Dallas Museum of Art

Dallas Museum of Art

Mark di Suvero, Ave, Dallas Museum of Art sculpture garden
Established 1903
Location 1717 N. Harwood, Dallas, TX Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Dallas, Texas, USA
Director Maxwell L. Anderson
Public transit access DART: Pearl/Arts District Station, St. Paul Station, Akard Station
Website Dallas Museum of Art

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District.[1] The new building was designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, the 2007 winner of the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal.[2]

The museum collection is made up of more than 24000 objects, dating from the third millennium BC to the present day. It is also defined by its dynamic exhibition policy[3] and award-winning educational programs.[4] The Mildred R. and Frederick M. Mayer Library (the museum’s non-circulating research library) contains over 50,000 volumes available to curators and the general public.

History

Frederic Church, The Icebergs, 1861

The museum's history began with the establishment in 1903 of the Dallas Art Association, which initially exhibited paintings in the Dallas Public Library. Frank Reaugh, a Texas artist, saw in the new library the opportunity to display works of art.[5] This idea was championed by May Dickson Exall, who was the first president of the Dallas Public Library. Her intention was the following: “to offer art interest and education through exhibitions and lectures, to form a permanent collection, to sponsor the work of local artists, to solicit support of the arts from individuals and businesses, and to honor citizens who support the arts.”

The museum’s collections started growing from this moment on. It soon became necessary to find a new permanent home. The museum, renamed the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts in 1932, relocated to a new art deco facility within Fair Park in 1936, on the occasion of the Texas Centennial Exposition.[6] This new facility was designed by a consortium of Dallas architects in consultation with Paul Cret of Philadelphia. It is still possible to visit this building.

In 1943, Jerry Bywaters became the director of the museum, a position he held for the next twenty-one years.[7] Artist, art critic, and teacher, Bywaters gave a sense of identity and community to the museum.[8]

Gustave Courbet, Fox In The Snow, 1860, Dallas Museum of Art

Under Bywaters' tenure, impressionist, abstract, and contemporary masterpieces were acquired and the Texas identity of the museum was emphasized. This identity is today represented by works by Alexandre Hogue, Olin Herman Travis, Bywaters himself, and others.

In 1963, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts merged with the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art,[9] whose director for the previous four years had been Douglas MacAgy. In 1964 Merrill C. Rueppel became the director of the newly merged Museum. The permanent collections of the two museums were then housed within the DMFA facility, suddenly holding significant works by Paul Gauguin, Odilon Redon, Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian, Gerald Murphy, and Francis Bacon. In 1965, the museum held an exhibition called The Art of Piet Mondrian and one entitled Sculpture: Twentieth Century.[3]

By the late 1970s, the greatly enlarged permanent collection and the ambitious exhibition program fostered a need for a new museum facility. Under Harry Parker’s direction, the museum was able to move once again, to its current venue, at the northern edge of the city’s business district (the now designated Dallas Arts District). The $54 million facility, designed by New York architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, was financed by a 1979 City bond election, together with private donations. The project was galvanized by the slogan “A Great City Deserves a Great Museum,” and the new building opened in January 1984.[10]

Collections

The museum's collections[11] include more than 24,000 works of art from around the world ranging from ancient to modern times. They are conceived as a celebration of the human power of creation.[12]

Takenouchi no Sukune Meets the Dragon King of the Sea, Japanese, Meiji period, 1879-81
Vincent van Gogh, Sheaves of Wheat, 1890, Dallas Museum of Art

Community events

The Center for Creative Connections

In 2008, the museum premiered the Center for Creative Connections (also known as C3), a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) facility for interactive learning experiences. The center presents exhibitions featuring the museum’s collections and artists’ and community partners’ responses to them. Spaces include the Art Studio, Tech Lab, Theater, and Arturo’s Nest.[22]

The museum also hosts numerous community outreach programs throughout the year, including:

Management

In 2013, the Dallas Museum of Art instituted free admission and a free membership program.[23]

Collection highlights: paintings and sculpture

Edgar Degas, The Masseuse, (between 1896-1911)
Auguste Rodin, Sculptor and his Muse, 1893

More collection highlights

See also

References

  1. The Dallas Arts District
  2. Architectural Record News | Edward Larrabee Barnes Named 2007 AIA Gold Medal Winner
  3. 3.0 3.1 Dallas Museum of Art
  4. Dallas Museum of Art
  5. Dallas Museum of Art
  6. Texas Centennial 1936
  7. BYWATERS, WILLIAMSON GERALD [JERRY] | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
  8. Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas: Exhibitions
  9. http://dallasmuseumofart.org/idc/groups/public/documents/web_content/dma_295634.pdf
  10. Dallas Museum of Art
  11. ’’Dallas Museum of Art, A Guide to the Collection’’ Managing Editor: Debra Wittrup (1997)
  12. http://dallasmuseumofart.org:8080/emuseum/objects/viewcollections/Objects
  13. Dallas Museum of Art
  14. The Transatlantic Paintings: Work by Piet Mondrian - Dallas Museum of Art - Absolutearts.com
  15. “The Wendy and Emery Reeves Collection”, Richard R. Bretell (1995)
  16. http://www.jstor.org/pss/882521
  17. http://www.dma.org/press-release/wittgenstein-silver-cabinet-vienna-workshops-recently-acquired-dallas-museum-art
  18. http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/dkd1908_1909/0090/image?sid=bc2161924302c4eca7a5dcd2eb3ce07a
  19. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkVsAf0Mc4s
  20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz05dl2YAj8
  21. Fast Forward: Exhibition Catalogue. Contemporary Collections for the Dallas Museum of Art, Edited by Maria de Corral and John R. Lane, 2007
  22. (untitled)
  23. Julia Halperin (April 15, 2013), Dallas Museum of Art Pushes the Frontiers of Audience Engagement Artinfo.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dallas Museum of Art.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Museums in Dallas, Texas.

Bibliography

External links

Coordinates: 32°47′14″N 96°48′03″W / 32.78722°N 96.80083°W