Arts News

10 must-see spring art exhibits bloom in Dallas-Fort Worth in April

The Offing, Jennifer Pritchard, on exhibit at the Dallas Center For Photography.

With Fort Worth's Main Street Arts Festival and the Dallas Art Fair both taking place in April, the mood this month is nothing short of celebratory. Local galleries and museums have special treats in store for art lovers, as well.

Given the abundance represented on our events calendar, it might be a challenge to see everything you want to see this month. Still, if you're ready to attempt it, put these 10 must-see exhibits and events on your list.

New Art Reveal Parties
Giddens Gallery, April 14-15

This charming fine art gallery in historic downtown Grapevine has recently begun hosting bi-monthly art reveal parties in the gallery. Enjoy wine and hor d'oeuvres while you get a first look at new works from one of the artists represented by the gallery. Attend the VIP Prosecco Preview Party on Friday, April 14 or the Art Reveal Party on Saturday, April 15. Both events are from 6-9 pm and are free.

"Transcending"
Visit Fort Worth Gallery at Fort Worth Arts, through April 29

University of Dallas student and Irving resident Mikey Hernandez creates large-scale works on paper incorporating a selection of traditional watercolor, gouache, ink, chalk, colored pencils, and charcoal. He also uses time as a medium as the paintings meld and dry in an act of surrender. Hernandez says his process as well as the finished works are comparable in some ways to a meditation. "Both in my meditations and artwork, I intuitively work on areas in hopes for growth and a better outcome by the end."

Join the artist for a guided meditation in the gallery at 10 am on Saturday, April 15. "Transcending" is on view at Fort Worth Arts through April 29.

"Japan, Form & Function: The Montgomery Collection"
Crow Museum of Asian Art, April 15-April 14, 2024

The collection of Jeffrey Montgomery is a landmark exhibit for the Crow Museum, as it marks the first time they'll host a sole presentation throughout the entire museum. Featuring Japanese folk art across a wide range of media, format, influence, and style, the exhibit will present one or more themes from a specific region of Japan in each gallery.

The museum has been closed and reopens to the public on Saturday, April 15. Entry is free but they welcome donations online. Join guest curator for the exhibit, Luigi Zeni, at a Curator’s Conversation event from 12-5 pm on Saturday, April 15; space is limited.

"Memory is a Verb: Exploring Time and Transience"
Dallas Center for Photography, April 15 - May 13, 2023

This major photographic exhibit features the work of 11 female photographers exploring the profound subjects of time, transience, and loss. While the creators come from different geographic regions and backgrounds, their photographs collectively express the universal desire to be connected and remembered.

An opening reception will be held from 6-8 pm on Saturday, April 15.

Dallas Art Fair
Fashion Industry Gallery, April 21-23

One of the premier Dallas art events for collectors, arts professionals, and the public, the Dallas Art Fair consists of three days, April 21-23, of curated exhibits from national and international galleries at Fashion Industry Gallery (F.I.G). A preview benefit takes place on April 20.

A single-day pass is $25, or $20 for seniors and students. A three-day pass is $55. Tickets are for sale on the Dallas Art Fair website.

Spring 2023 Exhibition Opening
Dallas Contemporary, Wednesday, April 19 · 7-9 pm

An El Come Taco pop-up and music by nosocial + Al G are on the agenda at the spring exhibition opening at Dallas Contemporary. Preview upcoming shows cerámica suro: a story of collaboration, production, and collecting in the contemporary arts and eduardo sarabia: this must be the place. Admission is free, with complimentary drinks for those over 21.

"Eyeboretum"
The Eyeball (across the street from The Joule hotel), April 21-23

In celebration of the Dallas Arts Fair, Headington Companies and The Joule are hosting of series of garden parties surrounding the trippy giant eyeball in downtown Dallas. Choose a day and timeslot to attend, stroll some surreal gardens, and quench your thirst at the bar. Proceeds benefit education programs of the Dallas Art Fair. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online.

Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival
Downtown Fort Worth, April 20-23

Now in its 36th year, this festival has been recognized as one of the top arts and music festivals in the nation. Art on display is from more than 200 juried artists. Food stands of all kinds abound and you can catch about 50 music and entertainment shows on two stages. City Center Fort Worth is hosting the Chloe Collection Wine Pavilion and Tarrant County College is presenting TCC Makers Zone, with demonstrations and activities for the whole family. Entrance is free.

