Milwaukee Art Museum Blog

From the Collection—Elderkin Great Chair

Post author By Mel Buchanan
Post date November 14, 2010
2 Comments on From the Collection—Elderkin Great Chair

A treasure you’ll find at the Milwaukee Art Museum: One of the oldest known pieces of American furniture to survive. Let me say that again: At the Museum is one of the oldest known pieces of American furniture.

This dramatic chair was made sometime in the mid-1600s in Connecticut or Massachusetts. Of course, at the time of its construction, its maker would have identified himself and the style of this chair as English. And yes, three-legged chairs of this type were not uncommon in England, but on the faraway shores of New England, this Great Chair was a great novelty.

Tags 17th Century Art, American Art, architecture, Chipstone Foundation, Decorative Arts, From the Collection, Furniture, John Elderkin

Art Curatorial

A Time When Modern Was “Degenerate”

Post author By Mel Buchanan
Post date November 12, 2010
4 Comments on A Time When Modern Was “Degenerate”

This past weekend, I was proud to present a paper at the American Ceramic Circle’s annual symposium on an exhibition topic I’m developing. I spoke about a German designer named Grete Marks who made radical and beautiful ceramics—designs that the Nazi government called “degenerate.”

Tags 20th century art, Ceramics, Decorative Arts, Design, German Expressionism, Grete Marks, Modern art

Art Art News

Bertoia in Limbo?

View of Bertoia sculptures in the Milwaukee Art Museum's Bradley Collection of Modern Art

Check out this article in The New York Times blog about a major work by an artist in the Museum’s Collection, Harry Bertoia (American, b. Italy, 1915–1978). You can see several of his works in person in the Museum’s Bradley Collection of Modern Art on the Upper Level.

Here’s the link:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/a-bertoia-sculpture-is-dismantled/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Tags Harry Bertoia, Modern art

Art Education Events

What’s Happening at the Milwaukee Art Museum: Nov. 8–15

Post author By Kristin Settle
Post date November 8, 2010
No Comments on What’s Happening at the Milwaukee Art Museum: Nov. 8–15

It’s the start of another busy week at the Museum full of classes, lectures, and another free admission day for veterans.

On Thursday, November 11, the Museum is offering free admission to all veterans in honor of Veterans Day. The Museum staff extends heartfelt “Thank You” to all the men and women who have served in the armed forces.

Also, this is the last week to bring in your donations for our “Soup for Soup” food drive to benefit Hunger Task Force. It is your chance to give back to the community and enjoy a wonderful meal in a beautiful setting, all at the same time.

Art Collection

From the Collection: ’Tis the Season

Post author By Chelsea Emelie Kelly
Post date November 7, 2010
1 Comment on From the Collection: ’Tis the Season

Earlier this week, as I walked to work, seeing my breath in front of me with my hands stuffed in my pockets, noticing that the trees were mostly bare, I had to admit to myself: winter just might be here. But part of me doesn’t want to dig out the winter coat and put away the flip-flops. I’m channeling my split-season-personality in this post by featuring two works in our Von Schleinitz collection of German art, which live right next to each other in Gallery 9.

Tags Ernst Ferdinand Oehme, From the Collection, German Art, Ludwig Knaus, Von Schleinitz Collection

Education

Satellite: Field Trip

Young women sitting and having a conversation — Satellite Students in Katie Musolff’s studio at the Pfister Hotel.

This week, the Satellite High School students took a field trip to the Pfister Hotel to visit Katie Musolff, a full-time artist working in Milwaukee, and a Satellite graduate! Katie generously let us into her studio and shared her experiences and advice, from being a Satellite high school student, to her time at MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design), to her decision to make her art her job. Since many of the Satellite students are artists themselves, this was a great opportunity.

Tags Contemporary Art, Gallery Teaching, Katie Musolff, Satellite High School Program

Art Events

If You Had 15 Words to Last Forever, What Would You Say?

Post author By Claudia Mooney
Post date November 2, 2010
3 Comments on If You Had 15 Words to Last Forever, What Would You Say?

Dave Project workshop participants cutting the clay that will be inscribed

This past spring Theaster Gates created an installation at the Milwaukee Art Museum called To Speculate Darkly: Theaster Gates and Dave the Potter. The installation was centered on a Dave Drake ceramic pot. Dave Drake, also known as Dave the Potter, was an enslaved potter in antebellum South Carolina. He was, and is still, unique in that he not only made 40-gallon pots (any experienced potter can tell you how hard this is to do), but in that he wrote couplets on these pots and signed his name. Dave did this at a time when it was illegal for slaves to be literate.

Tags American Art, Dave Drake, Dave Project, Decorative Arts, Theaster Gates

Art Events Exhibitions

What’s Happening at the Milwaukee Art Museum: Nov. 1–Nov. 7

Post author By Kristin Settle
Post date November 1, 2010
No Comments on What’s Happening at the Milwaukee Art Museum: Nov. 1–Nov. 7

Metdish Dish, attributed to Solomon Loy, Alamance County, North Carolina, 1825–40. Lead-glazed earthenware. D. 15 in. Private collection. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

This week, there are a lot of opportunities to experience the Museum, including an American Ceramics Circle Symposium; free admission for everyone on Thursday, November 4, and free admission for veterans on Saturday, November 6; a lecture with Luke Beckerdite on the Art In Clay exhibition on Thursday at 6:15 p.m.; and a European Design Since 1985 Express Talk.

This Thursday, November 4, is Target Free First Thursday. Admission to the Museum is FREE for everyone, thanks to Target. It’s a great opportunity to experience everything the Museum has to offer. And while you are here, be sure to experience the European Design Since 1985 Express Talk at 12 p.m.

Tags Ceramics, European Design Since 1985, Events, Exhibitions, Store

Art Curatorial

From the Collection—George Mann Niedecken

Post author By Mel Buchanan
Post date October 31, 2010
5 Comments on From the Collection—George Mann Niedecken

George Niedecken’s reputation is that of a masterful Prairie School interior architect. However, because he worked as a collaborator to the master Prairie School architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, Niedecken’s legacy is often diminished. In addition to his famous collaborations on Wright’s Robie House (Chicago, Illinois) and Bogk House (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Niedecken was committed to new American styles for the twentieth century right here in Milwaukee. He studied the European Art Nouveau, Secessionist, and Arts and Crafts movements in Paris and Berlin, and applied these ideas to inspired designs for the living rooms of his Midwestern clients.

Tags Arts & Crafts Movement, From the Collection, George Niedecken

Art Curatorial

My Favorite Portrait Miniatures

Post author By Catherine Sawinski
Post date October 29, 2010
2 Comments on My Favorite Portrait Miniatures

I can’t believe that we’re already at the last week of the exhibition Intimate Images of Love and Loss: Portrait Miniatures. Once the show closes this Sunday, October 31, these incredible, tiny masterpieces go back into Museum storage.

In a world before photography, portrait miniatures were the wallet photographs or their day. Made to be held, worn, and hung on the wall of the home as a type of “family album,” the small-scale portraits afford us an extremely personal glimpse into the past. Here are a few of my favorites:

Tags 19th Century Art, European art, George Engleheart, Portrait Miniatures