Masterpiece Moment: Celebration of great works of art (2023)

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Audio: Jazz music plays

Graphic: Bank of America presents the Masterpiece Moment

Video: North Carolina Museum of Art exterior and interior photos

Text on canvas: North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Onscreen text: El Anatsui (Nigerian, born Ghana 1944), Lines That Link Humanity, 2008, mixed media sculpture, 18ft x 25ft (5.49m x 7.62m)

Video: Valerie Hillings, director of the North Carolina Museum of Art, in front of the sculpture Lines That Link Humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Screen caption: Valerie Hillings, director of the North Carolina Museum of Art

Audio—[Valerie Hillings]: Hello. I'm Valerie Hillings, Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art. Welcome to the Bank of America Masterpiece Moment. Today I want to talk about one of my favorite works from our collection...

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: The lines of El Anatsui binding humanity and telling you why I think it's an awe-inspiring masterpiece.

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: We are fortunate to commission such a spectacular and monumental example of the North Carolina Museum of Art's most celebrated work...

Video: A photo of El Anatsui, 2015

Audio: … by one of the most renowned artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: Measuring 18 feet by 25 feet and weighing 120 pounds, this hanging sculpture is made from liquor bottle caps and pressure plates.

Video: Footage of El Anatsui and assistants at work in his studio

Audio: The artist's studio assistants flatten, bend and twist the aluminum plates and bind them together with copper wire into plates. These units are laid out on the ground and Anatsui studies and moves them around until he determines the final composition.

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: The parts are then assembled into a whole reminiscent of a large cloth with traces of painting and sculpture. Hanging from the wall, these works appear from a distance to be glittering veils or swaying tapestries that appear to be anything but recycled metal.

Video: Ein Foto von El Anatsui, Mai 2013

Audio: Anatsui started this work around 2002 and gained international recognition for it in 2007…

Video: A photograph of the Palazzo Fortuny during the 2007 Venice Biennale, showing a sculpture by El Anatsui in the building

Audio: …when he presented two large installations…

Video: A photograph by El Anatsui, Dusasa I (Stitching), 2007, at the 52nd Venice Biennale 2007

Audio: …at the 52nd Venice Biennale.

Video: A photo of El Anatsui, 2015

Audio: A year later, Anatsui visited the North Carolina Museum of Art to prepare a 2012 research exhibition and a commission for the…

Video: A photo of the exterior of the North Carolina Museum of Art's West Building in Raleigh

Audio: …opening of the new museum building…

Video: A photo of Architect Thomas Phifer and former NCMA Director Larry Wheeler examining a model of the West Building

Audio: …designed by Thomas Phifer.

Video: A photo of a West Building model

Audio: Anatsui saw the full-size model, which revealed plans to have his commission near abstract works by…

Video: A photograph by Anselm Kiefer, 2011, alongside an image of his painting Untitled, 1980-1986

Audio: …Anselm Kiefer…

Video: A photograph by Gerhard Richter, 2010, next to an image of his painting Station, 1985

Audio: ...Gerhard Richter...

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: … und Sean Scully …

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: …paintings which he would later refer to when discussing the range of his work.

Video: Images of El Anatsui's Lines That Link Humanity, 2008, installed in various galleries of the North Carolina Museum of Art

Audio: Since its debut in 2010, Lines That Link Humanity has graced the museum's various galleries. In 2022 it will be installed for the fourth time as we reinvent and relaunch our entire collection.

Video: A photo of the city of Apam, Ghana

Audio: El Anatsui wurde 1944 in Anyako, Ghana, geboren…

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: …the youngest of his father's 32 children from different families—

Video: A photograph of Ewe nation men, women and children performing traditional dances during a festival, 1950s

Audio: ...and is a citizen of the Ewe Nation.

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: He showed talent in the arts from a young age and was encouraged by his high school teachers to continue his studies after graduation.

Video: A photo of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology entrance

Audio: He went to art school,…

Video: A photo from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Audio: …University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: After studying sculpture and a postgraduate degree in art education, he began teaching, first in Ghana and then relocated in 1975...

Video: An aerial view of the University of Nigeria

Audio: …to Nsukka, Nigeria, where I was a teacher…

Video: A photo of the College of Art building at the University of Nigeria

Audio: …until 2011 at the University of Nigeria.

Video: A photo of El Anatsui at work in his studio in Nsukka, 2013

Audio: Throughout his career, Anatsui has worked in a variety of media...

Video: A photo of El Anatsui in front of one of his artworks made from thousands of bottle caps, 2005

Audio: …creating drawings, paintings, prints…

Video: A two-part sculpture AG + BA, 2014, by El Anatsui

Audio: …sculptures and installations.

Video: A photo of e-waste at Agbogbloshie landfill, Accra, Ghana

Audio: He prefers found objects, often thrown away...

Video: A photo of stacks of glass bottles for recycling

Audio: …used by people as part of everyday life.

Video: A photo of selected screw caps from beverage bottles

Audio: Anatsui transforms these materials…

Video: Detail der Skulptur Another Man's Clothes, 2006, von El Anatsui

Audio: …retaining and referencing aspects of its earlier use and legacy.

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: He frequently researches the social, political and economic history of West Africa and its connection to colonialism and slavery. His series of works with lids and packaging from spirits bottles refer to this dark chapter in human history. Anatsui chose liquor bottle caps because these goods were brought to Africa by Europeans...

Video: An illustration of slave traders and a slave ship off the coast of Africa, 1881

Audio: ...and played a role in the transatlantic slave trade.

Video: A photo of aluminum screw caps

Audio: The bottle caps evoke literal economic exchanges...

Video: An Illustration of Slave Transport Barrels, 1826

Audio: …from alcoholic beverages to humans in the past…

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: ...while also hinting at contemporary issues...

Video: A photo of a polluted river in Accras Agbogbloshie municipality

Audio: …like waste and pollution.

Video: A sculpture Gli (Parede), 2010, by El Anatsui

Audio: In this respect, your work relates to that of many artists today...

Video: A Black Block Sculpture, 2010, by El Anatsui

Audio: ...whose aesthetically arresting creations explore the past...

Video: A sculpture Straying Continents, 2010, by El Anatsui

Audio: … questioning limited views of history and offering criticism from the present.

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: Lines That Link Humanity reflects Anatsui's masterful ability to transform ordinary materials into an imposing and dazzling hanging sculpture.

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: He used a favorite palette of red, yellow, black, blue and silver. In addition to silver bottle caps, Anatsui used pressure plates. Anatsui's use of printing plates adds a distinct layer of content to our work. Some signs are blank, while others contain snippets or words and snippets of news, announcements, and course catalogs addressing issues such as plantations, crop diseases, and civil society.

Video: A close-up of El Anatsui's signature on his sculpture Lines That Link Humanity, 2008

Audio: Some contain the artist's signature: El 08.

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: Still others include images such as a photo of someone holding a microphone and a blank crossword. Together they represent aspects of people's shared life experiences, but their dispersion throughout the body of work and their often difficult to read appearance bespeak the lack of a single, coherent narrative of human history.

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: As the title and formal passages of our work suggest, there are lines that connect us, but the connecting points are often blurred, discontinuous and complex.

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: For Anatsui, bottle caps and pressure plates physically carry the imprint of human history through the number of hands they pass through...

Video: A photo of a row of bottles with aluminum caps

Audio: ...from the time of its industrial production...

Video: A photo of a stack of metal screw caps for bottles

Audio: ...until completion...

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: …of the artwork. He believes touch is a crucial bond that leaves a spiritual or psychic charge. This process does not end with finished artworks.

Video: Photos by North Carolina Museum of Art staff with the 2008 sculpture Lines That Link Humanity, by El Anatsui

Audio: The artist invites touch and collaboration from curators, art dealers and curators who install and care for them as soon as they leave their studio.

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: Our team has embraced the fact that Lines That Link Humanity is "website-responsive" unlike most acquisitions which are not meant to change.

Video: Footage of North Carolina Museum of Art staff installing threads connecting humanity

Audio: New layers of history and memory are accumulated each time the work is moved or installed.

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: To meet the challenges of tying such a large object together using only delicate copper wires...

