The museum's collections include more than 24,000 works of art from around the world ranging from ancient to modern times. They are conceived as a celebration of the human power of creation.
African Objects in the museum's
African collection come from
West Africa and
Central Africa. The objects date primarily from the 16th to the 20th centuries, although the earliest object is a Nok terracotta bust from Nigeria that dates from somewhere between 200 BC to 200 AD. Some works in the collection were created as
symbols of leadership and status, while others express concepts related to the cycle of life. Highlights of the collection include a
Benin plaque of copper alloy over wood depicting a warrior chief, a carved wood Senufo rhythm pounder from southeastern
Mali, and a
Congo standing power figure studded with ritually embedded iron nails or blades.
American The
American art collection includes paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from the United States from the
colonial period to
World War II, and art from Mexico, and Canada. Among the highlights of the collection are
Duck Island (1906) by
Childe Hassam,
Lighthouse Hill (1927) by
Edward Hopper,
That Gentleman (1960) by
Andrew Wyeth,
Bare Tree Trunks with Snow (1946) by
Georgia O'Keeffe and
Razor and
Watch by
Gerald Murphy (1924, 1925). One of the most important pieces in the collection is
The Icebergs (1861) by
Frederic Edwin Church. This painting had long been referred to as a lost masterpiece. The painting was given to the museum in 1979 by Norma and
Lamar Hunt. The Dallas Museum of Art also has one of the most thorough collections of Texas art. This is in great part thanks to Jerry Bywaters, director of the DMA from to 1943 to 1964, who was also one of the Dallas Nine, an influential group of Texas artists. In addition to paintings by Bywaters, the DMA has works by
Robert Jenkins Onderdonk,
Julian Onderdonk,
Alexandre Hogue,
Clara McDonald Williamson,
David Bates, Dorothy Austin, Michael Owen, and Olin Herman Travis.
Ancient Mediterranean The Dallas Museum of Art collection of
Ancient Mediterranean art includes Cycladic, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, and Apulian objects. Highlights of
Egyptian art include a painted limestone
Relief of a Procession of Offering Bearers from the Tomb of Ny-Ank-Nesut from 2575 to 2134 BC. The more extensive Greek collection includes a marble
Figure of a man from a funerary relief from 300 BC, bronze sculptures, decorative objects, and gold jewelry. The art of
ancient Rome is represented by a
Figure of a woman from the 2nd century AD and a marble sarcophagus carved in high relief with a battle scene, c. 190 AD.
Asian The museum's collections of
South Asian art range from Gandharan
Buddhist art of the 2nd to 4th centuries AD to the arts of the
Mughal Empire in India from the 15th to the 19th century. Highlights include a 12th-century bronze Shiva Nataraja and a 10th-century sandstone representation of the god
Vishnu as the boar-headed Varaha. The arts of
Tibet,
Nepal, and
Thailand are also represented.
Contemporary Many important artistic trends since 1945 are represented in the museum's vast collection of
contemporary art, from
abstract expressionism to pop and
op Art, and from
minimalism, and
conceptualism to
installation art,
assemblage, and
video art. Contemporary artists within the collection whose reputations are well established include
Jackson Pollock,
Mark Rothko,
Franz Kline,
Jasper Johns,
Robert Rauschenberg,
Bruce Nauman, and
Robert Smithson. Among photographers represented in the collection are
Cindy Sherman,
Nic Nicosia,
Thomas Struth, and
Lynn Davis. When the current Museum facility opened in the mid-1980s, several artists were commissioned to create site-specific works especially for the Dallas Museum of Art:
Ellsworth Kelly,
Sol LeWitt,
Richard Fleischner, and
Claes Oldenburg with
Coosje van Bruggen. In recent years, the museum has shown a strong interest in collecting the work of contemporary German artists such as
Gerhard Richter,
Sigmar Polke, and
Anselm Kiefer.The museum has also acquired Matthew Wong’s
The West (2017), the only work to enter a museum collection during the artist’s lifetime, marking a rare example of early recognition in art history.
