PaperWorks Gallery

"I like to paint something that leads me on and on into the unknown, something that I want to see away on beyond."

See you tomorrow for a free 30-minute virtual guided meditation on Grandma Moses’s Hoosick Falls in Winter. Drawing inspiration from this artwork, we will practice techniques for mindful looking and thinking that we can carry with us wherever we are. Register ▶️ https://ow.ly/Misq50QmqAU

🎨 Grandma Moses, Hoosick Falls in Winter, 1944, Oil on hardboard, 19 3/4 x 23 3/4 in., The Phillips Collection, Acquired 1949

"I have tried to do what is true and not ideal."

Did you know "At the Moulin Rouge" was once cut down to remove the acid-green face of singer May Milton? Perhaps the dealer believed the painting would be easier to sell without it. Whatever the reason, by 1914 the cut section had been reattached to the painting.

See "At the Moulin Rouge" among six works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec now on view at the Art Institute.

"Very interesting for an old duffer like me to try his hand at something new. If I don't do that once in a while, I might just turn into a fossil, you know!"

First published for the January 13, 1962 cover of The Saturday Evening Post is Norman Rockwell's 'The Connoisseur.'

In 1961, Rockwell's studio was temporarily transformed into an abstract expressionist's workplace as he painted 'The Connoisseur,' a painting about the relationship between conventional and modern art. Always fascinated by modern and abstract art, Rockwell designed a cover in which he could acknowledge his appreciation of the genre. By placing his back to us, he leaves the interpretation of the museum visitor's reaction to the viewer.

"Some people have been kind enough to call me a fine artist. I've always called myself an illustrator. I'm not sure what the difference is. All I know is that whatever type of work I do, I try to give it my very best. Art has been my life."

Happy New Years! 🎊

Making any New Year's resolutions? How about MORE ART!

Stay tuned for exciting announcements on upcoming exhibitions at NRM in 2024! 👀

"Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. My fundamental purpose is to interpret the typical American. I am a story teller."

First published on the January 1st, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, Norman Rockwell's seventh cover to feature his young G.I. Willie Gillis shows his hometown sweetheart asleep at midnight New Year’s Eve, watched over by photos of her hero. An example of the artist’s creative solution when model, Robert Buck, left for active duty in the Navy and was no longer available to pose.

Find an original magazine tear sheet in our galleries, and custom prints of every Willie Gillis cover published and more at prints.nrm.org

"Right from the beginning, I always strived to capture everything I saw as completely as possible."

Merry Christmas Eve from Norman Rockwell Museum! First published on the December 25, 1948 cover of The Saturday Evening Post, Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Homecoming includes cameos from many friends and family. Look closely and you’ll find Rockwell himself, wife Mary, sons Jarvis, Tom and Peter, as well as fellow artists Grandma Moses and Mead Schaeffer.

The original oil painting is now on view in our galleries, and custom prints can be ordered 20% off with coupon code ROCKWELL20 at prints.nrm.org. Find more deals at store.nrm.org, with calendars now 50% off and ornaments 20% off!

"Work at the same time on sky, water, branches, ground, keeping everything going on an equal basis... Don't be afraid of putting on colour... Paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression."

Today we celebrate the Winter Solstice – the start of the winter season, the shortest day of the year, and a vibe shift of polar proportions.

If you’re not one for watching moody dusk scenes from your kitchen window, might we suggest a visit to the Nelson-Atkins? Here, you can experience works like Camille Pissarro’s Poplars, Sunset at Eragny, which perfectly captures the solstice sensibilities.

The painting depicts a favorite motif of Pissarro’s: a distant view almost totally obscured by a screen of trees. In this late work, however, Pissarro is more concerned with creating a mood than playing with compositional structure. The fading light and encroaching shadows evoke a dreamlike atmosphere, like the landscapes of such Post-Impressionist artists as Gauguin and van Gogh, on view nearby. Poplars, Sunset at Eragny is one of the few works in the collection that belonged originally to the museum’s founding Nelson family.

🖼️ Camille Pissarro (French, 1830 - 1903). Poplars, Sunset at Eragny, 1894. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Laura Nelson Kirkwood Residuary Trust. 44-41/2.

"The fact that people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.. the people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when painting them. And if you say you are moved only by their color relationships then you miss the point."

"My boxes are life's experiences aesthetically expressed."

Joseph Cornell was inspired by the ballet in the creation of his contructions. The title of this piece, "Setting for a Fairy Tale," emphasizes the stage-model associations of the construction Cornell aims to invoke.

Here, Cornell creates a coherent miniaturized world where the viewer can be a playwright, choreographer, director, or performer in the spectacle of their choice.
The construction, with a black painted border on the surface of the glass that frames a white palace and serves as a stage and background, invokes the world of theater and spectacle.

The piece can be engaged with through means such as a hatch that can be opened or a tempting crank of the hurdy-gurdy that can be turned. The work’s mirrored surfaces not only offer the illusion of shimmering glass windows, but also engage the viewer in a multifaceted reflection and discovery of oneself.

Pictured: Joseph Cornell "Setting for a Fairy Tale," 1942. © The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

"We have proved beyond reasonable doubt that Leonardo painted two Mona Lisas and this is the only candidate to be the second,”

A Second Mona Lisa Goes on View in Turin—But Did Leonardo Actually Paint It? | Artnet News Is a portrait of an "earlier" Mona Lisa the real deal, or a copy? Experts are divided as the work goes on view in Turin.

"I think you always have to find where the boundary is in relation to the context in order to be able to kind of articulate how you want the space to interact with the viewer."

Richard Serra, the renowned American sculptor, celebrates his birthday today!

Born on November 2, 1939, Serra has redefined the concept of space and materiality in art. His large-scale steel sculptures, often characterized by their powerful and curvilinear forms, have a commanding presence that invites viewers to engage with their surroundings in unique and thought-provoking ways. 🎂

"The Matter of Time"—Serra’s most complete rumination on the physicality of space and the nature of sculpture—consists of eight commissioned works on view at the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao.

Learn more about the artist: https://gu.gg/3QFmFCa

Pictured: Richard Serra, "The Matter of Time," 1994-2005. © 2023 Richard Serra/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

"Work at the same time on sky, water, branches, ground, keeping everything going on an equal basis... Don't be afraid of putting on colour... Paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression."

A breath of fresh air 🍂

Camille Pissarro died in 1903. His painting of 'Fox Hill, Upper Norwood' is one of 12 surviving pictures that he painted while living in London from late 1870 to mid-1871. He and his family arrived in early December 1870 and settled briefly in the south London village.

The winter of his arrival was particularly cold, enabling Pissarro to continue painting the type of winter landscapes he had produced in France in the winter of 1868. 'Fox Hill, Upper Norwood' is perhaps the first picture he painted in London. One of the more rural scenes of the group, we see a simple road flanked by houses, chimney smoke merging with the clouds. Three people, two women and a man in a top hat with a walking stick, pass each other, their wintry attire matching the shrubbery and bare trees: https://bit.ly/353NAwu

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say in any other way—things that I had no words for."—Georgia O'Keeffe

What better way to celebrate O'Keeffe's birthday today than with this rhythmic painting from 1918, Music, Pink and Blue No. 2. For the artist, the reference to music in the titles of her paintings derived from her belief that visual art, like music, could convey powerful emotions independent of representational subject matter.
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Georgia O'Keeffe, Music, Pink and Blue No. 2, 1918. Oil on canvas, overall: 35 × 29 15/16 in. (88.9 × 76 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Emily Fisher Landau in honor of Tom Armstrong 91.90. © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York