Video: Photographs by a conservator at the North Carolina Museum of Art featuring threads that bind humanity together

Audio: ...our restorers created a distinctive suspension system using clear acrylic rods to support the weight of the sculpture...

Video: The sculpture Lines that unite humanity, 2008, by El Anatsui

Audio: ...while allowing the expanded field of view to ripple and reflect light as the artist intended.

Video: Valerie Hillings before the lines that bind humanity

Audio: Thank you for watching today and learning about El Anatsui's threads that connect humanity from the North Carolina Museum of Art collection. I encourage you to join the conversation and talk about work with family and friends. And visit the Bank of America Masterpiece Moment website to sign up for reminders so you don't miss a moment!

Audio: [music is playing]

Screen text:

Title Treatment Art:

Henry Ossawa Tanner (Amerikaner, 1859–1937)

There The Book, 1919 (Detail)

Oil on canvas

Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Alfred W. Jenkins, 10/32 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 10/32_SL1.jpg)

El Anatsui (Ghanaisch, born 1944)

Threads that unite humanity, 2008

Discarded aluminum and copper wires

Art Museum of North Carolina, Raleigh. Gift of Barbara and Sam Wells, 3/2009

A detail from Another Man's Cloth, 2006

Aluminum and copper wire closures for liquor bottles

Thomas Sayre (American, born 1950)

Giro, 1999

Earthcasting (reinforced concrete with cast iron oxide in forms excavated in the ground)

Art Museum of North Carolina, Raleigh. Artsplosure donation, City of Raleigh. Commissioned in conjunction with Artsplosure's Millennium Celebration Arts Education Initiative with Enloe Senior High School of Wake County. Major funding from the City of Raleigh, WRAL-TV5/MIX 101.5 FM, Glaxo Wellcome, AT&T, Carolina Power & Light Company, SAS Institute and Time Warner Cable. Additional funding from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, Wake County, North.

©Thomas Sayre

Jeppe Hein (Danish, born 1974)

Mirror Maze NY (small), 2016

Highly polished stainless steel, aluminum

Art Museum of North Carolina, Raleigh

Courtesy of the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin and 303 Gallery, New York

Lina Iris Viktor (British-Liberian, born 1987)

Constellation XI SE, 2021

Pure 24k gold, acrylic resin and copolymer on cotton paper

Art Museum of North Carolina, Raleigh

Purchased with funds from the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest), 2021

El Anatsui in Venedig, 5. September 2015

Agency Opal / Alamy Stock Photo

Bilder von El Anatsui in der Art21 Extended Play-Digitalseries „Studio Process: El Anatsui“

El Anatsui, Mai 2013

TC / Alamy Stock Images

Palazzo Fortuny during the 2007 Venice Biennale

Susanne Lang / Alamy Stock Images

El Anatsui, Dusasa I (Stitching), 2007, at the 52nd Venice Biennale 2007

Photo by Eric VANDEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

El Anatsui in Venedig, 5. September 2015

Agency Opal / Alamy Stock Photo

Garden tree sculpture walks in front of the West Building of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh

Gast D. Smith / Alamy Stock Images

Architect Thomas Phifer and former NCMA Director Larry Wheeler review a model of the West Building

Image courtesy of North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh

NCMA staff examine a model of the West Building's collection galleries

Image courtesy of North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh

Artist Anselm Kiefer during a press tour of his Anselm Kiefer exhibition. Selected works from the Grothe Collection in Baden-Baden, Germany, October 5, 2011 to January 15, 2012

Photo: ROLF

dpa image alliance file / Alamy Stock Photo

Anselm Kiefer (German, born 1945)

Untitled, 1980-1986

Oil on canvas

Art Museum of North Carolina, Raleigh. Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina, W.R. Valentiner and various donors in return. 94.3/ac

Painter Gerhard Richter pictured in Cologne, Germany, 16 March 2010

Photo: Oliver Berg

dpa image alliance file / Alamy Stock Photo

Gerhard Richter (German, born 1932)

Train station, 1985

Oil on canvas

Art Museum of North Carolina, Raleigh

Acquired with funds from the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest), the North Carolina Museum of Art Guild, and various donors

Images from the galleries of the North Carolina Museum of Art

Courtesy of the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh

David Salle (American, born 1952)

The Emperor, 2000

Oil and acrylic on canvas and linen

Art Museum of North Carolina, Raleigh. Acquired with funds from the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest)

Robert Motherwell (American, 1915–1991)

Dance, 1981

Acrylic on canvas

Art Museum of North Carolina, Raleigh. Acquired with funds from the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest) and Arthur Leroy and Lila Fisher Caldwell, by exchange and gift from the Dedalus Foundation, Inc.

View of Apam, Gana

Peter Treanor / Alamy Stock Images

Men, women and children of the Ewe nation perform their traditional dances during a festival, 1950s

INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo

Missionsstation Anyako (Volta-Region, Ghana)

The Story Collection / Alamy Stock Foto

View of the entrance to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, which was attended by the late Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

19. August 2018. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko

REUTERS / Alamy Stock Images

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology: Side view of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning

KNUST at English Wikipedia

Aerial view of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Danny Egbuche / Shutterstock

College Building, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Udeagbala / Wikimedia

El Anatsui working with bottle caps at his studio in Nsukka on August 8, 2013

PIUS UTOMIS TEAM/AFP via Getty Images

Africa Remix, Contemporary Art from a Continent at the Hayward Gallery, London. El Anatsui stands in front of his work of thousands of bottle caps, 2005.

Independent / Alamy Stock Images

An exhibition by El Anatsui at October Gallery, London, 2020. Gallery manager Saara studies the installation AG+BA, 2014, a two-part metal work.

Malcolm Park / Alamy Stock Images

E-waste at Agbogbloshie landfill, Accra, Ghana

Andrew McConnell/Alamy Stock-Bilder

Stack of glass bottles for recycling

Pumpkin Pie / Alamy Stock Images

Bang Sue slum dwellers separate screw caps from drink bottles, Bang Sue, Thailand

imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Foto

African slaves, slave traders and a slave ship off the African coast. Vintage illustration or engraving, 1881.

Chris Hellier / Alamy Stock Images

Aluminum screw caps at a recycling facility, San José, Costa Rica

(Video) 12 Most Famous Paintings of all Time

imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Foto

Sending the Barrels, 1826. Artist: Unknown

The Print Collector / Alamy Stock Foto

A small river in Accras Agbogbloshie Municipality has become a polluted body of water.

Friedrich Stark / Alamy Stock Images

El Anatsui, Gli (Wall), 2010, 2013 exhibition Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui at the Brooklyn Museum, as part of Target First Saturdays à noite

Randy Duchaine/Alamy Stock Images

El Anatsui, Black Block, 2010 in the 2013 Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, at a Target First Saturday night

Randy Duchaine/Alamy Stock Images

El Anatsui, Straying Continents, 2010, kein Toronto Royal Ontario Museum

Gaertner / Alamy Stock Images

A selection of bottles with aluminum caps

Macky Albor / Alamy Stock Images

Pile of metal screw caps as a pattern background

Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

"Take the A Train"

Written by Billy Strayhorn

Performed by Oscar Peterson

Courtesy of Verve Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

Graphic: Bank of America logo

Audio: Jazz music plays

Graphic: Bank of America presents the Masterpiece Moment

Video: exterior and interior photos of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Screen text: Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

Video: The painting Spring, 1948, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Text on canvas: Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887-1986), Spring, 1948, Oil on canvas, 48 1/4 x 84 1/3 in.

Video: Cody Hartley, Director of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, in front of Georgia O'Keeffe's painting Spring, 1948

Onscreen text: Cody Hartley, Director, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Audio—[Cody Hartley]: Hello, I'm Cody Hartley, Director of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Welcome to the Bank of America Masterpiece Moment. Today I want to talk about Georgia O'Keeffe's Spring and tell you why it really is a masterpiece.

Video: exterior and interior photos of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Audio: When the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum first opened its doors in 1997...

Video: A black and white photo of Georgia O'Keeffe at home in 1977

Audio: ...eleven years after the artist's death...

