REVIEW - Nelson Atkins

   The Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City surprisingly rivals the Met, LACMA, or MoMa.  It’s extensively large collection spans thousands of years from ancient Chinese bronzes and Egyptian artifacts all the way until modern Warhol’s and contemporary Kehinde Wiley’s.  The museum’s collection of ancient works from Egypt, Greece, India, China, Japan, Native America and Africa are stunning.  It’s nearly impossible to take in the whole museum in a single visit just like the Met in NYC. 

   While the Nelson itself is a classically columned limestone museum, with awe inspiring Greco-Italian architecture.  Several galleries in the museum are entire architectural spaces transported from afar.  The Chinese Temple (Gallery 230) displays some of the Nelson’s collection of over 7,000 Chinese works of art in this 12th Century temple.  Sculptures, columns, ceiling tiles, and murals have all bean transported from China to create a space for the focal piece “Guanyin of the Southern Sea.” an elaborate 12th century sculpture.  The surrounding space also hosts a rotating display of ancient sculptures.  Some of the Bronzes are thousands of years old from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, some of the first cultures to master intricate bronze work.  Nearby is an entire wooden Hindu Temple that has been on display since the museum opened in 1933.  The walls and ceilings are assembled from several sites in Southern India and date back to the 1500’s.  The room houses many beautiful sculptures of Hindu deities.

   Other stand out works include a 4000 year old Egyptian sculpture of Senusret III, a Native American sequential calendar titled ‘Winter Count, and a bold red and blue throne chair from Cameroon.  The Nelson’s European paintings are some of the finest and rarest in America.  There are only ten Caravaggios in America and his ‘John the Baptist’ is easily the most iconic, although I do have a soft spot for his work ‘Cardsharps,’ also on American soil.  Bosch’s ‘the Temptation of St. Anthony,’ is a gem.  Bosch is one of my all time favorite painters.  His works are expansive and uniquely strange.  There are usually only between 3-5 on public display in the United States with the majority residing in Spain and northern Europe, so it’s worth stoping by this wondrous little piece.  The Nelson also features one of Monet’s Water Lilys, several Van Goghs, Degas and Rodins.

   Their modern and contemporary works pack just as much of a punch as the ancient and old masters.  The Nelson hosts powerhouses Warhol, Louise Nevelson, Kerry James Marshall, Donald Judge, Lichtenstein, and Thiebaud to name a few.  In addition their contemporary rotating exhibitions are always enlightening. During my most recent visit, there was a fun installation by Saya Woolfalk titled ‘Expedition to the ChimaCloud.’

   Some personal favorites I must see each time I visit are both the Hindu Temple and the Chinese Temple, the Bear Jug, any Henry Moore bronze blobs that are on display,  the samurai upstairs, the demonic portal in a Lucas Cranach painting downstairs as well as Thomas Hart Benton’s ‘Discovery of America’ series housed in the museums theatre.  The museum is worth a visit to Kansas City alone, and maybe stay for some of the great food and music.  For all your art and culture news, stay tuned to Sharks Eat Meat.

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