The Kimbell Art Museum will welcome "the most beautiful" queen of Egypt, one of Britain's most renowned painters, and fascinating pieces from a special Rockefeller collection in its 2020-21 lineup of special exhibitions.
The Fort Worth museum unveiled the schedule of upcoming exhibitions in a release July 28. The Kimbell, which was among the earliest Dallas-Fort Worth museums to reopen to the public after its COVID-19 shutdown, is adhering to special health and safety measures, found here. Information and schedules are subject to change, they say.
The museum's current special presentation, "Flesh and Blood: Italian Masterpieces from Capodimonte Museum," will be on view only through August 16. Here's a closer look at the exhibitions that will follow (with descriptions provided by the Kimbell).
"Queen Nefertari’s Egypt"
November 15, 2020-March 28, 2021
Previously announced, "Queen Nefertari’s Egypt" will take a closer look at the wives of pharaohs during the New Kingdom period (1550-1070 BC), the height of Egyptian civilization.
"These women — not just great royal wives, but also sisters, daughters and mothers of pharaohs, and sometimes even pharaohs themselves — are brought to life through some 230 exceptional objects, including majestic statues, exquisite jewelry, decorated vases, papyrus manuscripts, carved steles, mummies, intricately painted wooden coffins and splendid stone sarcophagi, as well as tools and various items of daily life from the artisan village of Deir el-Medina, home to the craftsmen who made the royal tombs," the museum says.
Nefertari, whose name means “the most beautiful of them all,” was one of the most revered queens of ancient Egypt. She was the wife of the great pharaoh Ramesses II. Her richly decorated tomb was discovered in 1904. "The brilliantly painted scenes decorating the tomb depict the perilous and challenging journey Nefertari had to make to appease the gods on her path to immortality," the Kimbell says. "Queen Nefertari’s Egypt will cast light on royal life in the palace, the roles of women in ancient Egypt, the everyday life of artisans and the powerful belief system and ritual practices around death and the afterlife."
The exhibition highlights the journey of discovery made by the Italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli and his team near the ancient Nile river. The selected masterpieces in the display come from the world-renowned Museo Egizio in Turin, which holds one of the most important collections of ancient Egyptian works outside of Cairo. The exhibition is organized by the Museo Egizio, Turin, and StArt, in collaboration with the Kimbell.
"Turner’s Modern World"
May 9-September 5, 2021
J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), one of Britain’s greatest artists and a Fort Worth favorite, will be the subject of a Kimbell showcase next spring and summer. "Turner’s Modern World" explores Turner’s lifelong interest in the events, society, inventions, politics, culture, and science of his time, "which resulted in many of his most original works and transformed his way of painting," the museum says.
The description goes on to say, "Born in the late 18th century, Turner witnessed spectacular technological innovations and the industrialization of modern life. As the advances of industry and commerce brought Britain to world power, Turner immortalized these dizzying changes in vivid and dramatic compositions, with skillful brushwork that gave the impression of being wild and uncontrolled. In his last years, he surpassed any other artist by melding his contemporary subjects with a highly innovative style — an accomplishment that established him as one of the founders of modern art."
The exhibition, organized by Tate Britain, will feature oils and watercolors from Tate’s collection as well as works from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Yale Center for British Art, and private collections. It is organized by the Kimbell Art Museum along with with Tate Britain and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
"Buddha, Shiva, Lotus, Dragon: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at Asia Society"
October 17, 2021-January 16, 2022
The arrival of fall brings "Buddha, Shiva, Lotus, Dragon: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at Asia Society" to Fort Worth. This exhibition will present nearly 70 of the finest examples of Asian art in the United States, the Kimbell says.
"This exhibition showcases the extraordinary range of bronzes, ceramics and metalwork that John D. Rockefeller 3rd (1906-1978) and his wife, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller (1909-1992), thoughtfully assembled between the 1940s and the 1970s," the release says. "With highlights including spectacular Chinese vases, dynamic Indian Chola bronzes and exquisite Southeast Asian sculptures, the exhibition reveals great achievements in Asian art spanning more than two millennia. This selection of masterpieces drawn from Asia Society’s permanent collection is a visually stunning presentation that illuminates social and artistic histories from across Asia and underscores the visual arts’ capacity to encourage cross-cultural dialogue."
It will be a rare opportunity to see the collection outside of its home at Asia Society Museum in New York City. The exhibition will explore the themes of Buddhist sculpture, Hindu sculpture and ceramics and metalwork, but it will also examine the Rockefellers’ collecting and exhibition practices "in an age when political and economic circumstances informed the reception and availability of Asian artworks in the United States," the museum says.
The presentation, co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and Asia Society Museum, is on a national tour supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
All special exhibitions will be on view in the Renzo Piano Pavilion. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, students, K-12 teachers and active-duty military, $14 for children ages 6-11, and free for children under 6. Admission is half-price all day on Tuesdays and after 5 pm on Fridays. (Admission to the Kimbell’s collection is always free.)
Current hours are 10 am-5 pm Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday; 12-8 pm Friday; and 12-5 pm Sundays. Closed Mondays. For more information, visit the museum's website.
Statuette of Ahmose-Nefertari
