Advertisement

Arts & Entertainment

9 pieces of art you won't want to miss in the Dallas Arts District

Dallas has the largest arts district in the nation, which means it's home to tens of thousands of inspiring, intriguing and entrancing works of art. But where to begin? The Dallas Arts District has tons of captivating pieces that can be appreciated by art lovers of all kinds. Of course, a little help helps. We spent hours in the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection and the Nasher Sculpture Center and have picked nine pieces of art you (and your Instagram account) won't want to miss.

Window With Starfish ('Spring') and Window with Sea Anemone ('Summer') by Louis Comfort Tiffany

Dallas Museum of Art

From left: Window with Sea Anemone ("Summer") and Window With Starfish ("Spring") by Louis...
From left: Window with Sea Anemone ("Summer") and Window With Starfish ("Spring") by Louis Comfort Tiffany at the Decorative Arts and Design exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art(Aurelia Han)

There's an otherworldly enchantment to stained glass. In a dark room, these two long windows are illuminated from behind, almost making you feel as if you're underwater if you look long enough. Though Tiffany glass typically depicts natural imagery, it's rarely aquatic, and the multi-layered technique gives the blue and green glass an especially mesmerizing feel.

Advertisement

'Sheaves of Wheat' by Vincent van Gogh, Wendy & Emery Reves Collection

Dallas Museum of Art

A Vincent van Gogh painting featured in the Wendy & Emery Reves Collection at the Dallas...
A Vincent van Gogh painting featured in the Wendy & Emery Reves Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art(Aurelia Han)
News Roundups

Catch up on the day's news you need to know.

Or with:

Want to go to Coco Chanel’s house? We do, too. At the DMA, you kind of can. The Wendy & Emery Reves Collection houses rooms full of furniture and artwork from La Pausa, Chanel’s South of France estate later purchased by Emery Reves. After his death, his wife, Wendy -- from Preston, Texas -- donated much of the estate’s contents to the DMA, leading to this entrancing exhibit. Roam through rooms full of ornate furnishings, dishes, rugs and art. This Van Gogh, which explores wheat as a metaphor of the cycle of life, is one such artwork that once adorned La Pausa’s walls.

'Portrait and a Dream' by Jackson Pollock 

Dallas Museum of Art

"Portrait and a Dream" by Jackson Pollock is on display at the Dallas Museum of Art. It has...
"Portrait and a Dream" by Jackson Pollock is on display at the Dallas Museum of Art. It has been interpreted that the left side of the painting depicts a female figure that symbolizes the "dream" aspect of the title and the right side is Pollock's self-portrait.(Aurelia Han)
Advertisement

This arresting painting seems to emit an almost violent energy: The right side depicts a self-portrait in color in stark contrast to the black-and-white “dream” on the left. The mass of tangled bodies on the left is attributed to what Pollock called “the dark side,” and is also thought to be a depiction of his inner self. Pollock famously saw no differentiation from his art and himself, making the harsh black lines and incongruous colors that much more impactful.

'Jazz Bowl' or 'New Yorker' by Viktor Schreckengost 

Dallas Museum of Art

"Jazz Bowl" or "New Yorker" by Viktor Schreckengost is on exhibition now at the Shake,...
"Jazz Bowl" or "New Yorker" by Viktor Schreckengost is on exhibition now at the Shake, Stirred, Styled: The Art of the Cocktail exhibition at the Dallas Mseum of Art. The exhibition will run until Nov. 12, 2017.(Virginia Fay)
Advertisement

Tucked in a Tiffany blue and deep green room hosting the "Shaken, Stirred, Styled: The Art of the Cocktail" exhibit is a blue and black bowl covered in images evocative of New York -- skyscrapers, cocktail glasses, musical instruments and more. Schreckengost chose the electric blue color to call to mind that "funny blue light in New York in 1931 when Cab Calloway's band was playing." Still more interesting is the bowl's origin: The first one in this limited-edition series was commissioned by Eleanor Roosevelt as a present for FDR, who was running on a "wet," or anti-Prohibition platform. Bottoms up!

