The Baltimore Museum of Art recently acquired over 200 works of art that embody global voices across time and culture, as well as works by artists with ties to the Baltimore region.
The acquired artworks allow the museum to share a depth of perspectives, experiences, and artistic innovation from its art community and beyond with its viewers. Among the contemporary works acquired are paintings, sculptures, ceramics, mixed media objects, photographs, and works on paper.
The featured artists include Bernadette Despujols, Rhea Dillon, Hew Locke, Roberto Lugo, Bethany Collins, Rinko Kawauchi, and Samella Lewis, among others. Featured Baltimore artists include I. Henry Phillips Sr., Joyce J. Scott, Carl Clark, Erick N. Mack, Louis Fratino, and Jowita Wyszomirska.
The museum also acquired historical works by Margrethe Jensen, Henriette Daux, Voania of Muba, Alfred Dauguet, an unknown artist, and an unidentified Cup’ig artist. It was also gifted 181 copper plates, three linoleum blocks, and an illustrated book by French artist Henri Matisse. Museum trustee Amy Gould and her husband, Matthew Polk, donated historic and modern textiles representing the cultures of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
A Closer Look:
Young Girl with Headscarf (c. 1885) by Henriette Daux
The vibrant pastel and a rare, signed work by French artist Daux represents an intersection between the status of women artists at the end of the 19th century and narratives around models of color in late 19th-century Paris. The girl’s identity is unknown, but based on her clothing and headscarf, she may be Roma – an ethnic group of people with North Indian origins who live principally in Europe.
Peonies (c. 1918) by Margrethe Jensen
A large peony bush in full bloom, with a view of the Oslofjord between two pine trees, is depicted in the painting by Norwegian artist Jensen. Jensen was meticulous in her handling of paint and landscape conception, but she is largely unknown today. “Peonies” is the first painting by a Norwegian artist in the collection and contributes to the museum’s representation of women artists and the transnational ties of European Modernism.
Creole Woman (1949) by Samella Lewis
Lewis, known as the “Godmother of Black Art,” was an artist, scholar, curator, filmmaker, and activist. “Creole Woman” is a gouache on paper created when Lewis lived with a family in the Bayou Teche region of Louisiana. It reflects the complexities of Creole identification in the American South. The work is likely related to the museum’s only other piece by the artist, a screen print depicting sugarcane harvesting in the Bayou Teche region, which was acquired in 1952.
“Four Centuries” Vase (2024) by Roberto Lugo
The “Four Centuries” Vase by Lugo depicts various aspects of Black American history from 1619 to the present. It is a reinterpretation of Union Porcelain Work’s seminal Century Vase, created for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The vase conveyed patriotism, nostalgia, and industrial progress through portraits of George Washington and white figures in vignettes about invention and agriculture. In Lugo’s version, the portraits of Washington are replaced with those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Maryland-born Frederick Douglass, surrounded by scenes depicting enslavement, Jim Crow discrimination, the industrial prison complex, urban vivacity, and the Black Lives Matter protests. This piece reflects Lugo’s dedication to highlighting Black and Brown histories.
Spring to Fall (Four Seasons) (c. 1990) by Joyce J. Scott
Scott has been practicing art for 50 years, focusing on fiber art, jewelry, printmaking, performance, sculpture, and installations. “Spring to Fall (Four Seasons)” is a large-scale woven tapestry created on her 11-foot cedar loom. This piece reflects her dedication to fiber art and showcases her experimental weaving techniques.
Portrait of Sultan Abdulhamid I (r. 1774-89)(Early 19th Century) by an unknown artist who may have been a follower of Konstantin Kapidagli
This portrait is similar to those commissioned by Sultan Abdulhamid’s successor, Sultan Selim III, who hired Konstantin Kapidagli(a Greek painter working in the Ottoman Court from the 1780s until about 1810) to produce a series of portraits of the Turkish Sultans. Kapidagli advanced Turkish realism and was appreciated for his skill. His portraits were copied as official gifts for foreign dignitaries and later in the 19th century for Ottoman genealogical trees.