Video: Interior and exterior photos of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Audio: ...there were 94 works by O'Keeffe in the collection. The museum includes locations in Santa Fe…

Video: The Ghost Ranch Photographs, 1952, by George Daniell and Abiquiú House, Studio Door, c. 1960, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: ...and the famous O'Keefe homes at Ghost Ranch and in Abiquiú, New Mexico.

Video: The Photographs of Georgia O'Keeffe, c. 1921, by Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe's studio at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, 1962, by Todd Webb

Audio: It was founded not only to manage the legacy of its legendary namesake, but also to educate future generations of artists...

Video: Exterior and interior photos of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, including a display of his painting tools and other materials, followed by a 1965 photo of O'Keeffe in his studio

Audio: ...and to serve the larger community. Its collections include O'Keeffe's artwork, tools, and personal effects, as well as an extensive archive.

Video: Cody Hartley in front of Georgia O'Keeffe's Spring 1948, followed by close-ups of the painting

Audio: This painting, Spring, is a gift from the museum's founder, Anne Marion, and features prominently in the museum's galleries. This one and a half by two meter oil painting on canvas is a masterpiece that the artist herself recognized as something special.

Video: Black and white footage of O'Keeffe at work in his studio

Audio: Georgia O'Keefe was one of the most important artists in establishing American modernism in the 20th century.

Video: A sepia-toned photo of Francis and Ida O'Keeffe's home in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, followed by a photo of Georgia O'Keeffe as a teenager

Audio: Born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe was a talented artist by the age of 15...

Video: An archive photo of the Art Institute of Chicago, main building, c. 1910

Audio: … and then studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Video: An archive photo of the Art Students League building

Audio: She then went to New York, where she studied realistic painting at the Art Students League.

Video: Cody Hartley faces Spring 1948 by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: She developed a unique style that focused on interpreting her subjects...

Video: The paintings Flower Abstraction, 1924, and Abstraction White Rose, 1927, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: ...which would later evolve into semi-abstract, often provocative depictions of landscapes and still lifes - especially flowers.

Video: The self-portrait photographs, Freienwalde a. O., 1886, by Alfred Stieglitz and Alfred Stieglitz, 1917, by Paul Strand

Audio: In New York she met pioneering modern art photographer and dealer Alfred Stieglitz...

Video: The photo Georgia O'Keeffe Exhibition at 291, Interior Gallery View, 1917, by Alfred Stieglitz

Audio: …who held an exhibition of his paintings in 1917…

Video: The Photograph Georgia O'Keeffe, 1918-1919, by Alfred Stieglitz

Audio: ...and continued to exhibit her work and become one of America's most talked about artists.

Video: Alfred Stieglitz's The City of Ambition, 1910, followed by a photograph of Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe kissing by Lake George, c. 1929

Audio: In 1918, O'Keeffe moved permanently to New York, and in 1924 she and Stieglitz were married.

Video: Cody Hartley faces Spring 1948 by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: The decade following O'Keeff's move was an extraordinarily productive year, cementing not only his reputation but his style...

Video: The painting Storm Cloud, Lake George, 1923, by Georgia O'Keeffe, followed by the photograph House and Trees, Lake George, 1932, by Alfred Stieglitz

Audio: ...be like a nature watcher at the Stieglitz family's summer home in Lake George, New York...

Video: The East River painting from the Shelton Hotel, 1928, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: …or as a painter of the modern city of Manhattan.

Video: As paintings The Mountain, New Mexico, 1931, and Red Hills with Flowers, 1937, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: These familiar themes were shaken up in 1929 when O'Keeffe spent his first summer in New Mexico - not in Santa Fe, but in nearby Taos. Flowers were rare in the arid desert...

Video: Black and white footage of O'Keeffe in front of an adobe building and a pile of bleached cow skulls and bones

Audio: ...but new motifs took their place, including the bleached bones O'Keeffe collected on his walks.

Video: The Paintings New York Street with Moon, 1925; Ranchos Church, 1930; and Black Cross with Stars and Blue, c. 1929, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: Instead of skyscrapers and streetlights, O'Keeffe painted adobe adobe and the crosses erected at the foot of the mountain by a lay Catholic brotherhood - the Penitents.

Video: Alfred Stieglitz's Georgia O'Keeffe - After Return from New Mexico, 1929, followed by paintings Cow's Skull with Calico Roses, 1931; Pedernal, 1941-1942, by Georgia O'Keeffe; and a photo of the landscape of Cerro Pedernal

Audio: After that she came back for the summers and started showing her New Mexico motifs in New York. This included a popular landscape motif: the view of the flat-topped Cerro Pedernal, a flint mountain...

Video: Georgia O'Keeffe's photo in Ghost Ranch Portal, c. 1964, by Todd Webb

Audio: ...from the backyard of his home at Ghost Ranch.

Video: Two photographs of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz at Lake George, circa 1938, by Josephine B. Marks

Audio: In the summer of 1946, Stieglitz suffered a fatal stroke and O'Keeffe rushed back to New York. The task of liquidating the Stieglitz estate occupied her for almost three years and left little time for more.

Video: Black and white footage of Georgia O'Keeffe at home in New Mexico, c. 1950

Audio: This was a moment of profound change for the artist.

Video: Georgia O'Keeffe Photography in Abiquiú, New Mexico von Carl Van Vechten

Audio: She didn't return to New Mexico until 1948 when she started working...

Video: The painting Spring, 1948, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: …on Spring – his greatest work to date. It is Mount Pedernal that provides the backdrop for the current painting - the first that O'Keeffe would paint in New Mexico after Stieglitz's death. The work's title, Primavera, the time of rebirth, and the white primroses, a traditional symbol of sadness and mourning, could refer to the artist's mourning...

Video: The photo of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1953 by Laura Gilpin

Audio: ...and the fresh start that awaited O'Keeffe in New Mexico.

Video: The painting Spring, 1948, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: Along with the mountain and the flowers, two bones complete the composition: a horn in the foreground; and the floating form of a large vortex above.

Video: A closeup of a case with a horn and a large whirl followed by a long shot of it in the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum gallery where Spring 1948 hangs on the wall next to it

Audio: O'Keeffe's models for this, a deer antler and a cow or bison vertebra, are also kept in the museum's collection.

Video: The Paintings of Summer Days, 1936; cymbal with pedernal, 1943; Ram's Head, Blue Morning Glory, 1938; and Flying Backbone, 1944, by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: O'Keeffe rejected easy interpretations of her paintings, including the idea that the bones and skulls she depicted represented death. Despite its traditional use as a symbol of mortality, O'Keeffe maintained that the bleached bones in his paintings were strong and vital natural forms. The same cow or bison vertebra in his collection served as a source for countless paintings.

Video: Cody Hartley faces Spring 1948 by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: Rather than sell Spring 1948 outright, O'Keeffe decided to keep it and temporarily store it at his home.

Video: Photos of a room in Georgia O'Keeffe's home

Audio: Unfortunately the roof over the room it was placed in is leaking...

Video: Close-up of Georgia O'Keeffe's painting Spring, 1948, with stains

Audio: ...and the water left dark stains on the paint surface.

Video: A black and white photo of conservative Caroline Keck

Audio: These stains were removed by O'Keeffe's personal restorer, Caroline Keck...

Video: Close-up of Georgia O'Keeffe's painting Spring, 1948, with stains

Audio: ...but after many years these traces are visible again.

Video: Images and recordings by restorers working in a restoration studio in the spring of 1948, interspersed with close-ups of the painting

Audio: Thanks to the generous support of Bank of America's Art Conservation Project, this painting recently underwent months of treatment by conservators at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum to repair previous damage and resolve several previous attempts at conservation. In 2021, restorers discovered that old damage was causing the paint to peel - although some paint was missing - and they spent many hundreds of hours gently replacing the peeling paint and filling in the paint leaks.

Video: Georgia O'Keeffe's painting Spring, 1948 hangs on a gallery wall

Audio: Now that its work is done, Spring sounds very much like it did when it left O'Keeffe's studio.

Video: Cody Hartley faces Spring 1948 by Georgia O'Keeffe

Audio: I want to thank you for taking the time to watch and learn more about Georgia O'Keeffe's Spring today. I encourage you to join the conversation and talk about work with family and friends. And visit the Bank of America Masterpiece Moment website to sign up for reminders so you don't miss a moment!