'Abode of the Immortals' 

Crow Collection

"Abode of the Immortals," which is made from nephrite and carved wood, is from Qing Dynasty...
"Abode of the Immortals," which is made from nephrite and carved wood, is from Qing Dynasty China (1644-1911). It is on exhibition at the Crow Collection of Asian Art.(Aurelia Han)

What began as just a rock was transformed to reveal a whole interior world inhabited by Daoist immortals. The natural, brown exterior was preserved and carved into twisting trees and jagged rock, while the interior depicts ornate figures, specifically a scholar visiting a Daoist immortals' mountain, in the soft green jade. Though this sculpture is from the Qing dynasty in the 18th century, jade continues to hold special value in Chinese culture as the material is believed to enhance the human spirit.

'Facade of a residence' 

Crow Collection

Advertisement

Picture this welcoming you home. This massive, 12-foot-tall, 28-foot-long exterior takes over a large portion of a room. (It's so heavy that the floor underneath it is architecturally reinforced!) The facade comes from 18th century India, and likely housed a residential complex with interior open courtyards. Not a bad lifestyle, right? The design is influenced by both native Indian forms and Islamic-inspired geometric designs, demonstrating a melding of styles.

'Rang Phnom Flower' by Sopheap Pich 

Crow Collection

"Rang Phnom Flower" by Cambodian contemporary artist Sopheap Pich is 25 feet in length and...
"Rang Phnom Flower" by Cambodian contemporary artist Sopheap Pich is 25 feet in length and is made from hundreds of strands of rattan and bamboo. It will be on view at the Crow Collection of Asian Art until Jan. 7, 2018.(Aurelia Han)
Advertisement

Once you’ve explored the first two levels of the Crow, alight to the mezzanine level, where a special treat awaits. Made of hundreds of strands of rattan and bamboo, Sopheap Pich’s enormous 25-foot-long sculpture depicts a cannonball tree, which is particularly revered in Southeast Asia for its resemblance to the sal tree, under which the Buddha was born. Twisting and tumbling across the entire room, the sculpture feels alive in its own right.

'Gregory (Effigy)' by Isamu Noguchi

Nasher Sculpture Center

The first version of this tall and slender sculpture, "Gregory (Effigy)" by Isamu Noguchi,...
The first version of this tall and slender sculpture, "Gregory (Effigy)" by Isamu Noguchi, was carved in purple slate.(Virginia Fay)
Advertisement

Made entirely of interlocking pieces, this bronze sculpture stands almost 6 feet tall. It's oddly entrancing to examine how the structure fits together without any welding. Three "legs" at the bottom hold the sculpture upright, while a single "eye" (the small hole) stares through the top of the central plane. The construction is so unique it almost makes you want to deconstruct it to see if it could fit together any other way. (Please don't, though.)

'Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae' by Henry Moore

Nasher Sculpture Center

"Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae" by Henry Moore calls to mind a spinal...
"Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae" by Henry Moore calls to mind a spinal column of a reclining figure, a theme throughout Moore's work.(Virginia Fay)
Advertisement

Tucked into a back corner of the garden, this graceful bronze composition reclines by a fountain. Moore was inspired by objects found in nature such as rocks and bones. Raymond and Patsy Nasher visited him at his studio where he was working with interlocking rocks in 1967, and the next year they purchased this sculpture inspired by those rocks. Look familiar? It's also the basis for Moore's "The Dallas Piece," the massive sculpture in front of Dallas City Hall, commissioned by the city.

Take an adventure in the Dallas Arts District to find these 9 works of art:

Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N Harwood St., Dallas. Fri.-Sun. and Tues.-Wed. open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thurs. open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Mon.

Advertisement

Crow Collection of Asian Art, 2010 Flora St, Dallas. Fri.-Sat. open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Sun. open 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tues.-Thurs. open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Mon. 

Nasher Sculpture Center, 2001 Flora St, Dallas. Tues.-Sun. open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mon.