NASHER SCULPTURE CENTER CELEBRATES 5th ANNIVERSARY WITH FALL EXHIBITION HONORING FOUNDERS
8/14/2008 12:05:48 PM
In Pursuit of the Masters: Stories from the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection on view beginning September 20, 2008
Dallas, Texas – To mark its 5th anniversary, the Nasher Sculpture Center will present In Pursuit of the Masters: Stories from the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection from September 20, 2008 – January 4, 2009. The exhibition, which is sponsored by JPMorgan, will highlight the personal stories behind the works of art, including Patsy and Raymond Nasher’s partnership in pursuit of the finest examples of modern and contemporary sculpture; their close friendships with artists, art dealers, and curators; and the insights that came from living with and sharing the works of art that they loved.
Featuring the great masterworks of the collection, as well as significant and personally meaningful works from its humble beginnings, the exhibition will present a personalized and intimate view of art by some of the most important artists of the past 125 years. While collecting the work of artists like Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol, the Nashers also had the rare pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with the artists and their subjects. Jacqueline Picasso, the artist’s wife and final muse, visited the Nashers’ home in Dallas, sharing intimate details about the works by her husband that the Nashers owned; the Nashers’ later visited Jacqueline in Picasso’s home in Mougins, drinking from terracotta cups that Picasso had made. The Dallas collectors also built a warm friendship with Henry Moore, visiting each other several times, one of them inspiring the artist to create a new work of art that he gave to the Nashers. Patsy Nasher shared with Andy Warhol a love of art, ancient American artifacts, and jewelry, which she traded with the artist for portraits of her and her three daughters.
The exhibition will also unveil to the public many of the most important works in the collection that, because of their personal significance, had remained in the Nasher residence, such as Jean Arp’s Torso with Buds, the first major modern sculpture in the collection, which Patsy had purchased for Raymond on his 46th birthday. The new installation of the collection will be complemented by numerous photographs, didactic texts, a new video and additions to the audio tour, including recollections of the Nashers from the artists, art world figures, family and friends who knew them best.
Overview on the Founders:
Raymond and Patsy Nasher began collecting art in the 1950s. After a trip to Mexico, they started a sizable collection of objects from ancient Latin America. A short time later, they acquired a number of important American modernist works, and in the late 1960s, began collecting large-scale modern and contemporary sculpture.
Both took much joy in the process, learning about the works of art that they considered and pursuing the ones that touched them most. They were a potent team: Patsy was diligent in her research and pursuit of works in which they were interested, and Raymond brought his expertise in the art of the deal. In the beginning, Patsy’s passion, drive, and focus were an important catalyst for the collection. According to Raymond, “she had a naturally inherent genius for distinguishing between excellent, good, mediocre, and poor works of art, and the confidence to make decisions herself. While I was doing business, she traveled to all of the openings in New York, got to know all of the gallery people, and many of the artists.”
Raymond was one of the first real estate developers to place art in his commercial complexes. His first retail shopping center in Dallas, NorthPark Center, was designed with the space necessary to display large-scale sculpture. He also played a leading role in the development and growth of all major arts organizations in Dallas. He established the Dallas Business Committee for the Arts in 1988, was appointed to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities by three presidents, and served on various committees and councils of numerous museums across the country.
Patsy was also involved with various museums across the country and served in several positions in governmental affairs. She was a hostess at the White House for the Conference on International Cooperation, 1965; a hostess for official functions at the General Assembly of the United Nations, 1967; and served with Raymond in international missions for the State Department in tours through Germany, the Soviet Union, Iran and Scandinavia, 1966-1967.
Together, they built one of the finest collections of 20th-century sculpture in the world. The Nasher Sculpture Center is the realization of the Nashers’ long-held dream to establish a public home for this priceless collection.
Overview on the Collection:
The Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection is considered one of the foremost collections of modern sculpture in public or private hands and is comprised of more than 300 sculptures dating from the late 19th century to the present.
Surveyed as a whole, the Nasher Collection demonstrates considerable balance between early modern works and art of the postwar period, abstraction and figuration, monumental outdoor and more intimately scaled indoor works, and the many different materials used in the production of modern art.
Perhaps its single most distinguishing feature is the depth with which it represents certain key artists, including Alberto Giacometti (with ten sculptures), Henri Matisse (nine), Moore (seven), Picasso (seven), David Smith (seven), Raymond Duchamp-Villon (four), and Joan Miró (three). Such well-rounded perspectives on the development of these masters provide, in effect, a series of mini-retrospectives within the collection’s overall historical spectrum.
The Nasher Collection is on display at the Nasher Sculpture Center throughout the year. It has also been presented in exhibitions at museums across the world including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Forte de Belvedere, Florence, Italy; Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel; the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the Dallas Museum of Art.
Overview on the Building and the Garden:
The Nasher Sculpture Center, which opened in October 2003, is the first institution in the world dedicated exclusively to modern and contemporary sculpture with a collection of global significance at its foundation. The $70 million Center occupies a full city block in downtown Dallas, in the heart of the city’s growing Arts District.
The Nasher Sculpture Center features a 55,000 square foot building and one and a half acre sculpture garden designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano in collaboration with landscape architect Peter Walker.
The building is defined by parallel stone walls that form five equal-sized pavilions which house the galleries, Cafe Nasher by Wolfgang Puck, and the Nasher Store. Bounded by walls of Italian travertine and glass facades, the galleries provide a warm and open setting for the presentation of sculpture. The building’s barrel-vaulted ceiling features arched glass panes suspended atop narrow steel ribs and supported by thin, stainless steel rods. An innovative sunscreen device of cast aluminum, specifically designed for the project, admits ambient northern light into the galleries while simultaneously blocking out all direct sunlight.
The 1.42-acre sculpture garden features more than 170 trees, including cedar elms, live oaks, and magnolias which, together with stone pathways, pools, and fountains, define intimate landscapes for quiet reflection and contemplation of works of art, and create a verdant oasis in downtown Dallas. Approximately 25 large-scale sculptures from the Nasher Collection are on view in the garden at one time. Tending, (Blue), by James Turrell, is the only site-specific work commissioned as part of the sculpture garden. Turrell’s free-standing “skyspace” is situated at the North end of the garden.
The Nasher Sculpture Center presents rotating exhibitions of works from the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection as well as special exhibitions drawn from, and in collaboration with, other museums and private collections. Past exhibitions have included Picasso: The Cubist Portraits of Fernande Olivier; Medardo Rosso: Second Impressions; David Smith: Drawing and Sculpting; The Women of Giacometti; On Tour with Renzo Piano and Building Workshop: Selected Projects; Matisse: Painter as Sculptor; and Woman: The Art of Gaston Lachaise.
The Nasher Sculpture Center is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am to 5 pm and Thursday from 11 am to 9 pm. General admission to the Center is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for members and children 12 and under.
Sponsor JPMorgan:
The Nasher Sculpture Center is pleased to announce JPMorgan as the presenting sponsor of the fall exhibition, In Pursuit of the Masters: Stories from the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection. In addition, JPMorgan's support will provide unique educational programs for students, teachers, and the general public through tours, lectures, and workshops. JPMorgan is committed to building vibrant communities, preserving the environment and promoting an inclusive culture that benefits shareholders, customers, employees, neighbors and future generations. Corporate citizenship is fundamental to their success as a firm with investments in programs designed to enhance the quality of the communities they serve.
###
For more information and photos, please contact:
Kristen Mills Gibbins
Communications Manager
214.242.5177
kgibbins@nashersculpturecenter.org