Denver meets the masters: Iconic artworks arrive at the Denver Art Museum
Guest curator Dean Sobel invites Denver to “fasten their seat belts” and go see the Denver Art Museum’s new exhibition Modern Masters: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Gallery. The exhibition is running until June 8, but the section at the Clyfford Still Museum (CSM) will be running until June 15. Your ticket from the DAM gives you free admission at the CSM and you do not have to go to the two exhibitions on the same day.
Sobel, who is director of the CSM, selected works by Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Matisse, Frieda, Roy Lichtenstein and many more from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in New York. The section of the exhibition that is at the CSM is a recreation of an exhibit the same museum had of just Still’s work. The museum has an introductory video that gives details on Still’s life and how particular he was when choosing museums to showcase his work.
“It’s kind of a really cool opportunity for Denver to take a look at these iconic artists that are difficult to see anywhere outside of Europe, or New York or Chicago,” said Stefania Van Dyke, master teacher for the exhibition.
As master teacher, Van Dyke worked with Sobel to create the story of the exhibition and help visitors engage in the artworks. One of the ways Van Dyke describes is there are quotes on the wall in the different sections of the exhibition. The quotes are from artists and help to describe the different movements that encompass modern art like cubism, surrealism, and post-impressionism. In addition to artist’s quotes, Van Dyke said they also included quotes from critics about certain artists, and the artists response.
Sobel himself describes modern art as “that moment in the history of art where artists broke away from what was seen as kind of a tradition. To various degrees there was a way in which artists worked and that moved along a singular path.”
The selection of works ranges from the 1880s and goes to the 1970s. It starts with post-impressionism and ends with Andy Warhol’s soup painting and other pieces of pop art. Containing only paintings and a few sculptures, the exhibition also has some special items such as Jackson Pollack’s paint cans and painting utensils.
“I think people might be surprised by how many of these images they know from reproductions when they see them in person. That’s why in the title we called it 20th Century Icons, so many of these things have been absorbed into media or our consciousness. It’s this uncannyness that you’re looking at the actual thing that you thought you knew so well.”