Audio: [music is playing]

Screen text:

Title Treatment Art:

Henry Ossawa Tanner (Amerikaner, 1859–1937)

There The Book, 1919 (Detail)

Oil on canvas

Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Alfred W. Jenkins, 10/32 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 10/32_SL1.jpg)

Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887–1986)

Primavera, 1948

Oil on canvas

48 1/4" x 84 1/3" (122,5 x 214 cm)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, gift of the Burnett Foundation

Image: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

[1997.6.28]

Abiquiú-Haus, Study Portal, c. 1960

silver gelatin print

4 1/2" x 6 1/4" (11,4 x 15,9 cm)

Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation Scholarship

Image: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

[2006.6.1395]

Flower abstraction, 1924

Oil on canvas

Overall: 48 1/8" x 30" (122.2 x 76.2 cm)
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, 50th Birthday Gift from Sandra Payson. Invoice number: 85.47

Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art / Licensed by Scala / Art Resource, NY

Abstraction of the White Rose, 1927

Oil on canvas

36" x 30" (91,4 x 76,2 cm)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Gift of The Burnett Foundation and The Georgia O'Keeffe

Stiftung

Image: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

[1997.4.2]

Storm cloud, Lake George, 1923

Oil on canvas

18" x 30 1/8" (45,7 x 76,5 cm)

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Stipendium der Burnett Foundation. 18.01.2007.

Image: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

[18.01.2007]

East River do Shelton Hotel, 1928

Oil on canvas

12" x 32" (30,5 x 81,3 cm)

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Bequest of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1986 (1987.377.3)

Image: © Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY

Der Berg, New Mexico, 1931

Oil on canvas

Overall: 30 1/16" x 36 1/8" (76.4 x 91.8 cm)

Buy. Invoice number: 32.14

Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art / Licensed by Scala / Art Resource, NY

Red Hills with Flowers, 1937

Oil on canvas

20" x 25" (50,8 x 63,5 cm)

Bequest of Hortense Henry Prosser, 1992.649

The Art Institute of Chicago / Art Resource, NY

New York Street with the Moon, 1925

Oil on canvas

48" x 30 3/8" (122 x 77 cm)

Invoice number: CTB.1981.76. Carmen Thyssen Bornemisza Collection

National Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza / Scala / Art Resource, NY

Ranches-Kirche, 1930–31

Oil on canvas

24" x 36" (61 x 91,4 cm)

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas

Black Cross with Stars and Blue, c. 1929

Oil on canvas

40" x 30" (101,6 x 76,2 cm)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Museumskauf

Image: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

[2021.4.1]

Cow Skull with Calico Roses, 1931

Oil on canvas

36" x 24" (91,4 x 61cm)

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, gift of Georgia O'Keeffe (1947712)

The Art Institute of Chicago / Art Resource, NY

Flint, 1941–42

Oil on canvas

20 1/8" x 30 1/4" (51,1 x 76,8 cm)

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Foundation of the Burnett Foundation and the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation

Image: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

[2006.5.172]

Days of Summer, 1936

Oil on canvas

Overall: 36 1/8" x 30 1/8" (91.8 x 76.5 cm)

Calvin Klein gift. Invoice number: 94.171

Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art / Licensed by Scala / Art Resource, NY

Cymbals with Pedernal, 1943

Oil on canvas

16" x 22" (40,6 x 55,9 cm)

Purchase at the museum (50.19)

Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute / Art Resource, NY

Ram's Head, Blue Morning Glory, 1938

Oil on canvas

20" x 30" (50,8 x 76,2 cm)

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Burnett Foundation Scholarship.

Image: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

[24.01.2007]

Flying Spine, 1944

Oil on canvas

11" x 25 1/4" (27,9 x 64,2 cm)

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

Photograph of Edward C. Robinson III

Georgia O’Keeffe’s Spring Live Conservation, 1948

Restoration work completed by Dale Kronkright, Director of Conservation and Conservation, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Courtesy of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.

Georgia O'Keeffe at home, 1977

Basil Langton / Science Fountain

George Daniell (American, 1911–2002)

Ghost Farm, 1952

silver gelatin print

Gift of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation (2006.06.1476)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864–1946)

Georgia O'Keeffe, c. 1921

silver gelatin print

Museum purchase (2014.3.79)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Self-Portrait, Freienwalde a. O., 1886

Platindruck

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Sammlung Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at 291, Interior Gallery View, 1917

silver gelatin print

Gift of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation (2006.6.1483b)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Georgia O'Keeffe, 1918-1919

silver gelatin print

museum purchase

The City of Ambitions, 1910

silver gelatin print

(Video) Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night: Great Art Explained

Alfred Stieglitz Collection. Gift of Georgia O'Keeffe.

Digital Image © Museum of Modern Art / Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY

House and Trees, Lake George, 1932

silver gelatin print

Gift of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation (1/22/2003)

Image: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Georgia O'Keeffe - After returning from New Mexico, 1929

silver gelatin print

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Gift of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation.

Todd Webb (American, 1905–2000)

Georgia O'Keeffe's studio at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, 1962 (detail)

silver gelatin print

Purchase at the Museum (38.1985.54)

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY

Georgia O'Keeffe at the Ghost Ranch Portal, c. 1964 (detail)

silver gelatin print

Gift of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation (2006.6.1047)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Painting materials on display at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe

Photo: Scotwriter21, Wikimedia Commons

Balthazar Korab (American, born Hungary, 1926–2013)

Georgia O'Keeffe at Estúdio Abiquiú, 1965

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Francis and Ida O'Keeffe's home in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, undated

Claudia O'Keeffe Papers, MS.3 (RC.1999.1.147)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

School Photographs by Georgia O'Keeffe, c. 1903-04

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Art Institute of Chicago, Main Building, c. 1910

Historic photo from the Chicago Tribune

George P. Hall and Son, The Architectural League's Fine Arts Building, Agora Chamado der Art Students League of New York, Lokalität 215 West 57th Street

The Museum of the City of New York / Art Resource, NY

Paul Strand (American, 1890–1976)

Alfred Stieglitz, 1917

silver gelatin print

Museum purchase (2014.3.84)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Carl Van Vechten (American, 1880–1964)

Portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe, New York, June 6, 1936

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection [Reproduction number: LC-USZ62-54231]

Georgia O'Keeffe in Abiquiu, New Mexico, 15. August 1960

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection [Reproduktionsnummer: LC-USZ62-103712 DLC]

Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe, Kissing on Lake George, c. 1929

Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Books und Manuscript Library

New Mexico, c. 1950, Georgia O'Keeffe at Home and in Her Studio (Movie Clip)

Film-Screenshots / Bridgeman-Screenshots

Unknown photographer

Ghost Ranch Courtyard and Pedernal, undated

silver gelatin print

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Museumskauf. [2014.3.269]

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Josefina B. Marks

Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz in Lake George, c. 1938

Photographs by Georgia O'Keeffe, MS.37 (204.3.210)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz in Lake George, c. 1938

Photographs by Georgia O'Keeffe, MS.37 (2014.3.211)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Laura Gilpin (American, 1891–1979)

Georgia O'Keeffe, 1953

silver gelatin print

Purchase at the museum (March 34, 2014)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe / Art Resource, NY

Sala Salita, Abiquiu. Krysta Jabchenski.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

Sala Salita, Abiquiu. Krysta Jabchenski.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

Brooklyn Museum Archives Photographic Collection. People. Crew: Caroline Keck and Sheldon Keck, undated

Archiv des Brooklyn Museums

"Take the A Train"

Written by Billy Strayhorn

Performed by Oscar Peterson

Courtesy of Verve Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

Graphic: Bank of America logo

Audio: Jazz music plays

Graphic: Bank of America presents the Masterpiece Moment

Video: Exterior and interior footage of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Text: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Video: The Farnese Sarcophagus, c. 225 AD

Text on canvas: The Farnese Sarcophagus, c. AD 225; Roman period, Severan period; Pentelic Marble; 64 1/4 in. x 24 1/2 in. x 10 1/2 in. (163.2 x 62.23 x 26.67 cm)

Video: Peggy Fogelman, Norma Jean Calderwood Museum Director Isabella Stewart Gardner, in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Screen text: Peggy Fogelman; Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Audio—Peggy Fogelman: Hello. I'm Peggy Fogelman, Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Welcome to the Bank of America Masterpiece Moment. Today I want to talk about one of my favorite works from our collection, the Farnese Sarcophagus, and tell you why I think it is a true masterpiece.