The Dallas Pancakes & Booze Art Show
Deep Ellum Art Company, April 29

Popular pop-up is back this year at Deep Ellum Art Co. with all-you-can-eat pancakes, DJ music, live body painting, adult beverages, and more than 750 works of art on display. This is not your parents' art show: Plan on rocking to the music and viewing art from talented emerging artists till midnight. Tickets are $10-$20 and available on Eventbrite.

"Avedon's West"
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, through October 1, 2023

In 1979, the Museum commissioned a project, In the American West, from celebrity photographer Richard Avedon. The famed photographer took photos of everyday people in states from Texas to Idaho in 752 sittings over a period of six years. There are only two full sets of the series of photographs, and the Amon Carter Museum owns one of them. A select 13 of these photographs will be on display throughout the Museum’s collection galleries through October 1. Admission is free.

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Ancient Sculpture News

Fort Worth museum one of only 3 in U.S. to get rare sculpture exhibit

Lorenzo di Masi/Torlonia Collection

The Torlonia Nile

A major exhibition of ancient Roman masterworks is coming to the U.S. for the first time to be viewed at only three museums — including the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Called Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection, it's an assemblage of works stewarded by the Torlonia Family beginning in the early-19th century, and will be installed at the Kimbell from September 14, 2025 – January 25, 2026.

As part of the Foundation’s mission to showcase these historical works to the public, the exhibition will premiere at the Art Institute of Chicago on March 15 through June 29, before traveling to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Its third stop will be at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, from March 14 - July 19, 2026.

The Torlonia Collection was established during the course of the 19th century by the Franco-Italian banker Prince Giovanni Torlonia and his son Alessandro, then handed down over generations, eventually growing into the largest private collection of ancient Roman sculptures.

Today, the Torlonia Foundation represents the culmination of the Family’s continued passion for art. Created at the behest of Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1925–2017), the Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promote the Torlonia Collection and Villa Albani Torlonia.

In 1876, Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1800-1886) created a museum to house and exhibit the Family’s holdings, which was open to small groups until its closure at the onset of World War II. The sculptures remained unseen by the public from that time until the Foundation’s first exhibition at the Musei Capitolini in Rome in 2020. That was followed by a stint at the Louvre, the first presentation of the collection outside of Rome, where it has drawn more than 600,000 visitors to date, an unprecedented feat.

The exhibit
The curators of Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection are Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff of the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and The Museum Box. All of the sculptures in the exhibition have been restored by the Foundation with the support of Bvlgari.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue co-published by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, edited by Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff, with essays by Silvia Beltrametti and Salvatore Settis.

The North American presentation will feature 58 highlights from the Torlonia Collection, including 24 newly restored works that have not been on view in nearly a century. The sculptures date from approximately the 5th century BCE to the early 4th century CE, with the majority of the works dating to the High Imperial period (1st–2nd centuries CE). Highlights include examples of the most emblematic genres of ancient marble sculpture, acquired by the Torlonia Family from the most prominent collections of Rome’s patrician families, as well as from excavations made on the Family’s own estates throughout Italy.

“The Foundation is excited to be sharing the Torlonia Collection with audiences in North America for the first time. This exceptional group of ancient sculptures is a testament to the enduring cultural legacy of ancient Rome, as well as the vision and passion of multiple generations of the Torlonia Family,” said Alessandro Poma Murialdo, President of the Torlonia Foundation.

The presentation is organized thematically in six sections, featuring sculptures found on the Torlonia Family’s properties in Rome and the surrounding suburbs and their estate in Porto, Portugal, as well as a number of exceptional sarcophagi (stone coffins), among the largest sculpted works in marble to survive from ancient Rome.

The tour reinforces the work of the Foundation to advance the appreciation and understanding of this unparalleled collection and the rich cultural heritage it represents. The Foundation’s mission is carried out through a continuous joint effort between the public and private sectors, including with the cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The Foundation is supported by a longstanding collaboration with Bvlgari as the principal sponsor of the restoration project since its inception in Rome and throughout the global tour, and Chiomenti, who has lent invaluable support to the Foundation’s core activities.

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