The
Des Moines Art Center is an art museum with an extensive collection of
paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
s,
sculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
,
modern artModern art refers to artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
and
mixed mediaMixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...
. It was established in 1948 in
Des Moines, IowaDes Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
.
A large exhibition hall rotates through several themes during the year, most of which are featured from one to three months at a time. Included on the grounds are outdoor sculptures and a rose garden. An external reflecting pool is surrounded on all sides by the museum.
Artists included in the permanent collection are
Edward HopperEdward Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching...
,
Jasper JohnsJasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking. He is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery.-Life:...
,
Andy WarholAndrew Warhola , more commonly known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
,
Henri MatisseHenri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid, brilliant and original draughtsmanship. He was a master draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but excelled primarily as a painter. Matisse is regarded, with Picasso, as the greatest artist of the 20th century...
,
Claude MonetClaude Monet also known as Oscar Claude Monet or Claude Oscar Monet
[ giverny.org...]
,
Francis BaconFrancis Bacon was an Irish-born British figurative painter. His artwork is known for its bold, austere, homoerotic and often violent or nightmarish imagery, which typically shows room-bound masculine figures isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
, Georgia O’Keeffe,
Gerhard Richter- Biography :Richter was born in Dresden, Saxony, and grew up in Reichenau, Lower Silesia, and in Waltersdorf in the Upper Lusatian countryside. He left school after tenth grade and apprenticed as an advertising and stage-set painter, before studying at the Dresden Art Academy...
,
Claes OldenburgClaes Oldenburg is a sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everyday objects.-Biography:...
,
Mary CassattMary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists....
,
Auguste RodinAuguste Rodin[p] was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
,
Grant WoodGrant DeVolson Wood was an American painter, born in Anamosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly the painting American Gothic, an iconic image of the 20th century.- Life and career :His family moved to Cedar Rapids after his father died in...
,
Deborah ButterfieldDeborah Kay Butterfield is an American sculptor. She was born in San Diego, California on 7 May, 1949, and divides her time between a ranch in Bozeman, Montana and studio space in Hawaii...
,
Paul GauguinEugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. His bold experimentation with colouring led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way...
,
Eva HesseEva Hesse , was a German-born American sculptor, known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. -Early life:...
,
Ronnie LandfieldRonnie Landfield is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction, , and he was represented by the David Whitney Gallery and the Andre Emmerich Gallery...
,
Roy LichtensteinRoy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist, his work heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style...
,
George SegalGeorge Segal was an American painter and sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement. He was presented with a National Medal of Arts in 1999.-Works:...
,
Mark RothkoMark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Latvian-born American painter and printmaker. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted the classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk...
, and
John Singer SargentJohn Singer Sargent was an American painter, and a leading portrait painter of his era. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
.
Some paintings from the collection are well known examples of the artist and/or movement they represent.
The
Des Moines Art Center is an art museum with an extensive collection of
paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
s,
sculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
,
modern artModern art refers to artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
and
mixed mediaMixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...
. It was established in 1948 in
Des Moines, IowaDes Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
.
Description
A large exhibition hall rotates through several themes during the year, most of which are featured from one to three months at a time. Included on the grounds are outdoor sculptures and a rose garden. An external reflecting pool is surrounded on all sides by the museum.
Artists
Artists included in the permanent collection are
Edward HopperEdward Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching...
,
Jasper JohnsJasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking. He is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery.-Life:...
,
Andy WarholAndrew Warhola , more commonly known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
,
Henri MatisseHenri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid, brilliant and original draughtsmanship. He was a master draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but excelled primarily as a painter. Matisse is regarded, with Picasso, as the greatest artist of the 20th century...
,
Claude MonetClaude Monet also known as Oscar Claude Monet or Claude Oscar Monet
[ giverny.org...]
,
Francis BaconFrancis Bacon was an Irish-born British figurative painter. His artwork is known for its bold, austere, homoerotic and often violent or nightmarish imagery, which typically shows room-bound masculine figures isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
, Georgia O’Keeffe,
Gerhard Richter- Biography :Richter was born in Dresden, Saxony, and grew up in Reichenau, Lower Silesia, and in Waltersdorf in the Upper Lusatian countryside. He left school after tenth grade and apprenticed as an advertising and stage-set painter, before studying at the Dresden Art Academy...
,
Claes OldenburgClaes Oldenburg is a sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everyday objects.-Biography:...
,
Mary CassattMary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists....
,
Auguste RodinAuguste Rodin[p] was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
,
Grant WoodGrant DeVolson Wood was an American painter, born in Anamosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly the painting American Gothic, an iconic image of the 20th century.- Life and career :His family moved to Cedar Rapids after his father died in...
,
Deborah ButterfieldDeborah Kay Butterfield is an American sculptor. She was born in San Diego, California on 7 May, 1949, and divides her time between a ranch in Bozeman, Montana and studio space in Hawaii...
,
Paul GauguinEugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. His bold experimentation with colouring led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way...
,
Eva HesseEva Hesse , was a German-born American sculptor, known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. -Early life:...
,
Ronnie LandfieldRonnie Landfield is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction, , and he was represented by the David Whitney Gallery and the Andre Emmerich Gallery...
,
Roy LichtensteinRoy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist, his work heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style...
,
George SegalGeorge Segal was an American painter and sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement. He was presented with a National Medal of Arts in 1999.-Works:...
,
Mark RothkoMark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Latvian-born American painter and printmaker. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted the classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk...
, and
John Singer SargentJohn Singer Sargent was an American painter, and a leading portrait painter of his era. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
.
Some paintings from the collection are well known examples of the artist and/or movement they represent. These include Edward Hoppers "Automat", which was reproduced on a postage stamp as well as used for a cover of Time magazine, Stanton MacDonald Wright's "Synchromy" which is has been reproduced in numerous texts about the artist/movement, Francis Bacon's "Portrait of Pope Innocent" which likewise is considered a signature work by the artist and appeared in Robert Hughes "Shock of the New"
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
series in the early 1980s.
Facilities
The
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
of the original museum wing was designed in a combination of
Art NouveauArt Nouveau is an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century . The name 'Art nouveau' is French for 'new art'...
and
Art DecoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
styles by
Eliel SaarinenGottlieb Eliel Saarinen was a Finnish architect who became famous for his art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century....
in 1945 and completed in 1948.
The Sculpture addition was designed in a Modernist style by I.M. Pei in 1966 and completed in 1968. Legend says that Pei designed the south windows, which look out onto the rose garden, to resemble "PEI", but he has denied this.
The third wing was designed by
Richard MeierRichard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier was born in Newark, New Jersey...
and completed in 1985. This wing was designed to allow as much natural ambient light in as possible.
The Art Center also includes a reference library, restaurant and a gift shop. Workshops and seminars are conducted on a regular basis. Museum hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11am to 4pm, Thursday from 11am to 9pm, Saturday from 10am to 4pm, and Sunday from noon to 4pm . Admission is free.
External links