Walters Art Museum: Medieval Art 3rd through 18th Centuries

 The Walters Art Museum is the result of another one of those 19th century Industrialist robber barons that we owe so much to.  They may have raped and pillaged our natural resources, banked on the weakness of the human spirit and abused the poorest amongst us, but darned if they didn't leave a trail of amazing museums in their wake!  Walters and his sons made their nut off of a combination of iron smelting, grain exporting and alcohol sales--quite a diverse portfolio.  And somewhere along the way, they started to fancy art.  What started out as an occasional opening up of their home to the public to show off some of their collection, turned into a full fledged museum constructed one block south of their mansion.  It was built in the Romanesque Palazzo-style between 1905-1909.  One of the unique aspects of the Walters is that it is free to the public.

In the mid-1970's the entire back side of the original building was combined with a Brutalist-style four-story tall Annex that more than doubled the size of the original.  It was a harsh structure.  The closest thing I've ever seen to it is the Denver Art Museum, and it's currently undergoing a massive renovation.  In 1998, the annex was upgraded with the addition of a multi-storied glass window atrium over the Center Street lobby to open and soften the overall effect.  The results are very pleasing.  

A third physical component is the adjacent Hackerman House, a 3 story Greek Revival mansion built in 1850 and incorporating into the museum in 1991.  The result of all of this is also a museum that can seem so efficient and logical, then suddenly freakishly confusing!  The guest map is also way too conceptual to be actually helpful.  While it may indicate one elevator, there may actually be up to three located in close proximity but not side by side.  The signage to get from one place to another is also ambiguous.  But, hey--it's free!

 Let's continue with some highlights from the Medieval collections.  The depth and breadth of Medieval Art at the Walters Art Museum is honestly breathtaking.  Name a medium.  They have something/s.  Name a culture.  They have something/s.  Name a type.  They have something/s.  And more than just something.  Gold, Ivory, Marble, Wood, Precious Stones, Bronze, Fabric, ceramic, glass... Byzantine, Egyptian, Visigoth, French, Spanish, Catalonia, Turkish, Iranian, German...etc.  Jewelry, utensils, weapons, paintings, statuary, books, reliquaries, tools, windows, furniture, pottery, etc.  It's hard to imagine something that wasn't there.  Here are some personal highlights and gallery views.

PLAQUE WITH APOLLO

Early Byzantine (Egypt), circa 3rd-4th centuries

ROUNDEL WITH FISH AND DUCKS

Byzantine (Egypt), 10th century

BOOK-COVER PLAQUE WITH THE CRUCIFIXION

AND HOLY WOMAN AT THE TOMB

Carolinian (Northern France), circa 870-880

PAIR OF EAGLE FIBULAE

Visigoth (Spain) 6th century

HORSE TRAPPINGS

Hunnish (Southwestern Russia) circa 4th-5th centuries

Illustration of a Hun horseman, his horse arrayed with similar trappings.

ALTAR FRONTAL WITH CHRIST IN MAJESTY

AND THE LIFE OF SAINT MARTIN

Catalonian (Spain) 1250 CE

WINDOW PANEL WITH SAINT VINCENT ON THE RACK

French, 1245-47

COMB

Italian (Sicily), late 12th century

DIPTYCH LEAF WITH THE PASSION OF CHRIST

German, late 14th century

MOURNER

Netherlandish, circa 1450 CE

PLATE WITH A CASTLE

Spanish, circa 1450-65

A residence set up in the style of a wealthy Venetian family.  The table is a replica and on it are replicas of both a checker board and a chess set.  Guests may sit down and play a game or two if they wish.

ARMOR

German, circa 1530-60

HELMETS AND BODY ARMOR

Turkish and Iranian, mid-15th to possibly early 18th century.

Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD: Paws On Parchment

 Ran up to Baltimore to see a little focus exhibit (a single room) at the Walters Museum of Art.  The collection has so many medieval books, that any excuse to share some is a delight.  These selections seemed to span a time range from 1400 to 1650.  The works represented illustrators from at least 6 different nations from England to Armenia.  Here are a few highlights.

Book of Hours

French, circa 1450-1460

Canon Table Cats

Armenian, early 17th Century

"Das Narrenschiff," Albrecht Dürer

Swiss, 1497

Book of Hours

Belgium, early 14th Century

Prayer Book

Belgium, late 15th Century

Medieval cat paws on a 15th century Flemish manuscript.

