Category: Contemporary

Conserving “The Suitcase”

For more than two years, the conservation team at the Milwaukee Art Museum has been collaborating with other experts to conserve Robert Gober’s Untitled installation so it can return to the galleries and again immerse viewers in an animated, watery scene, as the artist originally intended. When visitors peer inside the suitcase, they often think the watery tableau is created by a screen. The truth is much more exciting! What you see is a sculpted pool filled with gently lapping water, silicone seaweed, and wax limbs. But this installation, like all artwork, is not inert. Gober made the work in 1997, and over the course of 26 years, mechanical elements became worn and algae grew.

American Art Collection Contemporary

American Artworks Newly on View

Post author By Milwaukee Art Museum
Post date July 27, 2022
1 Comment on American Artworks Newly on View

True or false: the Museum’s collection galleries always stay the same?

Tags American Art

Art Contemporary Education Spotlight Sessions

Spotlight Sessions: “Nobody’s Watching” by Klassik

Post author By Amy Kirschke
Post date March 31, 2022
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Man with headphones and a mic standing in front of Untitled Anxious Audience by Rashid Johnson — Local artist Klassik performing in front of *Untitled Anxious Audience* (detail), 2017, by Rashid Johnson (American, b. 1977). Ceramic tile, soap, and wax. 95 1/2 × 159 × 2 1/2 in. Purchase, with funds from Mark and Debbie Attanasio, Marianne and Sheldon Lubar, Joanne Murphy, the African American Art Alliance, and the Modern and Contemporary Art Deaccession Funds, M2017.60 © Rashid Johnson

The Milwaukee Art Museum is excited to introduce Spotlight Sessions, a virtual series featuring an artist or local luminary interpreting or responding to an artwork in the collection. This series captures the unique perspective an artist brings to either their own or another’s work of art, broadening the experience of a painting, sculpture, or other selected work. Over the next three years, six local and visiting artists will be featured in this series. Viewers will have a range of opportunities to learn about and engage with Spotlight Sessions, including on the website, through social media, and at in-person events.

Art Behind the Scenes Contemporary

A Living Collection: The Contemporary Art Galleries

Post author By Margaret Andera
Post date February 28, 2022
1 Comment on A Living Collection: The Contemporary Art Galleries

Three men preparing to hang an abstract work of art — Paul Jenkins (American, 1923 – 2012), *Phenomena 831 Broadway*, 1963. Acrylic on canvas. 111 × 69 in. (281.94 × 175.26 cm). Gift of Jane Bradley Pettit, M1975.187. © Estate of Paul Jenkins/Licensed by ADAGP, Paris/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York

The Museum’s collection of more than 32,000 works of art spans from antiquity to the present and includes gifts and purchases dating from 1888 to today. There are the favorites that everyone looks forward to seeing with each visit, yet works come in and out and are frequently moved about. They rest (in the vault), travel to other institutions, and enter new social circles in the galleries, striking up new conversations. Each work of art has a “life” that makes the collection itself dynamic—one with many stories to share.

Art Collection Contemporary Local Artists Membership

Reginald Baylor and the Museum’s Collectible Member Mug

Post author By Elisabeth Gasparka
Post date June 1, 2021
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Image courtesy of Reginald Baylor Studio.

This year, the Milwaukee Art Museum was pleased to work with artist and Milwaukee-area native Reginald Baylor for its annual Member mug. The mug features a detail of his painting On Duty, Not Driving, which is part of the Museum’s collection and currently on view.

I recently took the opportunity to ask Baylor a few questions, including some about the painting.

Art Collection Collection Reflection Contemporary Curatorial

Collection Reflection: Curator Margaret Andera on Beth Lipman

Post author By Margaret Andera
Post date October 9, 2020
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Various glassware stacked and laid out on top of a short, black, wooden table — Beth Lipman, *Laid Table (Still Life with Metal Pitcher)*, 2007. Blown, sculpted, lamp-worked, and kiln-formed glass on wood table. 85 × 103 × 96 in. (215.9 × 261.62 × 243.84 cm). Purchase, Jill and Jack Pelisek Endowment, Jack Pelisek Funds, and various donors by exchange M2009.48. Photo credit by John R. Glembin © Beth Lipman

We invite you to join us as each curator focuses on a single work of art, exploring both that object and how the object speaks to the collection as a whole, as well as to the chosen theme in particular.

Art Collection Contemporary Education Studio at Home

Kohl’s Art Generation Studio at Home: Picturing Pets, Sunny

Post author By Brett Henzig
Post date August 20, 2020
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Gray, long-haired dog sitting in a field by the lake with its tongue out — Alex Katz, *Sunny #4*, 1971. Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, M1975.143. Photo by John R. Glembin. © 2019 Alex Katz/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York

We commonly refer to dogs as everyone’s best friend, and for me, that’s true. But I have many other best friends, too, including my cat, my rabbit, and some nice people. Each has their own unique personality. Artworks can also have unique “personalities,” or styles. Artistic styles help us explain how artworks look and how they were made. There are many different styles of art.

Alex Katz’s Sunny #4, a larger-than-life portrait of the artist’s dog, is painted in the Pop Art style. Pop artists often used bold lines, flat shapes, and vivid colors in their artworks. Here, Katz used long, straight brushstrokes to paint Sunny’s hair, and for Sunny’s tongue, he painted a flat, pink rectangle.

Let’s make our own drawings inspired by Sunny!

Art Collection Contemporary Education

Letters to Sunny

Sunny #4 by Alex Katz is one of the most beloved pieces in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s collection. Many visitors make sure to visit Sunny every time they come into the galleries.

Who wouldn’t love this sweet face?

While the Museum was closed, our artworks felt very lonely—and Sunny was no exception! When we heard how much he missed his regular visitors, we knew we had to do something. For the entire month of June, we opened the Museum’s mailbox to messages and drawings for Milwaukee’s most popular pup.

Art Collection Contemporary Education Studio at Home

Kohl’s Art Generation Studio at Home: Art in Motion

Post author By Brett Henzig
Post date July 2, 2020
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Harry Bertoia, Dandelion, 1970. Gold-plated bronze and beryllium, 78 × 34 in. (198.12 × 86.36 cm). Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley. M1975.131 Photo credit: P. Richard Eells © 2010 Estate of Harry Bertoia / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Harry Bertoia, *Untitled*, 1970. Stainless steel, 66 × 48 in.(67.64 × 121.92 cm). Purchase, with funds given in memory of Maurice W. Berger, President of the Board of Trustees, 1964-1968. M1970.88 © Estate of Harry Bertoia / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Make moving art inspired by the kinetic sculpture of Harry Bertoia.

Art Behind the Scenes Collection Contemporary

The Man That Time Forgot: Duane Hanson’s “Janitor”

Post author By Terri White
Post date June 30, 2020
2 Comments on The Man That Time Forgot: Duane Hanson’s “Janitor”

Time changes everyone—or almost everyone. Through the years, the Janitor has remained a constant in the galleries of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Young visitor with long shaggy hair standing next to a lifelike Janitor sculpture — A Museum visitor (Jeff) with Duane Hanson’s ‘Janitor’ in 1976, and again in 2010. Thanks for the photos, Jeff!

Older visitor standing next to a lifelike Janitor sculpture — A Museum visitor (Jeff) with Duane Hanson’s ‘Janitor’ in 1976, and again in 2010. Thanks for the photos, Jeff!