Indianapolis Museum of Art Announces 2009 Acquisitions

INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced today that it acquired 783 objects in eight curatorial departments in 2009. The acquisitions span a broad range of cultures and time periods, further enhancing the depth and breadth of the Museum’s representation of the world’s art.

Highlights among the year’s acquisitions include:

• The landmark Miller House & Garden in Columbus, Indiana, which the Museum acquired in April 2009. The property is one of the country’s most highly regarded examples of mid-century Modernist residences. Miller House was designed by Eero Saarinen, with interiors by Alexander Girard, and landscape design by Daniel Urban Kiley. Commissioned by industrialist and philanthropist J. Irwin Miller and his wife Xenia Simons Miller in 1952, the Miller House and Garden was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000. Members of the Miller family donated the house and gardens, along with many of its original furnishings, to the Museum. Additionally, members of the Miller family and the Irwin-Sweeney-Miller Foundation have pledged $5 million toward an endowment for the house and surrounding grounds.

• Madonna and Child, by Master of Badia a Isola, one of the most important painters of the late 13th and early 14th centuries in Italy. The painting is one of the earliest works in the IMA’s European collection (about 1320, tempera on wood, The Clowes Fund Collection, 2009.52).

• The Cornfield, by British Romantic painter John Constable. An oil sketch made as a preparatory study for the painting Constable called The Drinking Boy, The Cornfield depicts a loosely painted figure of a reclining boy drinking from a pool of water which is barely detectable in the lower left corner of the painting (about 1826, oil on canvas, The Clowes Fund Collection, 2009.53).

• A wooden crucifix presented to King Philip IV of Spain by Juan Carreño de Miranda. The crucifix was most recently on display in the IMA exhibition Sacred Spain: Art and Belief in the Spanish World (1658, oil on wood, Deaccessioned European Fund, Gift of the Alfred Brod Galleries, Ltd. by exchange, Gift in memory of William Ray Adams by exchange, Gift of Mrs. Elijah B. Martindale by exchange, James E. Roberts Fund by exchange, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Eiteljorg by exchange, 2009.377).

• Etching Plate for “La Femme aux figues” (Woman with Figs), 1894 by Paul Gauguin. In 1998, the IMA acquired two etchings that were printed from this plate. (Etched zinc, Gift of Samuel and Paul Josefowitz, 2009.54).

• Len, by New York–based artist Orly Genger. The sculpture, constructed of nylon climbing rope, was part of the IMA exhibition Whole, which was on view in the Museum’s Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion from November 2008 to June 2009. (2008, nylon rope and acrylic latex paint, the base consists of a mild steel armature, Carmen & Mark Holeman Contemporary Fund, 2009.1)

“We were fortunate to add hundreds of superb works of art to our collection over last year, which will allow us to present a fuller picture of the rich visual traditions around the world,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the IMA. “It is part of our mission as an encyclopedic art museum to continue to seek out objects which will enhance the public’s understanding and experience of art, and we continue to look for ways to build our collection of more than 54,000 works.”

Additional highlights among the IMA’s acquisitions in 2009 include:

• Scene on the Wabash, about 1848, George Winter, American, oil on canvas, bequest of Judge Paul H. Buchanan, Jr., 2009.290

• Push AA <—-> AB / 200 (c), 2004, Type A, American, crayon on paper, purchased with funds provided by Mark Demerly, Mark and Jean Easter, Kent Hawryluk, Susie Jacobs, Pat and James LaCrosse, Ron Reeve, Anna and James White, Trent Spence, George and Jan Rubin, and Mary Wicker, 2009.55

• Push AA <—-> AB / 5-1, 2004, Type A, American, diptych, color coupler prints, purchased with funds provided by Howard and Anita Harris and the Anita Harris Birthday Fund, 2009.56

• 03 Slice, 1999, Mathias Bengtsson, Danish, aluminum, Frank Curtis Springer & Irving Moxley Springer Purchase Fund, 2009.378

• Hey Chair Be a Bookshelf!, 2005, Maarten Baas, German, existing furniture and musical instruments, epoxy; The Ballard Fund, 2009.393

• Three Sofa Deluxe, 1991, Jasper Morrison, British, aluminum and fabric, Deaccessioned Decorative/Design Art Fund, 2009.410

• Celadon Globular Jar, about 1990-1995, Suzuki Sansei, Japanese, stoneware with crackled powder blue celadon glaze, purchased with funds provided by Leonard and Kathryn Betley, 2009.291

• Waves and Pine, 1938, Sakaguchi Isso, Japanese, ink and colors on silk, gift of the Asian Art Society, 2009.587

• Evening dress, 1973, Hanae Mori, Japanese, silk, rayon; Deaccessioned Textiles Fund, 2009.293A-B

• Dress (Rhythm Pleats), 1990, Issey Miyake, Japanese, polyester, pleated and heat pressure set; Deaccessioned Textiles Fund, 2009.294

• Purse, early 1900s, European or American, silk, glass, metal; Gift of Stella and Fred Krieger, 2009.315

• Arm chair, about 1810, Ephraim Haines and Henry Connelly, American, wood, caning, and upholstery; Gift of the Alliance of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2009.49

• Light fixture, about 1960, Venini S.p.A. (manufacturer), attributed to the designer Massimo Vignelli, Italian, glass, Jane Weldon Myers Acquisition Fund, MH2009.1

• 118 Piece Meissen service, first half of 20th century, Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, porcelain, gift in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Wasson McKee by their children Fred Wasson McKee, George Denny McKee and Grace McKee Norris, LH2009.1-57

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2. New Acquisitions 2009 on View at the Portland Museum of Art
3. Indianapolis Museum of Art to Exhibit Recently Acquired Photographs
4. Italy to Loan Roman Sculptures to the Indianapolis Museum of Art
5. Inaugural Exhibition Showcases New Acquisitions in Israel Museum Collection