TAM Docents: From the Galleries (post-Oasis pre Macaulay mini edition)

Hello Docents-
I have forwarded some fun information from Ellen Ito. I thought you might particularly enjoy the attached map – it sounds like a fun field trip to me!
-Jana

Jana Wennstrom
Volunteer Programs Coordinator
TACOMA ART MUSEUM
T: 253.272.4258 x3030

 

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From: Google Documents [mailto:noreply@google.com] On Behalf Of ellenito@gmail.com
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 12:21 PM
To: Ellen Ito
Subject: Untitled

 

So long, Performing Monkey- It's been real!
Sunday was the final day of Oasis: Western Dreams of the Ottoman Empire, and I thought I'd pass along a little more information about sculptor Charles Cordier, just for kicks:
(Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago)

"Bust of Said Abdallah of the Darfour People was Cordiers first and greatest success. Using as a model a Sudanese man who, the sculptor claimed, simply turned up at his studio, he created a plaster version of Said Abdallah for exhibition at the Salon of 1848. Most ethnographic sculpture was created by making a plaster mold from a live model, which would then be cast in bronze, but Cordier insisted on following the traditional sculpting method of building his form up in clay using his hands and sculptors tools. His emphasis on the subjects dignity and pride set Cordier apart from his contemporaries. Said Abdallahs costume and hairstyle are depicted in great detail, down to the individual strands of tassels and hair. His raised eyes gaze majestically into the distance. His firm features express the dignity and nobility of a leader. Although Cordier was later appointed sculptor to the Museum of Natural History in Paris and went on several government-sponsored missions to Africa in that capacity, this bust and its pendant* remain his most acclaimed work."

Here they are!


Bust of Said Abdallah of the Darfour People,1848,Bronze

Bust of an African Woman, 1851,Bronze

Here is a link to a very informative review of a Cordier exhibit from 2004:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/24/arts/design/24john.html

*Pendant is a term sometimes used to describe one of a pair of interdependent artworks.

..For those visitors (or staff)who yearn for more offerings from the Dahesh, please inform them of a recently announced collaboration between the Dahesh and Syracuse University Art Galleries. From the Dahesh press release:
"The Dahesh Museum of Art and Syracuse University Art Galleries today announced the formation of a partnership, which will include the Museum's organizing several exhibitions annually from its own collection of 19th-century art in the academic tradition, complemented by works in the University's rich collection, for presentation at the SU Art Galleries in Syracuse, as well as The Palitz Gallery/ Lubin House, located on 11 East 61st Street, off Fifth Avenue...The launch of this collaboration is scheduled for New York City this spring. From March 24 through April 30, 2009, a focused selection of the Museum's finest works will be featured in the exhibition, In Pursuit of the Exotic: Artists Abroad in 19th Century Egypt and the Holy Land." Please find more details here:
http://www.daheshmuseum.org/about/partnership.php

From Ambrose Patterson to Viola Patterson to Guy Anderson...

I am an admirer of Australian painter Ambrose Patterson (currently on view in Speaking Parts)

The Pewter Bar, St Leger en Yvelines,circa 1904,oil on canvas

 

Did you know that Ambrose Patterson came to Seattle and was one of the founders of the University of Washington School of Art and Design? He and his wife, Viola, lived in a house near Husky stadium that was the first home in the Seattle area built using the International style of architecture. Viola was a very gifted painter in her own right. Here is what Viola once had to say about her friend (and Speaking Parts artist) Guy Anderson:

"Oh,(he was) always terribly interesting: serious, and already very, very knowledgeable about Eastern religion. And not in any way frightening; it was just perfectly fascinating talking with him.

And he was a student, a real student. Of course, he had such sensitivity. For me, I was able to appreciate his sensitivity in the realm of the gardens he created... They weren't gardens such as a city garden, in any sense of the word. They were often just a little garden laid out on a bit of pavement, or a small little terrace or something. But he'd gather bits of driftwood or stones and a plant here and something else there. It wasn't bonsai, and yet it had all the wonderful quality of Eastern composition of these natural forms...For a while he built beautiful little containers for plants. For a long time I had one of those, built out of, I think, driftwood he picked up on the beach."

 

Let's go look at some art at the..Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science and Engineering?

 

As I was looking for an Ambrose Patterson image to use in this email, I came across this webpage full of great, succinct artist bios with loads of links for artists that are included in our permanent collection here at TAM. The Allen Center is located on the museum campus, and the building is full of great work from all the artists listed. Why not check it out after swinging by the Henry Art Gallery?

 

http://www.cs.washington.edu/building/art/

 

Attached to this email you will find a pdf map to all the outdoor public artwork that is on the UW campus- since you're already there, it's a great opportunity to check out the supercool Chris Bruch sculpture, and the reinstalled Robert Irwin.

 

-Ellen