New Mexico Museum of Art

07/09/2020

"The birth, death and resurrection of Christ: from Michelangelo to Tiepolo"

Michelangelo constructs his powerful composition with two triangles, one at the bottom of the drawing formed by the mourners at the foot of the cross, and the other at the top formed by the three crosses. This formula draws the eye upward to the body of Christ. It is possible that this drawing was intended as a model for a private devotional sculpture that was either never made or lost to time.

Michelangelo, The Three Crosses, 1521–24, red chalk, touches of wash. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

07/07/2020

A tale of an incredible outdoor art gallery, courtesy of Sam Rykels, Preparator 🗿🌿🎨
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I really admire people that can pull off big ambitious projects. My neighbors, Nicasio and Janet Stein Romero, staged an annual sculpture and gallery show on their property for twenty years or so. The participants ranged anywhere from 40+ to nearly 100 artists. The invitations (images 4 and 5), one from 1991 and the other from 2001, show the artists they included. The opening day events — usually on Father’s Day — included music and Flamenco dancers, and the exhibition lasted nearly a month. The event became so popular that they hired a parking attendant and used a neighbor’s field for parking the large crowds. The last of “The El Ancon Outdoor Sculpture Show” (sculpture garden and gallery) was around 2009-2010. The exhibition was both an art exhibit and offered gallery sales (images 1-3, 6-7 show the installations).
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Many of the pieces Nicasio created were considered permanent and still exist today. The pieces that are visible from the road are “El Torreon de El Ancon” (image 9) and a few Kivas, made of adobe and/or stone. The “Caracol,” (image 8), acircular Nautilus-shaped meditation spiral, is pictured but cannot be seem from the road. There are just a few other artworks that can be seen, mostly only by Nicasio. Some are left over from the events. (Images
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When I purchased my property next door to the Romeros it was too late. I had missed the whole extravagant event. I had no idea of the size of their undertaking and its ambitious nature. I would have loved to have participated! I could have helped park cars. It must have been an impressive celebration.
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All images are courtesy of Nicasio and Janet Stein Romero
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#installation #sculpture #sculpturegarden #outdoorart #outdoorinstallation #outdoorgallery #artgallery #artexhibition #newmexico #newmexicomuseumofart #newmexicoculture

07/06/2020

Summertime in the courtyard 🌿☀️🌶
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#newmexicomuseumofart #newmexicoculture #summertime #summer #sun #sunlight #courtyard #museumsoftheworld #newmexico #santafe

07/02/2020

"The birth, death and resurrection of Christ: from Michelangelo to Tiepolo"

This tender nativity scene would be easily recognizable to anyone who has visited a newborn. The focus is on the tender exchange between Mary and her new baby while the angels and animals present in the stable look on adoringly. Here, the divinity of Christ is subtly represented by the light he radiates while the emotional sensitivity of the scene is very human.

Gregorio de’ Ferrari, The Nativity, 1659-1726, pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white, on light brown paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

06/30/2020

B. J. O. Nordfeldt (American, born Sweden, 1878 - 1955), "Antelope Dance," 1919, oil on canvas. Museum purchase with funds from the Archaeological Society & Friends of Southwestern Art, 1920
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Bro Julius Olsson (B. J. O.) Nordfeldt (American, born Sweden, 1878-1955) emigrated from Sweden with his family in 1891 to Chicago where he began his training at the Art Institute. When he was chosen to become an assistant muralist for the McCormick Harvester Company’s murals at the 1900 Paris Exhibition, he traveled to Paris and studied at the Academie Julian where he was greatly influenced by the works of Gaugin, Cezanne and the Fauvists. Following a decade of painting, printmaking, and study in Chicago and Europe, Nordfeldt visited Santa Fe at the invitation of William Penhallow Henderson, a former classmate at the Art Institute. He felt an immediate affinity for the people and landscape of New Mexico and in 1919, Nordfeldt moved to Santa Fe where he remained for the next twenty years.
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Nordfeldt’s first New Mexico paintings were often Cézannesque renderings of Native American ceremonial dances as seen in Antelope Dance (oil on canvas, 41 ¼ x 50 ½ in. 1919). Nordfeldt was thought to have based this composition on Cézanne’s famous painting of bathers while also alluding to Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian imagery. With his use of repetition, bold imagery and vibrant, complementary colors, Nordfeldt conveys the movement and heightened emotion of the ceremonial dance.
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What’s the first thing in the work that catches your attention?

What’s the strongest emotional human-interest spot in the painting?

How does your eye move through the painting? What choices did the artist make to make that happen?

How does the artist’s use of color, perspective and other visual elements communicate the central idea of the work?