Video: A close-up of Adolf de Meyer's 1906 portrait photograph of Isabella Stewart Gardner

Audio: In 1903, Isabella Stewart Gardner opened the…

Video: An exterior photo of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Audio: ...first American museum founded by a woman.

Video: Photos of the interior of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Audio: She rejected traditional methods of exhibiting art by era or region, instead emphasizing a sense of intimacy and emotion and inviting visitors to have their own personal experience of the artworks...

Video: The painting Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1888, by John Singer Sargent

Audio: ...like she did.

Video: Photos of the interior of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Audio: She combined paintings, fabrics, furniture and antiques and rearranged them over and over again as the collection grew; She lived among these treasures for twenty years.

Video: The Photographic Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1906, by Otto Rosenheim

Audio: As part of her will, she stipulated that...

Video: Photos of the interior of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Audio: ...the artworks remain on display as she left them and no items can be bought or sold by the museum.

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: One of the largest and most important works of art in the museum is the Farnese sarcophagus, made around the year 225.

Video: Front, Left, Right and Back Views of the Farnese Sarcophagus

Audio: Weighing over 7,500 pounds, this rectangular marble coffin was the last port of call for a wealthy Roman citizen.

Video: Marble Sarcophagus with Garlands, c. AD 200–225; and marble sarcophagus with myth of Selene and Endymion, early 3rd century AD

Audio: Hundreds of sarcophagi from ancient Rome survive...

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: ... but this one stands out for the remarkable quality of its decoration ...

Video: Close-ups of the Farnese Sarcophagus

Audio: … its impressive ownership history and incredible state of preservation.

Video: The illustration 'The Eulogy of a Roman Hero', circa 1880, by Ward Lock

Audio: Sarcophagi were used for burials in ancient Roman times...

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: ... so it's not surprising that the imagery in this example relates to notions of life and death.

Video: Close-ups of the Farnese Sarcophagus

Audio: The balletic, graceful, and sometimes mischievous figures on its four sides celebrate life after death. These include satyrs—mythological creatures that were part human and part animal—and maenads, female devotees of the god of wine, Dionysus. The maenads gather grapes while the satyrs interrupt their labors, seductively tugging at their clothes and exchanging affectionate looks with them. The grape harvest symbolizes the cycle of life, and the cheerful - and quite sexy - imagery reminds the living to seize carpe diem, or the day, while they still can. The reclining figure on one side could be Ariadne sleeping...

Video: An illustration with the god Dionysus

Audio: ...the mortal bride of Dionysus, which is fitting as sleep was a metaphor for a peaceful death.

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: The Farnese sarcophagus bears his name...

Video: The painting of Pope Paul III. and His Grandsons, 1545–46, by Titian

Audio: …from the famous Roman family of Renaissance collectors and diplomats…

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: ...and your journey to the Gardner Museum is truly fascinating.

Video: A closeup of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: It was excavated around 1530...

Video: The painting Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, 1545-46, by Titian

Audio: ... and became part of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese's collection ...

Video: A photo of waterfalls in Tivoli, Italy

Audio: ... the governor of Tivoli.

Video: A night view of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, Italy

Audio: He placed it in the gardens of the family villa in Rome...

Video: A closeup of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: ...where artists could study it and make drawings based on the reliefs carved into its sides.

Video: An illustration of St. Peter's Basilica with its dome in Vatican City, Italy

Audio: A few centuries later it was moved to the Vatican and...

Video: An illustration of Napoleon's French troops in Rome taken in the 19th century

Audio: ... narrowly missed Napoleon's looting of famous antiquities as he invaded Rome.

Video: The Palazzo Farnese illustration, 18th century, by Giuseppe Vasi

Audio: When it finally returned to the Farnese family, they decided to sell it.

Video: An image of Richard Norton

Audio: In 1897 archaeologist Richard Norton discovered...

Video: A photograph of Charles Eliot Norton in 1903

Audio: … son of writer and cultural scientist Charles Eliot Norton …

Video: The Isabella Stewart Gardner photograph, 1888, by John Thomson

Audio: ...got Ms. Gardner's attention on the sarcophagus, annotated, quoted...

Video: A closeup of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: ... "even Boston [would] not object to her overt sensuality" ...

Video: The painting Portrait of John Keats, c. 1822, by William Hilton

Audio: ...and explains that in it...

Video: Tracing an Engraving of the Sosibios Vase, c. 1816, by John Keats; and the first known copy of Keats' ode on a Greek urn

Audio: Keats' Ode on the Grecian Urn.

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: Gardner acquired the work through Norton from an antiques dealer in Rome. An export license was granted in March 1898 and shipped to the United States in 1900. Mesmerized by this alluring object with a sublime history...

Video: A shot of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum courtyard, ending with the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: ...Mrs. Gardner installed it between two pillars in the beautiful and flowery courtyard of his new museum...

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: ...where she hoped to inspire artists like in the past. We've only moved this sculpture once since Gardner installed it. Supported by a grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project, we moved it in 2017 to gain access to all four sides to clean and restore in preparation for an exhibition.

Video: Close-ups of the Farnese Sarcophagus

Audio: Conservators used many different methods to get the best results, including two different laser cleaning systems. His work led to new discoveries, including the existence of original pigments and gilding.

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: While we tend to think of ancient sculpture as just a sea of white marble...

Video: A painted plaster copy of the statue of Roman Emperor Augustus by Prima Porta, alongside the unpainted original, at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK

Audio: ...in fact, they were often painted in a variety of bold colors.

Video: A closeup of the Farnese sarcophagus showing a detail of human feet

Audio: In this case we have detected significant amounts...

Video: A fragment of Egyptian blue pigment, c. 1292–1076 BC

Audio: von „Egyptian Blue“…

Video: Juglet, c. 1750-1640 BC BC; Figure of the lion, c. 1981–1640 BC BC; and hilt depicting a lion subduing a Nubian, c. 1279–1213 BC - all of Egyptian blue

Audio: Considered to be the first human-made pigment.

Video: The painting Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1889, by Dennis Miller Bunker

Audio: Isabella Stewart Gardner always hoped that the artworks in her museum…

Video: Photos of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum courtyard ending with the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: …would stimulate the imagination and spark new creativity in the future.

Video: Peggy Fogelman in front of the Farnese sarcophagus

Audio: I want to thank you for watching today and learning more about the Farnese Sarcophagus here at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I encourage you to join the conversation and discuss the play with friends and family. And visit the Bank of America Masterpiece Moment website to sign up for notifications so you don't miss a moment.

Audio: [music is playing]

Screen text:

Title Treatment Art:

Henry Ossawa Tanner (Amerikaner, 1859–1937)

There The Book, 1919 (Detail)

Oil on canvas

Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Alfred W. Jenkins, 10/32 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 10/32_SL1.jpg)

Adolf de Meyer (American, born France, 1868–1946)

Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1906

Platindruck

Museu Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston

Museu Isabella Stewart Gardner

Museu Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston

John Singer Sargent (American, born Italy, 1856–1925)

Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1888

Oil on canvas

Museu Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston

Otto Rosenheim (British, born Germany, 1871–1955)

Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1906

Platindruck

Museu Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston

Roman, Severano

Farnese Sarcophagus with Revelers Harvesting Grapes, c. 225 CE (front, left, right and rear views)

Pentelic marble

Museu Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston

Roman, Severano

Marble sarcophagus with garlands, c. AD 200–225

Marmor aus Proconesia

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Abdo Debbas, 1870

Roman, Severano

Marble sarcophagus with the myth of Selene and Endymion, early 3rd century AD

Marble

Das Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nova York, Rogers Fund, 1947

"A Funeral Oration for a Roman Hero", illustration from The Illustrated History of the World by Ward Lock, c. 1880

