If you happen to live in the Dallas / Ft Worth area of Texas – or perhaps anywhere in the midwest and you ache for a road trip – you might find this particular exhibit at the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth, worth a linger.
If you can’t make it to Texas by July 12th, though, you’ll miss it. I know! Short notice!
But if you can’t make it, you can still enjoy the exhibit from a distance. Here’s a look!
The Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth is one of those “transcendent” art museum experiences, in my mind. It’s the type of art museum that I think is practically perfect in every way: it’s not Huge, it’s not Overwhelming, and its acquisitions are all “works of definitive excellence.”
In their own words, the aim of the Kimbell is “not historical completeness but the acquisition of individual objects of the highest possible aesthetic quality as determined by condition, rarity, importance, suitability, and communicative powers. The rationale is that a single work of outstanding merit and significance is more effective as an educational tool than a larger number of representative examples.”
If you enjoy contemplating, in a manageable space, the highlights of most excellent art representing a period – rather than, say, perambulating through extensive, unending galleries of piece after piece after piece that all start to blur together and look the same – then the Kimbell is for you!
Right now (it’s been running a while and has been extended to July 12), they have an exhibit on called The Holy Sepulcher: Treasures from the Terra Sancta Museum in Jerusalem.
In the exhibit, you’ll experience a collection of treasures from the artistic and archeological heritage of Christianity in the Holy Land, collected and safeguarded by the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land for over 800 years.
Of note to embroiderers who have an interest in historical and / or ecclesiastical embroidery, you’ll see several significant pieces. And while the “solemn set” of goldwork-embroidered vestments is probably the greater focal point, there are a couple exquisite pieces besides that set that I think are even more compelling to view.
One is a 17th century antependium (altar frontal) from Italy or Spain, worked in silk and gold & silver threads.
The other is a most fabulous 17th century cope from Genoa. It is a sumptuous example of silk embroidery in exquisite color, that is so well-preserved that it boggles the mind. I mean – the color on this thing! Incredible! There’s no metalwork on the cope. It’s “just” silk embroidery – absolutely gorgeous!
There are several other significant pieces in the exhibit, but these two – and especially that cope – are the two pieces I’d find myself spending a lot of time gazing at!
The Virtual Tour
If you can’t be in Ft Worth by July 12th – I certainly can’t be, boo hoo! – visit the website and enjoy the virtual tour. It’s so good! No, it’s not being there in person, and no, you can’t get up close and really see the details. But at least you can get a sense of the magnificence of these exquisite works of art.
WOW! magnificent display.
I completely agree with your assessment of the Kimbell. I lived in that area for several years and visited many times. It has an amazingly diverse collection, and it is very accessible without being overwhelming. Over the years, I’ve been to a lot of museums that are all nice, but I keep going back to the Kimbell every time I head to Texas. (If nothing else then to see Georges de La Tour’s The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs.)