06/29/2020

Ruth LaNore, Head of Registration and Collections, shares one of her favorites 👩🏻‍🌾🌽🌿
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I have always had a strong affection for the rich, black and white prints of Kenneth Miller Adams, not only because I love black and white prints and photography, but because Adams’ works so clearly and effectively communicate the world inhabited by most Americans up until the mid-20th century. Adams’ people are strong, working women and men, grown from the earth, and still connected to her by bonds of blood and toil. The women in this lithograph could be of any age, any ethnicity. While Adams was depicting New Mexicans, their story is the story of people throughout the world who grow and gather the food they eat, share, trade and sell. While this way of life has largely passed in our country, other than in smaller home and community gardens, for people in many other countries this remains a constant.
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Adams came to New Mexico in 1925 at the urging of Andrew Dasburg, and became one of the early members of the Taos Society of Artists. His love of the solid, everyday working people of New Mexico made his prints stand out from the more romantic artworks created by his companions. He was part of the Treasury Relief Art Project and the Public Works of Art Project, both New Deal projects which kept working artists employed. Adams’ interest in the people of New Mexico did not end with government funding. This lithograph has been dated to 1940, several years after the New Deal art programs ended.
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As someone who was taught to garden, sew, cook and do for herself, when I see this piece I feel connected to my grandmother and our ancestors who were also closely tied to the earth. To what does art connect you?
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Kenneth Miller Adams, “Harvest,” n.d., lithograph, 11 x 9 in. Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Bequest of Vivian Sloan Fiske, 1978 (4359.23G)
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#staffpicks #kennethmilleradams #blackandwhite #blackandwhiteprint #printmaking #print #newmexico #newmexicans #newdeal #newdealart #taossocietyofartists #connection #earth #newmexicomuseumofart #newmexicoculture

06/27/2020

What's Inside

The New Mexico Museum of Art presents "What’s Inside," a crowd-sourced digital exhibition curated by Merry Scully, Head of Curatorial Affairs, Curator of Contemporary Art
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The images in "What’s Inside" were all selected from photographs posted to Instagram using the hashtag #NMAWhatsInside, and reveal a few responses to the recently imposed period of containment and introspection. With so many working from home and canceling summer plans, we are spending extended amounts of time within a very limited space. The reeling-in of our range of experiences brings with it shifts in perceptions and meanings. Protracted time inside allows for extended observation of our surroundings and seems to encourage more frequent (and uninterrupted) internal dialogues. Odd things are amplified, meanings are changed, and perspectives are altered. These artists reveal multiple experiences of various insides, both eerie and clever.
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https://vimeo.com/432542111 #nmawhatsinside #whatsinside #virtualexhibit #virtualexhibition #museumfromhome #artmuseum #artexhibition #museumsoftheworld #newmexicomuseumofart #newmexicoculture

This is "What's Inside" by Museum of New Mexico Foundation on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

06/25/2020

"The birth, death and resurrection of Christ: from Michelangelo to Tiepolo"

This scene of the crucifixion with a tempest of wind whipping the clothing of the mourning figures focuses on the drama and emotional impact of Christ’s death. Though the figures of Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist at the foot are typical witnesses to the crucifixion, the artist makes the unusual choice to include the figure of God the father, shown at the top left, descending from heaven to grieve for his suffering son.

Salvatore or Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, The Crucifixion, 1631–70, oil paint on paper. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

06/24/2020

Opening virtually • Saturday, June 27th at 3pm • on Instagram and Facebook • “What’s Inside” • A crowd-sourced exhibit • Curated by Merry Scully, Head of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Contemporary Art
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Brad Trone, Untitled (Grocery Bags)
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#nmawhatsinside #whatsinside #virtualexhibit #virtualexhibition #museumfromhome #artexhibition #artmuseum #museumsoftheworld #newmexicomuseumofart #newmexicoculture

06/22/2020

Today’s Staff Favorite comes to you from Assistant Registrar, Michael Reyes 🏞☀️🌵
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With the stay-at-home orders still in place, many citizens, including I, have had the itch to just get OUT. Thankfully, the national, state, and municipal parks have been open and everyone has been respectful of social distancing practices while visiting them. My visit to the Rio Grande Gorge area was my opportunity to get out. Upon arriving, I was lucky to be the only one on a specific trail. I do not consider myself an experienced hiker, so the thought of trekking this alone was exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. The hike offered wild flora growing amongst the towering boulders, hidden green meadows that looked like mirages, and soaring cliffs that were outlined by the clear blue sky. By the time I arrived at the overlook I was drenched in sweat, panting, and aching in places I didn’t know existed. As I reached the overlook, my breath was taken away by the vastness and beauty of what was in front of me. My immediate reaction was to take a photograph before relaxing in the shade.
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Like Raymond Belcher, many individuals, photographers or not, try to capture the beauty of nature. Through various mediums they try to invoke the feelings that one experiences at that very moment. I tried doing the same, and learned that it is much harder than it looks. What I do know is that we all share the same feelings of awe and wonder. Depictions of these moments may not look the same for each of us, but they do capture our personal memories of what it was that took our breath away — just as Mr. Belcher's photo did for me.
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Raymond Belcher, “Navajo Mountain”, 1979, gelatin silver print. Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Gift of Gil Hitchcock, 1984 (1984.573.1)
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#riogrande #riograndegorge #navajomountain #raymondbelcher #photograph #photography #photographer #desert #newmexico #flora #hiking #staffpick #newmexicoculture #newmexicomuseumofart

