From the Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Looking at, Talking about, and Appreciating Art
Today’s treasure presents us with a bit of a mystery. Not only is the title of this watercolor Unknown, we also know little about its maker Louis-Robert de Cuvillon. So, what must we do to start picking apart this unknown piece? With works like this we have to combine what knowledge we do know with our most important tool: our eyes. Read on to see how art historians use visual clues to deduce a painting's meaning.
Recently on view in our Year of Making Meaning exhibition, Elizabeth Kilmer discusses a French favorite of hers: Manet. These treasures, etchings of the artists friends Charles Baudelaire and Berthe Morisot, tell us more about the artist than many of his other more famous works. Read on to learn how!
Curator of Prints & Drawings Sachi Yanari-Rizzo spotlights Japanese-American artist Roger Shimomura because of a shared connection as third-generation Japanese Americans whose family members were interned during World War II. Read on to see how Shimomura's family history inspires and impacts his art today.
What inspires artists to make their art? Exhibitions Content Manager Elizabeth Goings explores the retelling of a Norse myth by printmaker Dennis McNett and how legends and mythology influences his work.
Not all treasures from the vault are works of art from our historical past! Matika Wilbur began her ongoing photography project in 2012. Documenting contemporary Native American tribes and cultures, Wilbur hopes to dispel the often inaccurate and stereotypical visuals of Native Americans pervasive in books, movies, and TV. Lauren Wolfer, Associate Curator of Special Collections & Archives, highlights our most recent acquisition from her project, now on view in A Year of Making Meaning.
In this installment of Treasures from the Vault, Director of Children's Education Alyssa Dumire examines a silkscreen with a message. What can art tell us about its time period? And what can it reveal about the artist who made it?
Before the Internet, artists had to seek each other out to learn new techniques and discover new art forms. Follow Sachi as she traces the life of Evelynne Bernloehr Mess, a Brown County artist who, unlike her fellow oil painters, wanted to make an etching.
This week, our Treasure from the Vault and Art Term Tuesday come in one unique post! Learn about the importance of iconography in art as Elizabeth Goings uses one vault treasure and one work currently on display to break down this "stuffy" art term.
When curators are researching artists, they often stumble across other artists. Our Curator of Prints and Drawings, Sachi, tells the story of how she stumbled across Felrath Hines, a fine art conservator and painter!
Exhibitions Content Manager Elizabeth Goings takes us on an art history journey discussing how art historians treat artworks with missing information. For example, how do we date a painting with no date? Read on to find out!