custom-made perfumes that relate to the works of art on view. For Passport to Paris, she crafted nine signature scents based on drawings and paintings from all three exhibitions. I spent some time sniffing my way through each scent in the Court to Café gift shop, and marveled at the variety of aromas that announced themselves to my nose.
Linda Aguilar is not a typical basket maker. Her horsehair baskets combine traditional Chumash Indian basketry techniques with non-traditional materials. Think bingo chips, beads and sequins, and even bits and pieces of credit cards. Actually, nothing about Linda is typical. Not the way she learned to weave, her teaching style, or her apple pie—all of which are extraordinary.
Alfred Sisley was born and lived in France for most of his life, but inherited British nationality from his father and never received French citizenship. Although he was raised in Paris, he lived in the outskirts of the city for most of his life, finally settling near Fontainebleau in 1880.
Key piece to look for: Seine at Bougival (La Seine à Bougival), 1873
Édouard Manet primarily worked in Paris, where he painted café singers, horse races, outdoor social gatherings, and other scenes of modern urban life. “We are not in Rome and we don’t want to go there,” he said, expressing his concern that artists should paint contemporary life as they knew it, instead of following the tradition of copying Italian Old Master paintings. “We are in Paris, let’s stay here.” He did occasionally travel to Spain and the Netherlands to study other artists’ work, and to the coasts of France, where he painted The Beach at Berck.
Berthe Morisot lived and worked primarily in the Rue des Moulins district of Paris. Her proximity to Paris’ museums and circle of artists gave her the opportunity to study under Camille Corot and become close friends with Édouard Manet, whose brother she eventually married.
Key piece to look for: Lesson in the Garden (La Leçon au Jardin) 1886.