From Jackson Pollock to Henry Tanner, The Dallas Museum of Art is Having a Monumental September

Given the months of darkened galleries at museums around the country, many organizations — including our beloved Dallas Museum of Art — began to look within their own rich collections to create exhibitions for when the world reopened. That moment seems to have arrived, and the DMA is exhibiting a slew of shows this fall, running the gamut of cultures and periods and including two in particular: “Focus on Henry Ossawa Tanner” (through January 2) and “Point, Line, Plane: The William Jordan and Robert Brownlee Bequest” (September 26 through January 9). Plan a visit after September 26, and you can see all five engaging and inspiring exhibitions.

Scroll on for details about Dallas’ must-visit shows this fall.

“Focus on: Henry Ossawa Tanner”

Through January 2, 2022

Two works by one of the most revered African American painters, Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), recently received a thorough conservation treatment and subsequent study by the DMA team. The paintings The Thankful Poor (1894), on loan from Art Bridges Foundation (which also funded the conservation efforts) and the DMA’s Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures (1908) are paired in an intimate installation. Due to the severe racism of that era and the numerous professional challenges Tanner faced, the artist moved to Paris while in his 30s. These two works show his evolution and the common threads that remained evident throughout his career.

“Point, Line, Plane: The William Jordan and Robert Brownlee Bequest”

September 26, 2021 – January 9, 2022

This show was conceived as a beautiful and poignant tribute to distinguished art historian William B. Jordan and his
husband, Robert Dean Brownlee. They provided a generous gift of nearly 70 works of art to the DMA, which spans the ancient to the contemporary. The couple were avid art collectors, and Jordan held posts as founding director of the Meadows Museum and deputy director and chief curator at the Kimbell Art Museum. He was also an esteemed trustee of the DMA. Over the decades, they amassed an incredible assortment of art by Salvador Dalí, Jackson Pollock, Ellsworth Kelly, Henri Matisse, and Berthe Morisot. This exhibition highlights the depiction of the figure and a dialogue across a variety of media.

Three Additional Fall Exhibitions From the DMA Archives:
– “Slip Zone: A New Look at Postwar Abstraction in the Americas and East Asia” (September 14, 2021 – July 10, 2022)

– “Bosco Sodi: La fuerza del destino” (September 14, 2021 – July 10, 2022)

– “Naudline Pierre: What Could Be Has Not Yet Appeared” (September 26, 2021 – May 15, 2022).