The holiday season is now upon us, and festive décor is almost everywhere. The IMA’s Miller House is no exception. This will be the first holiday season that the Miller House and Garden has been open to the public, and while the home is not decorated to the extent of Oldfields, the IMA’s other historic property, visitors can still expect to see a few special holiday touches throughout the interior.

Holiday ornamentation at the Miller House will be minimal this year, partly due to the greatly reduced winter tour schedule, but also because the Miller House team is still inventorying the objects in the house and developing the program for collections rotation.

Nevertheless, visitors who have an affinity for Italian glass or crèche scenes will be pleased. Some of the pieces that were chosen to be on display at the Miller House this holiday season include two nativity scenes from Mrs. Miller’s extensive collection from around the world, and several small Murano glass Christmas trees.

An early 19th-century Ecuadorian crèche scene, displayed on the storage wall in a lighted enclosure designed by Alexander Girard, the talent behind the interior design of the home.

A Greek pottery crèche scene on the baker’s table in the main living area.

Several Murano glass Christmas trees in the living room and conversation pit.

A small enameled copper dish was discovered when conducting an inventory of the Miller House barn this past fall.

With the change of the seasons, we also decided to change some other elements of the interior that will remain on display well after the holidays are over.

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Filed under: Miller House

In honor of America’s favorite day of feasting, family, and football, here are works from the IMA’s permanent collection appropriately themed to help celebrate the day.  Enjoy.

Wayne Kimball, "Chairing Thanksgiving," 1982.

Just like that odd distant relative engaging you in awkward small talk for the entirety of the family dinner, Wayne Kimball’s quirky but meticulously crafted lithograph allows us a chance to appreciate that which often goes unnoticed or makes us uncomfortable. Kimball states, “My perceptions of certain past movements in art (most notably Northern Renaissance and Islamic Painting) coupled with idiosyncrasy…lead me to making some rather odd pictures…the compilation, arrangement and execution (and material quality) combine to hint at symbolic interpretations.”

Norman Rockwell, "Ours To Fight For, Freedom From Want," 1943.

Rockwell’s iconic image of the American gathering is more than likely etched in the back of everyone’s minds as we celebrate this season. Culturally significant now for its representation of American nostalgia, it was complementary in its own time to FDR’s “Four Freedom’s” speech given in 1942 to aid the war effort. This lithograph is based on one from a series of four themed paintings:  Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Worship (the Tenants of FDR’s speech).

Emile Bernard, "Le Moissonneur (The Harvester)," 1889.

Thanksgiving is said to have been born out of an English tradition of appreciative agrarians gathering as a community, not only to give thanks for their fall harvest, but also to rest and celebrate their hard work throughout the summer months. Bernard’s Breton farmers engaged in back-breaking labor to gather wheat from the field with their scythes. Bernard’s primitive technique and subject matter allows the viewer to be transported back in a time where the harvest was well-earned – where one didn’t go to the big-box store to grab a turkey from a freezer section, make stuffing from a box, or pick up a plastic wrapped Pumpkin pie and canned whipped cream.

Workshop of Jan Brueghel the younger, "The Sense of Taste," 1618.

This image is our urging of how not to eat today. Thanksgiving is a notorious diet breaker, and even the strongest-willed dieter can easily crumble at the mouth watering smell of Grandma’s homemade yams or Aunt Becky’s mashed potatoes. Jan Brueghel’s image contains a gluttonous feast, drunkenness, and if you look hard enough in the (bottom center left) you will see a small monkey. This is the artist’s representation of the devil being present in the scene (a common symbol in artwork during this time period). Lesson to be learned: Stuff the turkey, not yourself.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Sunday, December 12 is the Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the most important holidays in the Mexican calendar.  According to tradition, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to an indigenous peasant named Juan Diego four times in December of 1531.  She was trying to use Juan Diego as an advocate to get a church built in her honor, but the local bishop wouldn’t believe the Indian’s story until Juan Diego provided physical proof.  After the Virgin Mary’s final appearance on December 12, her image was miraculously imprinted on the cloak (called a tilma) that Juan Diego wore, in order to corroborate his story.

That cloak is the relic venerated today in a church built on the hill of Tepeyac, outside Mexico City, where Mary originally appeared to Juan Diego.  Her protection of the diverse populations of Mexico—Indians and creoles, rich and poor—lead to fervent devotion, and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe remains a potent symbol of Mexican identity and culture even today.

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Filed under: Art, Conservation

So we know the IMA doesn’t actually look like this today… but we can pretend, right?

(via hanginthere)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Filed under: Art

Pulling the IMA magazine together is probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of my job, aside from Monday Web team meetings. And with the winter (November-January) issue, we usher in a new era of the magazine. No longer called Previews, but simply known as the IMA magazine, the cover and pages present the Museum’s new graphic identity. With a new look also comes fresh content and ideas that incorporate the intersection of art, design and nature. In this issue, we went out on a limb and decided to do our first retail holiday photo shoot–presenting items for sale in the Museum’s shops–rather than rely on product photography from the design house or manufacturers.

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Filed under: Art, Design, Musings