NOW/THEN/AGAIN: Contemporary Art in Dallas 1949-1989 Page: 27
85 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Since Dallas has been a major
center of design since World War II,
the museum is committed to col-
lecting 20th century works of that
period and this year purchased a
Lamp (c. 1950) by Isamu Noguchi.their origin. On the other hand, our commitment to local artists has been and will be
to take their work as seriously as we take the work of any artist and never to shirk
our institutional responsibilities to exhibit and to buy the best, and most challenging,
art of our time, no matter where it is made.
The major part of the DMA's collection of contemporary art consists of painting
and sculpture. However, the museum has acquired through a fund generously
provided by Mr. and Mrs. Jake Hamon a distinguished collection of contemporary
prints and, from various donors, it has been given funds for the purchase of
contemporary photographs. Due both to the monumental scale of the permanent
collection galleries and to the presence of quantities of natural light, these works of
contemporary art on paper are not normally shown with the paintings and sculpture.
Protected, small-scale spaces for these collections will be a regular feature of the
museum's installation of contemporary art, making it possible not only to assess dif-
ferent artistic mediums simultaneously, but also to spur the museum and its donors to
acquire more works on paper, and to do so more adventurously.
The collection of contemporary design and decorative arts at the Dallas Museum
is, at best, incipient. The museum's former name - the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts
- and its commitment to the acquisition of high quality painting and sculpture made
the systematic acquisition of modern decorative arts impossible. However, with the
well-publicized gift of the Reves Collection of European decorative arts, the Hoblitzelle
Collection of English and Irish silver, and the Bybee Collection of American furniture,
the newly named Dallas Museum of Art has committed itself firmly to "applied" as
well as "fine" arts.
Recent works added to the permanent collection, for example, like Scott Bur-
ton's GRANITE SETTEE, have already begun to question the traditional boundaries
between art and craft, sculpture and furniture. For this reason, it will be a policy of
the museum not only to make judicious additions to the existing collections, but also
to build on them. Given the fact that Dallas has been a major center of design since
World War II, it seems only natural that 20th century design should be a component
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Brettell, Richard R. NOW/THEN/AGAIN: Contemporary Art in Dallas 1949-1989, book, 1989; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth307668/m1/32/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Museum of Art.