Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas

The Dallas Museum of Art and The Nasher Sculpture Center combined facilities to present an exhibit on Henri Matisse recently. We spent a wonderful afternoon enjoying the artwork of this well known French artist (1869-1954).

The Nasher Sculpture Center was built on the collections of Patsy and Ray Nasher, who began to collect pre-colombian art from ancient Latin America in the 1950's and modern sculptures in the mid-1960's.

As we continued with our viewing of the Matisse exhibit, we entered spacious galleries with huge windows overlooking the beautiful landscaped grounds and lovely sculpture garden.

Nasher's dream was 'to create an outdoor 'roofless' museum to serve as a peaceful retreat for reflection of art and nature and as a home for his 20th century sculpture'. A sculpture garden can be visited, which is located outdoors at the rear of the museum. Also, chamber music concerts are scheduled each month.

A few of the artists/sculptors represented are:

Alberto Giacometti
Paul Gauguin
Mex Ernst
Edgar Degas
Henri Matisse
Joan Miro
Pablo Picasso
August Rodin

Hours are Tuesday-Wednesday 11am-5pm; Thursday 11am- FREE 6pm-11pm; Friday-Sunday 11am-5pm, closed on Mondays, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.

Admission is $10 for adults; $7 for seniors age 65 and up; $5 for students; under 12 free.

The Nasher Sculpture Center has various works from world-renowed artists such as Picasso, Miro, Liechtenstein & Rodin. The facility itself is not very large, but well worth the visit. The garden has most of the sculptures, strategically placed among beautiful landscaping & fountains and it is even more dramatic in it's location against the Dallas skyline (see pic on Intro Dallas page). We were lucky to see this on a beautiful day; it's serene beauty makes it an exhibit not to be missed!

This recently opened art venue in the downtown Dallas Arts District is a must-see! Works from internationally renowned artists are placed throughout the outdoor sculpture garden. Works from the permenent collection as well as special exhibits are to be found within the interior galleries. (Note: non-flash photos may be taken of permanent collection only; no photos allowed in special exhibitions.)

Admission:
* General, $10
* Seniors, $7
* Students, $5
* Children under 12, free
All admission include the audio tour.

Hours:
* Tues. - Sun., 11am - 6pm
* Thurs. - open until 9pm

Closed: New Year's Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

See also VT member ara225's Dallas page for more photos of the incredible sculptures to be found in this arts treasure in Dallas.

Kind of a fun looking piece but a little grotesque as well. Jean Debuffet's idea evolved from his Houloupe series which developed in the 1960's with its bold colour and broad wavy lines. It was initially carved out of Styrofoam and only 5ft tall but this version was made using epoxy resin and enlarged quite a bit.

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This one is large and kind of bizaare looking with these 36 life-size headless statues. The artist, Magadelena Abakanowicz was born in Poland during WWII and lived during the invasions of Germany and the Soviet Union. She has said that 'A crowd is the most cruel because it begins to act like a brainless organism'. Each of these figures are different on closer inspection and you can walk between them all.

This bronze sculpture designed by George Segal, comes from a scene in everyday life where people are busy and rushing in a mindless fashion in their daily routines. The six figures resonates Rodin's famous sculpture 'The Burghers of Calais' which is a monument to the French noblemen who sacrificed themselves to British invaders in 1347 so that the rest of the town might be protected.

This piece was designed by Alexander Calder of painted steel in 1970. Calder was trained as an engineer and has an interest in technological processes of constructions. The arrangement of these pieces sort of suggests a large animal as you walk around it. The name comes from the three knobby protrusions at the top which resemble post for typing up boats at a jetty.

This sculpture of stainless steel was originally designed by Naum Gabo who pioneered the revolutionary approach to sculpture in the 1910's as part of the Russian Constructivist movement. The first two versions of this work were made in cardboard and galvanised iron back in 1916 and much smaller. This version was created by Gabo late in his life, around 1975 and enlarged. Out of 4 large scale versions he created, this was the only one in Stainless Steel.

An interesting title by Richard Serra in 1987. This piece is a huge item on display in the garden and looks like a long rustic steel tunnel. Each plate is 44ft long, 14 ft tall and weighs over 50,000 lbs. When you walk through between the plates, you tend to get an unsettling feeling which comes about from the lean of the curves which slice out unforeseen shifts in volume and depth.

Conceived in 1881 by Auguste Rodin and cast before 1932 in bronze. Rodin once commented that 'one forgets too often that the human body is an architecture - a living architecture'. Smoothness and roughness are created in just the right places. Rodin drew inspiration for this piece from Michelangelo's Eve in the Sistine Chapel frescoes.