Montagu Images / Alamy Stock Foto

the god Dionysus

bilwisedition ltd. & Co. KG / Alamy Stock Images

Ticianus (Italian, c. 1488/90–1576)

Capodimonte-Museum, Neapel

Wikimedia Commons

Pope Paul III and his grandsons, 1545–1546

Oil on canvas

Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, 1545-46

Oil on canvas

The Falls, Tivoli, Italy

colaimages / Alamy Stock Foto

Night view of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, Italy

edimur / Alamy Stock Images

St. Peter's Basilica, facade and dome, Vatican City, Italy

street engraving. Almanac, The Illustration, 1883, Spain

Lanmas / Alamy Stock Bilder

French troops under Napoleon in Rome, 19th century

agefotostock / Alamy Stock Foto

Giuseppe Vasi (Italian, 1710–1782)

Palazzo Farnese, eighteenth century

recording

Wikimedia Commons

Richard Norton

SBS Eclectic Images / Alamy Stock Foto

Charles Eliot Norton, 1903, Photographs by J.E. Purdy & Co., Boston

Volgi Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

(Video) The Great Wave by Hokusai: Great Art Explained

John Thomson (Scottish, 1837–1921)

Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1888

Platindruck

Museu Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston

William Hilton (British, 1786–1839)

Portrait of John Keats

Copy after an original by Joseph Severn of c. 1822

Oil on canvas

National Portrait Gallery, Londres

Wikimedia Commons

John Keats (English, 1795–1821)

Trace of an engraving of Sosibio's vase, c. 1816

Wikimedia Commons

First known copy of John Keats' Ode to a Greek Urn, transcribed by George Keats in 1820

Wikimedia Commons

Painted plaster copy of the statue of Roman Emperor Augustus by Prima Porta, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK

Adam Eastland / Alamy Stock Images

Egyptian, 19th to 20th Dynasty

Blue pigment fragment, c. 1292–1076 BC B.C., from Deir el-Medina

Egyptian Museum, Turin, Italy

funkyfood London - Paul Williams / Alamy Stock-Bilder

Egyptian, Middle Kingdom

Juglet, c. 1750–1640 v. Chr

egyptian blue

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nova York, Rogers Fund und Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922

Egyptian, Middle Kingdom

Figure of the lion, c. 1981-1640 BC Chr

egyptian blue

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nova York, Rogers Fund und Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922

Egyptian, Middle Kingdom

Handle depicting a lion subduing a Nubian, c. 1279–1213 BC

Egyptian blue gold

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, presented by the Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989

Dennis Miller Bunker (American, 1861–1890)

Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1889

Oil on canvas

Museu Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston

"Take the A Train"

Written by Billy Strayhorn

Performed by Oscar Peterson

Courtesy of Verve Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

Graphic: Bank of America logo

Audio: Jazz music plays

Graphic: Bank of America presents the Masterpiece Moment

Video: An aerial view of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

Texto na tela: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR

Video: The Big Red Lens sculpture, 1985, by Fred Eversley; the 2017 sculptures Niijima Floats, Belugas and Sol d'Oro by Dale Chihuly; the sculpture Line of Bread of the Depression, 1991, by George Segal; and the sculpture Maman, 1999, by Louise Bourgeois

Text on canvas: Louise Bourgeois (American, born France, 1911-2010), Maman, 1999, bronze, stainless steel and marble, 30 ft. 5 inches x 29 feet. 3 inches x 33 feet. 7 inches (927.1 x 891.5 x 1023.6 cm)

Video: Rod Bigelow, Executive Director und Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, vor Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

Bildschirmtext: Rod Bigelow, Executive Director und Director of Diversity and Inclusion

Audio—[Rod Bigelow]: Hi, I'm Rod Bigelow, Executive Director and Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Welcome to the Bank of America Masterpiece Moment. Today I want to share one of my favorite works from our collection...

Video: Close-up of the sculpture Maman, 1999, by Louise Bourgeois

Audio: … Maman by Louise Bourgeois and talking about why I think it really is a masterpiece.

Video: Die Skulptur Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

Audio: Over 10 meters tall and cast in bronze, stainless steel and marble, Maman rises majestically from the Crystal Bridges grounds.

Video: A closeup of one of Maman's legs

Audio: Long, arched legs taper to a point...

Video: Die Skulptur Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

Audio: …become arches that take shape around you, creating an open but protective space.

Video: Louise Bourgeois photographed in her studio in New York, 1982

Audio: Louise Bourgeois created Maman, the French term for "mother", as a tribute to her mother...

Video: Louise Bourgeois with her mother Joséphine in 1914

Audio: … explained like this: “She is my best friend.

Video: Footage of the spider weaving a web video

Audio: Like a spider...

Video: Slow motion video of a woven tapestry

Audio: … my mother was a weaver.

Video: A detail of a tapestry in the Tapestry Gallery at 174 Boulevard Saint Germain owned by Louise Bourgeois' father Louis, c. 1911

Audio: My family worked in tapestry restoration...

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: … and my mother ran the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever.”

Video: Close-ups of Maman

Audio: Bourgeois was clever too: If you look closely at the web-like abdomen of this monumental spider, you'll see that Mama carefully holds the eggs in her egg sac, revealing the inspiration for the work's title.

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: Spiders first appeared in bourgeois art in the 1940s...

Video: Drawing of the Spider, 1947, by Louise Bourgeois

Audio: ...half a century ago she made this huge sculpture.

Video: Another drawing entitled Spider, 1947, by Louise Bourgeois

Audio: The artist acknowledged that spiders are scary for some people.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois with Spider IV, 1996

Audio: But for Bourgeois, the Spider was caring, helpful, and hardworking — just as she remembered her mother.

Video: Die Skulptur Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

Audio: Created in 1999...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois at home in New York, c. 1998

Audio: When she was 87, Maman was first installed the following year…

Video: Spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois in front of the Tate Modern with St Paul's Cathedral in the background, London

Audio: … in der Tate Gallery in London.

Video: Die Skulptur Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

Audio: Maman's version here in Bentonville is the first of six editions to be released.

Video: Images of Maman at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art installation

Audio: Crystal Bridges acquired Maman in 2014...

Video: An aerial view of Maman

Audio: ...and we're honored to be the only museum in the United States where it can be seen and experienced.

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: Your brothers can be found in museums...

Video: Maman at Tate Modern, London, frames the dome of St Paul's and the London skyline beyond

Audio: … in London …

Video: Maman in front of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain

Ton: ... Bilbao ...

Video: Maman in front of Notre Dame Cathedral and Basilica, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Ton: … Ottawa …

Video: Maman vor dem Roppongi Hills Building, Mori Tower, Tokio, Japan

Audio: ... Such ...

Video: Maman in Seoul, South Korea

Ton: … Seoul …

Video: Maman no Qatar National Convention Center, QNCC, Doha, Katar

Audio: ... and Doha.

Video: Die Skulptur Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

Audio: Maman's illustrious internationalism is a testament to the same warm regard and appreciation she felt for her creator worldwide...

Video: A photograph of Louise Bourgeois at work on a Personage sculpture in 1949

Audio: … Louise Bourgeois.

Video: A photographic portrait of Louise Bourgeois posing with an untitled sculpture in October 1982 in her studio in Manhattan, New York

Audio: In a career spanning nearly eight decades, Bourgeois stands out as…

Video: A photographic portrait of Louise Bourgeois as she sits in the center of her Manhattan studio in New York in October 1982

Audio: … one of the greatest sculptors of all time.

Video: A video still of Louise Bourgeois from Louise Bourgeois, the Spider, the Mistress, and the Tangerine, 2008, by Amei Wallach and Marion Cajori

Audio: Most of his career success…

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: … is from a work drawn from his early childhood experiences.

Video: Footage of Louise Bourgeois in the Art21 TV series Art in the Twenty-First Century, Season 1, "Identity"

Audio: His lived experience fuels his artistic practice until…

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: … his death in 2010 at the age of 98.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois working on The Destruction of the Father in 1974

Audio: She once said, "Everything I do is inspired by my childhood."

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in 1913

Audio: Louise Bourgeois was born in France on December 25, 1911…

Video: A photograph of Louise Bourgeois and her parents, Joséphine and Louis, c. 1915

Audio: … for Josephine and Louis Bourgeois.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois with her parents at Le Cannet in 1922

Audio: His parents owned an old tapestry gallery...

