Portland Art Museum & Northwest Film Center at home.
As cooler temperatures roll in, I am already feeling nostalgic for summer. This moody etching by Beatrice S. Levy captures some of the longing and freedom of the season. Born in Chicago and educated at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Levy quickly distinguished herself in both painting and printmaking. In 1915, Song… Read more
The Native American art collection of the Portland Art Museum contains a number of surprising objects that have fascinating but little-known histories behind them. This set of Apache Playing Cards is a rare example of a playing card tradition among the Apache with very little published research. There is some documentation that suggests playing cards… Read more
“Abstract is not a style. I simply want to make a surface work.” —Joan Mitchell Mitchell is one of the foremost painters of Abstract Expressionism. In the 1950s, she lived between New York and Paris, where she developed a unique approach that set her work apart from the “all over” paintings of Jackson Pollock, Willem… Read more
As we enter the dog days of summer, I offer you seven pups by French artist Pierre Bonnard. Bonnard was a keen observer of animals, whether pampered pets or urban strays. In this lively lithograph, five dogs interact on an urban street. Well-groomed pets wearing collars mix with scruffy street dogs. Bonnard captures the distinctive… Read more
This sculpture by Marie Louise Feldenheimer, mounted in the Museum’s outdoor sculpture court, captures the beauty of the rhododendrons native to the Pacific Northwest. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on all that this piece sees as it rests in downtown Portland. We invite you to take some time today writing about this piece’s… Read more
One of the finest objects in our Korean art collection is one of the smallest, at only 4 inches high. This exquisite celadon cup forms the shape of an open flower with six petals. Crackles in the glaze were caused as the vessel cooled after firing. Underneath the crackles, you can see graceful, lightly carved… Read more
At the time of this episode’s release, Sneaker Week PDX and Don’t Shoot PDX are hosting a digital installation of the murals that covered Downtown Portland’s Apple Store for most of 2020 at the Wacom Experience Center in the Pearl District. What became an iconic symbol of the protests and demonstrations in Portland surrounding the police shootings of George Floyd, Breonna… Read more
Drive-in theaters were a staple of American popular culture during the mid-twentieth century. According to the New York Film Academy, more than 4,000 drive-ins dotted the landscape during the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in rural locations. By the 1970s and 1980s, smaller automobiles, the emergence of the VCR, and other factors like the rising value… Read more
Théo Van Rysselberghe’s painting beautifully captures the summertime: a beach at sunset. Step into this scene with us today, and take a moment to rest. Soak in the colors of the sky, hear the ocean waves, feel the sand between your toes and the breeze on your face. And then, take a few minutes to… Read more
The summer of 1967 was filled with drugs, sex, and rock and roll, earning it the title “Summer of Love.” It was, in other words, Hot Vax Summer before any vaccine was needed! Psychedelic posters proliferated across the streets of San Francisco advertising concerts, happenings, and events. Recently, the Portland Art Museum received a distinguished… Read more