Decorative Arts and Design The expansive collections of
Decorative Arts and Design feature over 8,000 works mostly from Europe and America in various media including furniture, ceramics, glass, textiles, and metalware. Among the earliest works in the collection are 16th-century Spanish textiles, 17th century
Chinese export porcelain, and European metalware, including the Hoblitzelle Collection of English and Irish
silver. Two exceptional early silver objects are a cup and cover (1742) by silversmith
Paul de Lamerie and a massive wine cistern (1761–62) by
Abraham Portal for
Francis Hastings, the 10th Earl of Huntingdon. American 18th-century furniture forms the core of the Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Collection, featuring seating and case pieces from Boston, Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia and other regions. The internationally renowned 19th- and 20th-century American silver collection is among the very finest of its type, with major examples by the leading firms of the last two centuries including
Tiffany & Co.,
Gorham Manufacturing Company,
Reed & Barton, and International Silver Co. In addition to a unique solid silver dressing table (1899) made by Gorham for the
Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900 other highlights include a
Gothic Revival bed () made for
Henry Clay, a
Herter Brothers sideboard (–82) for
William Henry Vanderbilt, a pair of
Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows () depicting an undersea scene and a collection of
Arts and Crafts movement and early modern designs by
Gustav Stickley,
Charles Rohlfs,
Christopher Dresser,
Louis Majorelle,
Frank Lloyd Wright and others. The contemporary design holdings include exceptional works by
Ettore Sottsass,
Zaha Hadid,
Richard Meier, the
Campana brothers, and a newly formed collection of jewelry. Since 2014 is
Carl Otto Czeschka's solid silver "
Wittgenstein-Vitrine" a new exquisite part of the DMA-collections (1908,
Wiener Werkstätte). ,
Sheaves of Wheat, 1890, Dallas Museum of Art
European The Dallas Museum of Art's collection of
European art starts in the 16th century. Some of the earlier works include paintings by
Giulio Cesare Procaccini (
Ecce Homo, 1615–18),
Pietro Paolini (
Bacchic Concert, 1630), and
Nicolas Mignard (
The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus and Remus to His Wife, 1654). Art of the 18th century is represented by artists like
Canaletto (
A View from the Fondamenta Nuova, 1772),
Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (
The Abduction of Europa, 1750), and
Claude-Joseph Vernet (
Mountain Landscape with Approaching Storm, 1775),
Guillaume Lethière,
Erminia and the Sheperds, 1795. The loan of the Michael L. Rosenberg collection brings an added depth to the museum's 18th-century French collection. The 19th and beginning of the 20th century collection of French art also stands out. Among significant works in this collection are
Silence by sculptor
Auguste Preault,
Fox in the Snow by
Gustave Courbet (1860),
The Seine at Lavacourt by
Claude Monet (1880),
I Raro te Oviri by
Paul Gauguin (1891),
Interior (1902),
Les Marroniers ou le Vitrail (1894) by
Édouard Vuillard, and
The Harbor (
Le Port), 1912, by
Jean Metzinger. A growing collection of 19th and 20th century European paintings from Denmark,
Fredericksborg by Moonlight Johan Christian Dahl, Belgium,
Abundance by
Léon Frédéric, Germany
Italian Landscape by
Hans Thoma, and Swiss
The Halberdier by
Ferdinand Hodler, offers a more comprehensive view of the art scene for this period. The sculpture collection from the first part of the 20th century includes important works such as
Constructed Head n°2 by
Naum Gabo,
Three men Walking by
Alberto Giacometti, 1936,
White Relief by
Ben Nicholson, and
Beginning of the World by
Constantin Brâncuși (1920). The collection of works by
Piet Mondrian is noteworthy, with works like
The Windmill (1908),
Self-Portrait (1942), and
Place de la Concorde (1938–43).
Pre-Columbian/Pacific Rim The museum has significant holdings of
ancient American art. The collection covers more than three millennia, displaying sculptures, prints, terracotta, and gold objects. Among the other highlights are gold objects from
Panama,
Colombia and
Peru and the Head of the god
Tlaloc (Mexico, 14th-16th century).
Wendy and Emery Reves Collection The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection. In 1985 the Dallas Museum of Art received a gift from
Wendy Reves in honor of her late husband, the publisher
Emery Reves. The Reves collection is housed in an elaborate 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) reproduction of the couple' home in France, the Villa
La Pausa, where the works were originally displayed
in situ. La Pausa was built by the fashion designer
Coco Chanel in 1927, and some of the original furniture is kept in its context. Among the 1,400 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper Emery Reves had collected are works from leading impressionist, post-impressionist, and early modernist artists, including
Paul Cézanne,
Honoré Daumier,
Edgar Degas,
Paul Gauguin,
Édouard Manet,
Claude Monet,
Camille Pissarro,
Auguste Renoir,
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and
Vincent van Gogh. An extremely fine collection of
Auguste Rodin sculptures include very fine bronze casts, rare marble like the first version of the
Sirens, a unique piece
The poet and contemplative life from the Fenaille family, and even an unusual original wax piece. An extensive accompanying collection of decorative arts works includes Chinese export porcelain; European furniture; Oriental and European carpets; iron, bronze, and silver work; European glass; and rare books. Memorabilia of the Reves' friendship with English statesman
Winston Churchill, a frequent guest at La Pausa, is housed in the wing as well. == Exhibitions ==