2013 FEBRUARY BLOG
Although Texas has many warm, beautiful winter days, February is usually unpredictable. So it's the time I like for visiting art museums in neighboring cities.
DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART has CHAGALL: BEYOND COLOR from February 17th through May 26th and LOREN MOZLEY: STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY from the 17th through June 30th. For those who follow my blog, this is the much anticipated show that we attended last summer at the Grace Museum in Abilene, TX.Professor Loren Mozley (1905-1989) was one of the founders of the art Department at the University of Texas at Austin and was a splendid teacher unequal among those of my knowing. Before coming to Austin he was one of the important early Texas painters living in Dallas. Also he lived in Taos, New Mexico and when a teenager, he delivered author Willa Cather's DEATH OF THE ARCHBISHOP to Santa Fe to be sent to the publisher. The manuscript was entrusted to him because his physician father had the only automobile in Taos.
Mozley has been called "Child of the Cubist Order" and has known some of the great American and Mexican artists of his time. His bio is fascinating and I recommend the catalog for the show. It includes two essays, one written by my friend and former student of Mozley, Roger Winter, painter and retired SMU art professor and the other by Judy Tedford Deaton, chief curator of the Grace Museum.
Take a quick drive over to Fort Worth's KIMBELL ART MUSEUM and see BERNINI: SCULPTING IN CLAY. Perhaps you know his fountains in Rome, but these are terracotta models for his 17th century Baroque sculptures. The exhibition opened on the 3rd and closes April 14th. Tickets are $16.00 and are half price on Tuesdays.
The adjacent museum to the west AMON CARTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART has ED RUSCHA: MADE IN CALIFORNIA through July 21st. Ruscha is a pop artist born in 1937. Two more exhibitions running through April 28 are PRINTS AND DRAWINGS and PHOTOGRAPHS from the museum's extensive collection. Admission is free.
The MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON (MFAH) seems sold out of tickets for their block buster show from Spain's PRADO MUSEUM. This is true at least for the times we are able to go. However with general admission ticket of about $13.00 of less, this museum never disappoints and there is much to do in that city. Thursdays at MFAH are free.
Trivia: When Houston completes its proposed museum addition and parking garage across the street it will be the third largest museum in the United States.
Also see the PICASSO EXHIBITION OF BLACK AND WHITE WORKS ON PAPER at MFAH from February 24 through May 27. These premiered last fall at the Guggenheim in New York City. They are from the Picasso family, museum and private collections. Tickets are $20.00 or less with discounts and this includes general admission to the museum's other exhibitions.
So don't miss ABSTRACT IMPULSE, there through May 5th. There are works from many periods and several cultures including the U.S., Latin America, Asia and Africa. It's believed that all cultures have a basic tendency to abstract from nature and it will be fun to compare the examples.
Speaking of FUN, while in Ft. Worth don't miss COMPANION by KAWS (born Brian Donnelly, 1974). It has been outside at the MODERN MUSEUM's main entrance since last September and is held over until March 10th. It will give you a chuckle. Who says art can't be fun!
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