Video: A photo of Claude Joseph Rouget on the island of Choisy le Roi, Paris

Audio: …in the Paris suburbs where Joséphine was in charge of repairing these elaborate fabrics.

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: At the age of ten, Louise began weaving with her mother and other talented seamstresses.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois with her mother Joséphine in Le Cannet in 1922

Audio: Unfortunately, Joséphine fell ill during…

Video: A photo of people wearing masks during the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918

Audio: ... Great influenza in 1918 and never fully recovered.

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: Louise spent her teenage years caring for her ailing mother...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois with her brother, father and nanny Sadie in Nice, circa 1923

Audio: ...while vying for the affections of his father, who formed a romantic relationship with Louise's nanny.

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: This deeply negative experience for the young commoner shaped her life...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois' sculptures, including Spiders and Pods, made in her Brooklyn studio in 1995

Audio: ...comes decades later in a monumental tribute to the mother she became...

Video: Die Skulptur Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

Audio: ...Mom.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois studying for her BA in 1932

Audio: Louise was a great student...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in a classroom, writing on a blackboard in 1932...

Audio: … who was very interested in mathematics.

Video: Sorbonne University in Paris, France

Audio: She attended Sorbonne University as a mathematics student…

Video: Ein Foto von Louise Bourgeois im Lycée de Nice, c. 1931

Audio: ... but she was disappointed in her studies and dropped out ...

Video: The photographic portrait of Fernand Léger, 1935, by Rogi André

Audio: … under the painter and sculptor Fernand Léger.

Video: Das photografische Porträt von Louise Bourgeois in der Académie de la Grande-Chaumière, Paris, 1937, von Brassaï

Audio: She credited Léger with realizing that she was not a painter but a sculptor.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois and Robert Goldwater after their wedding on September 12, 1938

Audio: In 1938 Louise married the American...

Video: A wedding photo of Louise Bourgeois and Robert Goldwater in 1938

Audio: ... art critic Robert Goldwater ...

Video: A photo of the Manhattan, New York skyline

Audio: ...and moved to New York where he lived out the rest of his life...

Video: The photographic portrait of Louise Bourgeois, 1949, by Berenice Abbott

Audio: ...to become an American citizen.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois with her Friendly Evidence sculpture in 1954

Audio: In the 1940s and 50s…

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois and the painter Robert Rauschenberg in 1954

Audio: ... Bourgeois' work has been featured in several group exhibitions ...

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: … with the leading Abstract Expressionists of the time …

Video: A split screen showing a 1961 photo by Mark Rothko on the left and Rothko's 1954 painting #9 (Dark over Light Earth, Violet and yellow in Rose) on the right

Audio: ... including Mark Rothko ...

Video: A split screen showing a 1968 photo by Willem de Kooning on the left and De Kooning's 1976 painting Untitled XX on the right

Audio: … and Willem de Kooning.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois and her husband Robert Goldwater at a grand opening

for an exhibition of Franz Kline's work in New York on March 7, 1960

Audio: She made contacts with European artists who were active in New York...

Video: A split screen with a 1927 photo of Marcel Duchamp on the left and the 1917 Duchamp Fountain sculpture on the right

Audio: ... like Marcel Duchamp ...

Video: A split screen showing the portrait of André Breton, 1927, by Henri Manuel on the left and the title page of Arcanum 17 by Breton, 1944, on the right

Audio: … André Breton …

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois with Joan Miró in New York in 1947, with Miró's feet on books about Picasso

Audio: ... and Joan Miró, and worked ...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in June 1959

Audio: … most eras of 20th century avant-garde art …

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in 1965 with her sculptures Femme Volage, 1951, and Lair, 1962

Audio: …from cubism to minimalism.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in her studio with Life Flower, work in progress, c. 1960

Audio: Louise's sculpting style took into account the wide range of styles that…

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in Querceta, Italy, 1967

Audio: … throughout his life, but remained highly original …

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois contemplating Germinal in 1967

Audio: … and at the forefront of contemporary art.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in her home studio in 1974 and a photo taken at a March 14, 1979 feminist dinner honoring Louise Bourgeois

Audio: In the 1970s, a younger generation of artists, encouraged by the social movements of the time...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois working on The Destruction of the Father in 1974

Audio: ...was attracted to and championed this influential artist.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois with Janus Fleuri, 1968, and elements from The Destruction of the Father, 1974, at her home in New York in 1977

Audio: She has never referred to herself as a "woman" or "feminist" artist...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in her Brooklyn studio at work on her white marble Harmless Woman in 1984

Audio: ...but Bourgeois has become an icon of feminist art...

Video: The Germinal Sculpture, 1967, by Louise Bourgeois

Audio: ...mainly due to his recurring themes of himself...

Video: The sculpture Inoffensive Woman, 1969, by Louise Bourgeois

Audio: … the body …

Video: The Spider II sculpture, 1995, by Louise Bourgeois

Audio: ... motherhood, sexuality ...

Video: A scultura Femme Maison, 1994, von Louise Bourgeois

Audio: … and domestic life.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in her Brooklyn studio at work on her white marble Harmless Woman in 1984

Audio: Bourgeois boldly oscillated between figuration and abstraction…

Video: A photograph of Louise Bourgeois with the Avenza latex sculpture, 1968–1969, in front of her home on 20th Street in New York City in 1975

Audio: ...and has used a variety of mediums throughout his career...

Video: A painting Woman House, 1947, by Louise Bourgeois

Audio: … including painting, drawing and engraving …

Video: Footage of the sculpture "Welcoming Hands", 1996, by Louise Bourgeois, from the Art21 TV series "Art in the Twenty-first Century", Season 1, "Identity

Audio: ... and later sculptural material ...

Video: The sculpture Welcoming Hands, 1996, by Louise Bourgeois

Audio: ... like metal ...

Video: A photo of the wooden figures of Louise Bourgeois (1947–1953) at her home in New York City in 1965

Audio: ...marble, wood, cloth, and even animal bones.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in her under construction Brooklyn studio in 1984

Audio: The work of Louise Bourgeois was wild, daring...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in her Brooklyn studio in 1984

Audio: ... sensual and provocative, just like the artist herself ...

Video: A photograph of Louise Bourgeois at her home in New York, c. 1998

Audio: ...which explains why its immense popularity...

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in her Brooklyn studio in 1984

Audio: … and the admiration continues to this day.

Video: A photo of Louise Bourgeois in her Brooklyn studio with her Spider sculpture in 1995

Audio: Grotesque and sublime, spooky and captivating...

Video: Die Skulptur Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

Audio: ... Maman continues to weave her web of mystery and majesty for all caught in her seductive web.

Video: Rod Bigelow stands in front of Maman

Audio: Thanks for watching today to learn more about Maman from Louise Bourgeois. I invite you to join the discussion...

Video: Die Skulptur Maman, 1999, von Louise Bourgeois

(Video) Beautiful Paintings + Beautiful Classical Music

Audio: ... and discuss this inspiring work with others.

Video: An aerial view of Maman

Audio: Visit the Bank of America Masterpiece Moment website...

Audio: Rod Bigelow standing in front of Maman

Video: … to sign up for notifications and make sure you don't miss a moment.

