jan schall - nelson atkins print tour

Curator Jan Schall described "Lipstick (Ascending) On Caterpillar Tracks"

 as the second version drawing of the first monument that Claus Oldenberg did.

 

Members inspect the Oldenburg work close up Thursday night.

 

 

       Twenty members learned that "thematic exhibitions" are assembled from the large print collection at the museum. Viewers can see new print exhibits EVERY TWO MONTHS, as prints are rotated throughout the building.

 

 

       In the older portion of the Nelson Atkins Museum there are three locations to view works on paper, according to Jan Schall, Sanders Sosland Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and our tour guide Thursday night.

       The European prints are always on display on the first floor in the back by the doorway to the park. This is in the southeast section of the building. This was where we viewed the Mythological Subjects. Also on that floor but around the corner in the very corner is the small gallery, where we viewed Feminine Mystique. The American wing is on the second floor in the northeast corner. In that hallway we viewed the Impressions of the Southwest and Mexico. 

 

        In regard to the European exhibit, Schall explained that engravings of that day were how information got spread around. People would learn from the subject of the prints. Architecture, animals, plant life, and events were depicted in the etched or engraved scenes. Those ink impressions were from the 16th and 17th centuries.

 

Schall explained the Feminine Mystique as a theme for a variety

of lithographs, etchings, and other ink impression on paper to be shown.

 

 

Double click to enlarge images.

  

 

      The American Southwest and Mexico have long enchanted artists. In the early 20th century, this region of the United States as well as our neighbor to the south became particularly popular among American artists. A growing tourism industry, a burgeoning field of anthropology and the Arts and Crafts Movement combined to find interest in the Southwest and Mexico. Many of the artists whose work appears in this rotation travelled to New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Mexico in search of inspiration. Through lithographs, woodcuts, etchings, and photographs their impressions highlight scenes of everyday life, ritual, traditions and popular entertainment, in addition to iconic architecture, varied landscapes, and diverse people.

      The Nelson Atkins' American art collection has some 600 works on paper by many of the country's most revered artists. Installations in this gallery rotate every six months in order to display the variety of the collection and to protect it from overexposure to damaging light. Showcasing the breadth of media, techniques, styles and themes, these rotating installations convey the engaging possibilities of art on paper.  (Introduction, courtesy of Museum)

My excitement was high. I was face to face with nuggets I had been searching for. Missing pieces to an ongoing puzzle. My interest is in Alfred Fowler. In 1932 he selected contemporary woodcuts for a unique traveling exhibit. Ray Bethers, Jessiejo Eckford, Ruth Saunders, and Fred Geary  were in his first annual exhibit. You can view that exhibit, click HERE and HERE.. It was the Clairece Black, Betty Stoner, and John Lawrence Stoner woodcuts that raised one question: which year did their work tour? Was it 1933, 1935, or 1939?   karl marxhausen

 

        Due to the delicate nature of the paper that ink impressions are on, works are exhibited for limited amounts of time. Works can deteriorate when exposed to too much light. As it is, works may be seen for up to six months. They spend five years in storage.

 

        With such a large collection, one wonders how often the unknown prints are rotated out to be viewed.

 

Jan Schall, Sanders Sosland Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, holds a doctorate in art history from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in art history from Washington University in St. Louis.  She led the group through the existing exhibitions through out the museum to view prints currently on display. (courtesy of Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, http://www.nelson-atkins.org/welcome/PressRoom_CuratorBio.cfm, accessed Sept. 29, 2013)

More on Print Collection at http://www.nelson-atkins.org/collections/collection-history-Prints.cfm
(accessed Sept.29, 2013)

Tour took place July 11th, 2013.