December 2, 2022
PHOENIX ART MUSEUM
1625 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004
“The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest museum for visual arts in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is 285,000 square feet (26,500 m2). It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design.” – Wikipedia
To me, the Phoenix Art Museum is almost the perfect art museum: large, but not too large; diverse collection, but no exhibit is overwhelming; and a nice mix of classic and contemporary works. I enjoyed the works by Monet, Pissarro, and O’Keeffe, but was also thrilled to see works by Alexander Calder and Kehinde Wiley. The special exhibit by the artist Mr. had some very interesting work and the display of women’s clothing made from paper, a fad of the ‘70s brought back memories.
Touring the museum was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
Paolo Soleri; "II Donnone"; 1972; cor-ten steel treated with chlorine and acid.
Mr.; "Marina"; 2002; iron, FRP, urethane paint, acrylic paint and plywood base with MDF surface finish.
Mr.; "I'll Start with Draft Beer!"; 2021; acrylic, watercolor, pen and pencil on paper.
Pharrell Williams; "It Girl"; 2014; video. Mr. did the artwork for Williams' music video.
I failed to capture the title of this Mr. work. I purposely took the picture with the person standing in front so one could get a sense of the size of the work.
Mr.; "Flowers and Fire"; 2022; acrylic paint and silkscreen print on canvas.
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri; "Madonna and Child"; 1636; oil on canvas.
Henri Marie Raymond De Toulouse-Lautrec; "La Goulue (Cabaret Dancer); not dated; pencil, gouache, pastel, cardboard.
Claude Monet; "Flowering Arches, Giverny"; 1913; oil on canvas
Camille Pissarro; "Landscape at Varengeville, Gray Weather"; 1899; oil on canvas
Narcissa Niblack Thorne; "Italian Dining Room c. 1500";1932-1937; miniature room. Thorne's collection of miniature rooms was quite impressive.
Georgia O'Keeffe; "Pink Abstraction"; 1929; oil on canvas.
Charles Joseph Biederman; "Paris, March 7, 1937"; 1937; oil on canvas.
John Coleman; "Explorer Artists Bodmer-Catlin Series: Addih-Hiddisch, Hidatsa Chief"; 2004; bronze
Tom Palmore; "Majestic Cat"; 2013; oil on canvas.
Part of the Paper Dresses Fashion exhibit.
Jose Luis Landet; "Reticular"; 2014; approximately 50 left over oil on canvas. See next picture.
The piece of art is composed of 50 fragments of recycled canvases.
Alexander Calder; Untitled; 1972; gouache on paper. Calder is the artist credited with creating the first mobile.
Vaughn Spann; "Fleeting memories and lasting moments"; 2019; mixed media, polymer paint, terry cloth, canvas on stretcher bars--diptych
Viola Frey; "Nude Man"; 1989; glazed ceramic. Yes, it anatomically correct.
Kehinde Wiley; "Memling: After Memling's Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat"; 2013; oil on wood panel in artist designed hand fabricated frame with 22k gold leaf gilding. This and two other pieces were striking. I didn't recognize the artist's name until I saw the work in the next picture.
Kehinde Wiley; "Marechal Floriano Peixoto (from The World Stage: Brazil Series); 2009; oil on canvas. I really like Wiley's work. I've seen a couple other pieces in other museums. He may be best known for painting the Nation Portrait Gallery's President Obama.
Rotraut Klein-Moquay; "Galaxy #59"; 1987; acrylic and crystals on canvas.
Roy Lichtenstein; "Figures"; 1977; oil and magna on canvas.
Derek Fordjour; "The Futility of Achievement"; 2020; acrylic, charcoal, cardboard, oil pastel, foil and glitter on newspaper mounted on canvas. I loved this painting for some reason.
Gloria Martinez-Granados; "The Uncertainty of Higher Education"; 2022; lithography. Interesting work made up of Dreamers' Student I.D. cards.
Fountain outside the museum.