Findings, fun facts, and fly specks: Results from the paintings survey!

November 18, 2015 by umfablog

Guest Blogger: Stephanie Hufford Hey everyone! I’m back one last time to talk about the final results of our survey of the UMFA’s European paintings collection. It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me, so I’ll catch you up a little first. The UMFA received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to perform a comprehensive survey of the European painting collection. We (Robyn, the UMFA conservator, Leslie Anderson-Perkins, UMFA’s curator of European, American and Regional […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: art, collection highlight, conservation, museum, painting, transparency, umfa, UMFA staff, University of Utah, uofu

Collection Highlight/Throwback Thursday: Timeline Edition

May 29, 2014 by umfablog

It’s the last Thursday in May, and that means it’s the last Collection Highlight that doubles as a sneak peak at the UMFA’s Timeline celebrating Art is 100. But I have some good news: that Timeline is on view in our cafe right now! Come in and follow the story of the UMFA– the bonus is that by the time you’ve reached the end, you’re at the counter, and can order a latte. Now, without further ado, let’s learn a little […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: #throwbackthursday, Art is 100, benefits of museums, collection highlight, contemporary art exhibition, exhibitions, salt, salt series

Collection Highlight / Throwback Thursday: Timeline Edition

May 8, 2014 by umfablog

Welcome to #ThrowbackThursday with the UMFA! Every Thursday for the month of May, we’re exploring pieces in our collection that either mark UMFA milestones, or exemplify something special about the museum. Some staff members have been kind enough to offer some of their thoughts about these pieces. Next up, Ali Monjar explores how UMFA visitors connect to one of our most beloved paintings.  James T. Harwood’s Preparations for Dinner written by Ali Monjar, Volunteer and Docent Tour Coordinator James T. […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: #throwbackthursday, Art is 100, collection highlight, conservation, docents

Collection Highlight / Throwback Thursday: Timeline Edition

May 1, 2014 by umfablog

To celebrate Art is 100 (100 years of collecting art on campus), the UMFA will be installing a timeline in our cafe that features some of our most important moments. Many of these milestones are marked by works of art as they entered our collection, and each Thursday for the month of May, members of the UMFA staff will act as guest bloggers, exploring one of these highlights; together we will throwback to examine some of these fantastic pieces. Roman Season Sarcophagus written by Virginia […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: #throwbackthursday, Art is 100, collection highlight, community, Roman, UMFA staff

Collection Highlight: Portrait of Miss Winifred De Wolfe

February 4, 2014 by umfablog

One of my favorite recurring features on this blog is the Collection Highlight, which presents a chance to examine more closely a specific work in the museum’s collection. With all the pieces in the collection, any chance to pause and get to know something a little better is a real treat. I decided to let a rather random process dictate how I found something to highlight this time: I simply went to our collection database and vowed to learn what […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: art, Art is 100, collection highlight, Miss Winifred De Wolfe, mystery, Natacha Rambova, painting, portrait, transparency

Collection Highlight: The Ambush of Captain Allen McLane

October 21, 2013 by umfablog

Okay. This is a very difficult work to show and talk about on the internet (yet another argument for seeing art in person!), but bear with me. Allan McLane (August 8, 1746 – May 22, 1829) was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The story of the ambush was covered in a much earlier post on this blog, and I won’t be going into much detail about that here. Rather, in the spirit of fast-approaching Halloween, I want to focus […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: collection highlight, painting, transparency, umfa, University of Utah, Viewing art

Transparency in the Museum: The Conservation of Kwan Yin

October 14, 2013 by umfablog

The UMFA’s Kwan Yin is made of wood, gesso, and paint. Right now she lives primarily in our basement, and was recently unearthed for a beauty treatment by Robyn Haynie, our conservator, and Catherine Orange Fischer, who you may recall from her work on our statue of Saint Catherine. When Kwan Yin is not slumbering in our basement, she is earning her fame as the Goddess of Mercy. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means “Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: benefits of museums, collection highlight, conservation, museum job, restoration, transparency, umfa, UMFA staff, University of Utah, uofu, working

Collection Highlight: June, July… Sextilis?

August 15, 2013 by umfablog

Luke Kelly, our assistant curator, is someone we turn to when we need a little inspiration. He harbors a wealth of knowledge, and is exactly the guy you want around a museum’s collection. He offered up this little gem about our current month: “The month name August comes from the time of the Roman Empire.  However, it was not its first name. August was originally known as Sextilis, the sixth month. However, in 8 BCE, the Roman Senate who had […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: Ancient, August, collection highlight, Curator, Roman, UMFA staff

Collection Highlight Two-fer: Fragment of Relief & Portrait of Jean-Louis Reynier

July 15, 2013 by umfablog

214 years ago, on July 15th, 1799,  the Rosetta Stone was discovered during Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign. Containing a decree recorded in classical Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphs, researchers could finally decode the mysterious symbols into words.  Among the participants in the campaign was Jean–Louis Reynier, whose (very handsome) face guards our galleries. I pass this painting almost every day–mostly because I think he kind of looks like Colin Firth— but until this topic came up as a collection highlight, I had […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: art, collection highlight, Egypt, European, painting, University of Utah, Viewing art