Virginia Museum of Fine Art: Ancient Mediterranean Cultures

 More images from my recent visit to the Virginia Museum of Fine Art.  These are from the Ancient Art Galleries focused on the Cultures of the Mediterranean region.  There are five galleries including a large faux courtyard with large, elegant Doric Columns.  It's not the largest collection I've ever seen.  It's similar in size to those displayed at The Seattle Museum or Art, The Walter's Art Museum (Baltimore), or the Cincinnati Art Museum.  What it may lack in numbers of items, it more than makes up for in range and quality of artifacts.  Enjoy. 

9) "Stirrup-Jar" circa 13th-12th Century BCE

MYCENAEAN

10) "Statuette of an Oxen" 12th Century BCE

MYCENAEAN

11) "Bowl in the Form of a Lotus Blossom" circa 1500 BCE

MINOAN

"Head of Dionysos" 2nd Century

ROMAN

"Relief Plaque" 4th Century BCE

GREEK

"Red Figure Neck-Amphora" circa 430 BCE

GREEK

"Red Figure Neck-Amphora," detail

"Wreath" circa 325-275 BCE

ETRUSCAN

"Red Figure Ram's Head Rhyton" circa 480 BCE

GREEK

"Third-Style Wall Fresco" 1st Century

ROMAN

"Third-Style Wall Fresco," detail

"Cosmetic Box With Lid" circa 1539-1070 BCE

EGYPTIAN

"Statue of Senkamanisken, King of Kush" circa 643-623 BCE

KUSHITE

"False Door Stele" circa 2475-2345 BCE

EGYPTIAN

"False Door Stele," detail

"Section of a Floor Mosaic Depicted the Four Seasons" circa 270-330

ROMAN

"Summer," detail

"Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Caligula)" circa 38

ROMAN

Highlights from the American Wing 19th and Early 20th Century: VMFA

 One of the first artists whose work I immediately recognize is that of George Inness (1825-1894).  I have an innate connection to his works.  They just speak to me on some visceral level that I can't easily explain.  But one thing I do love is how his style grows and becomes more emotive over time.  I appreciate that in artists who are so in tune with their inner eye, they never let it stop becoming.  In these rooms you have two of his paintings.  One from 1863 when he was 38 and in the prime of his career.  The other is from 1893.  Thirty years later and less than a year away from death in 1894.  

"Evening," 1863

George Inness, 1825-1894

Detail from "Evening" by George Inness

"Sunset," 1893

George Inness, 1825-1894

"Yachting on the Mediterranean," 1896

Julius Leblanc Stewart, 1855-1919

Detail, "Yachting on the Mediterranean" by Julius Leblanc Stewart

Very much in the vein of another one of my favorite painters from this period, the French painter James Tissot, 1836-1902, this is an image of the uber rich living the good life at a time when what it meant to be uber rich was being upended by the barons of the industrial revolution.

"A Lady Sewing--Elizabeth, Mrs. Henry Lyman," 1913

Edmund C. Tarbell, 1862 - 1938

Women in domestic settings is a genre of painting that has never really received its due.  A wide range of artists on both sides of the Atlantic engaged in these sorts of works.  They are not simple snapshots of domesticity, but they are a crack in the wall of what constitutes a work of fine art.  An elevation of the common and a glimpse, however privileged, into the lives of women.  Because they depict pedestrian activities, they are not portraiture either.  Even look at the title.  It's three titles in one.  "A Lady Sewing," very nearly a through back to the Renaissance with its anonymous subjects who could only be described by their industry in the moment.  "Elizabeth," very nearly shocking in its repudiation of Victorian Societal norms--such puckish familiarity!  But then, "Mrs. Henry Lyman," we mustn't in the end forget that for better or worse she is still the property of Mr. Henry Lyman.

I'll end with a couple of pairings.  The first are works by Childe Hassam, 1859-1935.  Hassam is a regional New England painter who also traveled the world and did more to bring the Impressionist aesthetic in America than nearly any other artist of his time.  He was close to both Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman (another personal fav of mine).  In 75 years of life he managed to produce over 3,000 works of art, watercolors, oils, lithographs, etc.   He's a very under-rated artist in my opinion.

"Winter Nightfall in the City," 1889

Childe Hassam, 1859-1935

Moonlight, New England Coast," 1907

Childe Hassam, 1859-1935

Finally, I will close with a pair by absolutely one of, and possibly my favorite artist, John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)  Sargent was born in Italy, but considered himself an American citizen.  His technique, honed in the sketchpad, refined with watercolor, and brought to spectacular perfection in oils is simple the most intuitively unhampered execution of artistic skill and style on the planet.  There is always a chaotic freedom in the details of his work, but rarely--if ever--a sense of in-cohesion.  Every stoke, every hue, feels perfect.

"Venetian Tavern," 1902

John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925

"The Rialto," 1909

John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925