Audio: [music is playing]

Screen text:

Title Treatment Art:

Henry Ossawa Tanner (Amerikaner, 1859–1937)

There The Book, 1919 (Detail)

Oil on canvas

Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Alfred W. Jenkins, 10/32 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 10/32_SL1.jpg)

View of the area surrounding the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

Archival media provided by Slicedbread / Pond5 / www.pond5.com

Fred Eversley (American, b. 1941)

Big Red Lens, 1985

cast polyester

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

EQRoy / Alamy Stock Images

Courtesy of Galeria David Kordansky

Dale Chihuly (American, born 1941)

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

Niijima swims, 2017

cracked glass

EQRoy / Alamy Stock Images

Belugas, 2017

cracked glass

Gina Kelly / Alamy Stock Images

Sol d'Oro, 2017

Blown glass and steel

Gina Kelly / Alamy Stock Images

George Segal (American, 1924–2000)

Depressions-Brotlinie, 1991

Plaster, wood, metal and acrylic paint

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

EQRoy / Alamy Stock Images

French-American artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois photographed in her studio in Chelsea, Manhattan in 1982

Foto von Jack Mitchell/Getty Images

Louise Bourgeois with her mother Joséphine in 1914

The spider weaves a web

ivz-Video

Slow motion video of a woven tapestry

by maxvvebb

Detail of a tapestry in the Tapestry Gallery at 174 Boulevard Saint Germain owned by Louise Bourgeois' father Louis, c. 1911

Louise Bourgeois (American, born France, 1911–2010)

Mutter, 1999

Bronze, stainless steel and marble

Germinal, 1967

white marble

Harmless Woman, 1969

Bronze with golden patina

Spider, 1947

Ink and charcoal on beige paper

Photo: Christopher Burke

Spider, 1947

Ink and charcoal on beige paper

Foto: Zindman Fremont

Spider II, 1995

Bronze

Greeting Hands, 1996

Bronze

Tuileries Garden, Paris

Glenn Harper/Alamy Stock Images

Frauenhaus, 1947

Oil and ink on linen

Frauenhaus, 1994

white marble

Louise Bourgeois mit Spider IV, 1996

Louise Bourgeois at home in New York, c. 1998

Photo by Robin Holland/Corbis via Getty Images

Sculpture of a spider by Louise Bourgeois in front of the Tate Modern, with St Paul's Cathedral in the background, London, England

Image Professionals GmbH / Alamy Stock Foto

Louise Bourgeois, Maman, at London's Tate Modern framing the Dome of St Paul and the London skyline beyond

justin kase zninez/Alamy image bank

Maman Spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois in front of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain

Sergi Reboredo / Alamy Stock Bilder

Maman in front of Notre Dame Cathedral and Basilica, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Robertharding / Alamy Stock Bilder

Louise Bourgeois, Maman, Roppongi Hills Building, Mori Tower, Tokio, Japan

mauritius images GmbH / Alamy Stock Images

Louise Bourgeois, Mutter, allein, South Korea

Frederic REGLAIN / Alamy Stock Images

Louise Bourgeois no Qatar National Convention Center, QNCC, Doha, Katar

JB-2078 / Alamy Stock Photo

Louise Bourgeois works on a personage sculpture in 1949

Portrait of French-American artist Louise Bourgeois with an untitled sculpture in her studio in Manhattan, New York, October 1982

Foto von Jack Mitchell/Getty Images

Portrait of French-American artist Louise Bourgeois in the center of her studio in Manhattan, New York, October 1982

Foto von Jack Mitchell/Getty Images

Still de Louise Bourgeois, the Spider, the Mistress, and the Tangerine, 2008, von Amei Wallach und Marion Cajori

TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy Stock Foto

Images of Louise Bourgeois in the Art21 TV series Art in the Twenty-first Century, Season 1, "Identity"

Louise Bourgeois arbeitet 1974 an The Destruction of the Father

Louise Bourgeois in 1913

Louise Bourgeois and her parents, Joséphine and Louis, c. 1915

Louise Bourgeois with her parents Joséphine and Louis in Le Cannet in 1922

Statue of Claude Joseph Rouget on the island of Choisy le Roi, Paris

Christophel Collection / Alamy Stock Images

Louise Bourgeois with her mother Joséphine on the Canal de la Siagne (above Bonnard's house) at Le Cannet in 1922

1918 Grippeepidemie

Vintage_Space / Alamy Stock Foto

Louise Bourgeois with her brother, father and Sadie in Nice, c. 1923

Sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, including Spiders and Pods, in progress at her Brooklyn studio in 1995

Louise Bourgeois graduated from high school in 1932

Louise Bourgeois writes on a blackboard in a classroom in 1932

Sorbonne University in Paris, France

Petr Kovalenkov / Alamy Stock Bilder

Louise Bourgeois am Lycée de Nice, c. 1931

Rogi André (Rozsa Klein) (French, born Hungary, 1900–1970)

Fernand Leger, 1935

silver gelatin print

Brassaï (Gyula Halász) (Franzose, born Ungarn, 1899–1984)

Louise Bourgeois was born in 1937 at the Grande-Chaumière Academy in Paris

photo print

Location: Paris, Gilberte Brassaï collection

Louise Bourgeois and Robert Goldwater after their wedding on September 12, 1938 in

Rathaus in front of the Église Saint-Sulpice in Paris

A wedding photo of Louise Bourgeois and Robert Goldwater, 1938

Berenice Abbott (Americana, 1898–1991)

Louise Bourgeois, 1949

silver gelatin print

Courtesy of the Easton Foundation

Photo by Berenice Abbott/Getty Images

Louise Bourgeois with her sculpture Friendly Evidence at the Annual Exhibition of American Abstract Artists at the Riverside Museum in New York, 1954

Louise Bourgeois und Robert Rauschenberg 1954 bei der „Annual Exhibition of American Abstract Artists“ im Riverside Museum in New York

Mark Rothko, 1961

Photo by Ben Martin/Getty Images

Mark Rothko (American, born Russia, 1903–1970)

Nº 9 (Dark over Light Earth, Violet and Yellow in Pink), 1954

Oil on canvas

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Ken Howard / Alamy Stock Images

Willem de Kooning, 1968

IanDagnall Computing / Alamy Stock Images

Willem de Kooning (American, born Netherlands, 1904–1997)

XX untitled, 1976

Oil on newsprint, laid down on paper, laid down on canvas

Center Pompidou, Paris

agefotostock / Alamy Stock Foto

Louise Bourgeois (wearing a pearl necklace) and her husband Robert Goldwater at an opening

for an exhibition of works by Franz Kline (center left), Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 7, 1960. Goldwater stands to Kline's right, behind William Baziotes.

Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection via Getty Images

Marcel Duchamp, 1927

Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Bilder

Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968)

Fountain, 1917

Porcelain urinal

IanDagnall Computing / Alamy Stock Images

Title page of Arcanum 17 by André Breton, 1944

World History Archive / Alamy Stock Foto

Henri Manuel (French, 1874–1947)

Portrait of Andre Breton, 1927

silver gelatin print

GBB ARCHIVE / Alamy Stock Photo

Louise Bourgeois with Joan Miró in New York in 1947 while recreating Ingres' 1811 painting Jupiter and Thethys. Miró's feet rest on books about Picasso.

Louise Bourgeois in der Rue Daguerre 77 im June 1959

Louise Bourgeois in 1965 with her sculptures Volage Woman, 1951, and Lair, 1962

Louise Bourgeois in her studio with Life Flower (work in progress), c. 1960

Louise Bourgeois in Querceta, Italian, 1967

Louise Bourgeois contemplates Germinal, 1967

Louise Bourgeois in her home studio in 1974

March 14, 1979 Feminist Dinner honoring Louise Bourgeois

Courtesy of David Lewis and the estate of Mary Beth Edelson

Louise Bourgeois arbeitet 1974 an The Destruction of the Father

Louise Bourgeois with Janus Fleuri, 1968, and elements of The Destruction of the Father, 1974, 1977 at her home in New York

Louise Bourgeois works on her white marble Harmless Woman in her Brooklyn studio in 1984

Louise Bourgeois with the latex sculpture Avenza, 1968–1969, which became part of Confrontation, 1978, in front of her home on 20th Street, New York, 1975

Wooden figures of Louise Bourgeois (1947–1953) at her home on 20th Street, New York, 1965

Louise Bourgeois at her under construction Brooklyn studio in 1984

Louise Bourgeois in her Brooklyn studio in 1984

Louise Bourgeois at home in New York, c. 1998

Photo by Robin Holland/Corbis via Getty Images

Louise Bourgeois in her Brooklyn studio in 1984

Louise Bourgeois in her Brooklyn studio with her Spider sculpture in 1995

"Take the A Train"

Written by Billy Strayhorn

Performed by Oscar Peterson

Courtesy of Verve Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

Graphic: Bank of America logo

(Video) “Primavera” (Spring) by Sandro Botticelli

Masterpiece Moment: Celebration of great works of art (2023)

Videos

References