06/19/2020

William Penhallow Henderson (American, 1877 - 1943), "Landscape (Cerro Gordo Before the Sangre de Cristo Mountains)," circa 1930, oil on board, 32 x 40 in. On long term loan from the Fine Arts Program, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration
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William Penhallow Henderson first visited Santa Fe as a boy in the early 1880s when his parents took up cattle ranching. He returned thirty years later with his wife Alice Corbin, a well-known poet, to make their permanent home here in 1916. William Henderson left a lasting legacy of fine art and architecture to include six WPA murals for the U.S. Courthouse and Santa Fe and the design of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe. Henderson was also one of the founders of the New Mexico Painters Society.
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It’s works like this one for which he is most remembered. Henderson was able to capture the vivid color of the light and landscape of New Mexico. By incorporating sharp contrasting colors – yellow and purple – this work makes a bold, dramatic statement that draws viewers into the composition.

· How do you personally relate or connect to the painting?

· How did the artist use line, shape and color to contribute to
the mood of the painting?

· How would you describe the artwork to someone who has
never seen it?

06/18/2020

The birth, death and resurrection of Christ: from Michelangelo to Tiepolo #6

“The birth, death and resurrection of Christ: from Michelangelo to Tiepolo” traveling exhibition of more than fifty drawings and prints, organized by the British Museum from their extensive collection, tells the story of Italian art beginning with the Renaissance and ending in the mid-nineteenth century through an examination of how artists have depicted the saga of Christ.

06/17/2020

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has announced her intent to appoint a racial justice czar within her office and an advisory Council for Racial Justice to monitor state institutions and hold them accountable for ending systemic racism and assuring that all persons receive fair and equal treatment and opportunities.

As a division of the state, we will diligently engage in the work of the Council, while continuing to live our mission to “explore the human experience, new ideas, and diverse cultures.”

We are listening and learning, with work ahead of us.

To read more about the Governor's Advisory Council for Racial Justice, please visit https://www.governor.state.nm.us/governors-advisory-council-for-racial-justice/. To read our full mission statement, please visit http://nmartmuseum.org/about-us/.

06/16/2020

Artist May Stevens would have celebrated her 96 birthday on June 9 of this year🎂 The artist moved to New Mexico in 1996 and died there of Alzheimer’s disease in December 2019.
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May Stevens was a skilled painter who believed in the power of the arts to promote social progress. Her artwork was a means of personal liberation and reflected her love and knowledge of both history and literature. Her work often addressed social issues including civil rights, anti-war, and feminism, and interwove private and public histories.
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Stevens grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts south of Boston where her father was a pipe fitter. Her mother, Alice, was a homemaker, and later became the subject of some of her artwork, particularly the Ordinary/Extraordinary series which paired Alice with revolutionary, Rosa Luxemburg. In 1948, shortly after graduating from Massachusetts College of Art, Stevens moved to New York City where she met her husband Rudolf Baranik at the Art Students League. She taught for 35 years at the School for the Visual Arts in New York and was awarded the College Art Association’s Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1991.
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May Stevens, “Rosa Luxemburg, 2/21/1977,” verifax and collage with script, 17 3/4 × 15 7/16 in. Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Gift of Lucy R. Lippard, 1999 (1999.15.21)
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#maystevens #heresies #feminist #feminism #civilrights #antiwar #womenshistory #painter #lucylippard #womenartists #newmexicoculture #newmexicomusemofart

06/15/2020

Elizabeth Stone, “Remains of the day,” February 17, 2020, digital image. Courtesy of the artist. ✨🍃
Featured in “Grace Notes,” a virtual exhibition curated by Katherine Ware
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This recent image from social media really appealed to me. At face value, it is a dynamic composition of form and light and shadow that can be enjoyed in a purely sensory way. I love that the artist made an interesting picture out of the scraps in her studio before sweeping them into the trash (find her original post with three related images on Instagram). But, as photographer and teacher Minor White would say, “what else?” The artist’s title is not just descriptive (like Scraps or Paper Curls), which invites us to think about its meaning. How does it affect you, what do you imagine she is suggesting, or what does it suggest to you? For me, this tangle seemed to embody the anxious energy of the early months of the pandemic. In the “Grace Notes” (check it out right here on social media!) I paired this image with Eirik Johnson’s picture of his son’s shaggy head, bowed in frustration, which amplifies and shifts the meaning of both pictures. These are some of the ways that artists and curators get you to look and think and feel, as we all to try to make sense of our time here on earth.
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#abstractart #abstractphotography #lightandshadow #gracenotes #virtualexhibit #virtualexhibition #artexhibit #artexhibition #museumfromhome #newmexicoculture #newmexicomuseumofart