Norton Simon Museum

With his camera, Benedict J. Fernandez captured seminal images of the civil rights movement of the Sixties, from peace marches to protests. His attention and sympathy to the history of this period was a natural outgrowth of his personal support for social change. After meeting Martin Luther King Jr. at a march in Central Park, 1967, the two became friends, a relationship that allowed Fernandez to document both the public and private moments in what would be the last year of the great leader’s life. This image, taken after Dr. King’s assassination, conveys the poignant sense of loss felt throughout the country. [Benedict J. Fernandez (American, b. 1936), Expression of Sadness, 1968, Gelatin silver print, Gift of the Artist]

Berthe Morisot was born on this day in 1841. Raised in a privileged Parisian milieu, Morisot was the only woman to contribute to the first exhibition of the avant-garde Impressionist group, which opened in the spring of 1874. Learn more about the artist and "In a Villa at the Seaside" in this short video.

Between 20182019, the Norton Simon Museum collaborated with the Department of Paintings Conservation at the Getty to clean and conserve the Simon’s three paintings by Édouard Manet. In this video, Chief Curator Emily Talbot interviews Devi Ormond, Associate Conservator of Paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum, on the astonishing results of removing the discolored varnish and gratuitous retouching in Manet's "Madame Manet" (18741876).

Intention Meditation: "Kasumigaseki" is a woodblock print from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" by And Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 17971858). Here, we see a scene of New Year's morning festivities featuring a procession of performers in the center with kites soaring in the sky above them. To the right is a kadomatsu, or gate pine, a traditional Japanese New Year's decoration symbolizing strength and vitality. As we welcome the new year with our own traditions, ...take a moment to consider an intention for the year ahead: -Sit comfortably, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. -Begin to visualize your hopes for the year. -Choose an intention based on your hopes, gently lift your head up and inhale. -Exhale and release your intention into the sky. For a guided meditation: bit.ly/38zj3vN [And Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 17971858), Kasumigaseki (detail), 1857, color woodblock, oban tate-e, Norton Simon Museum, Gift of the Pasadena Art Alliance]

Do you miss walking through the galleries like we do? Create your own mini-gallery at home with our art-making activity: Curate the Collection. When organizing an exhibition, curators decide which artworks will be included, and how they will be displayed. They select a theme, choose artworks that fit the theme (and fit in the gallery) and write explanatory labels for the individual artworks and introductory labels introducing the theme and context of the show. Curate your own small exhibition using artworks from the Norton Simon collections that fit a theme. Follow our step-by-step directions for Curate the Collection: https://www.nortonsimon.org//Activity-Curate-the-Collectio

Happy New Year! While Pasadena looks a bit different this New Year's Day, today we look back at the history of the Rose Parade and the Norton Simon Museum. We hope to see you at the Parade in 2022!

On #VeteransDay, we share a short video on Sam Francis and the Basel Murals. Francis was a member of the Army Air Corps in World War II and he first turned to art when convalescing from a serious spinal injury sustained in training. Bedridden for close to three years, Francis turned to watercolors as therapy before fully committing to painting around 1946, and the qualities of the aqueous medium would inform his paintingeven in oilfor the entirety of his career.

We're saddened to hear about the passing of Alex Trebek, longtime host of Jeopardy!. In 2013, Trebek visited us to film a category on the Norton Simon Museum, an exciting moment for the museum and staff, and we hope viewers as well.

A special DIY Stories in the Afternoon for Día de los Muertos: In "Gustavo, the Shy Ghost," written and illustrated by Flavia Z. Drago, Gustavo wants nothing more than to make friends with other monsters, but he is shy and feels invisible when he’s near them. He decides to invite the monsters to his violin concert on Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). The monsters love his concert and discover that, even though Gustavo is quiet, he is a good friend and full of surprises. A...rtist Rufino Tamayo (Mexican, 18991991) created several artworks featuring ghosts. Here, we see a textured print of a ghostly figure with arms stretched out. Tamayo was inspired by the figures depicted in ancient Mexican art, which were not exactly lifelike. He included simplified figures in his own work as a form of human connection. In celebration of Día de los Muertos, share a memory of a loved one who has passed by writing or making a drawing about how they were special to you. More info: bit.ly/3kJNiUl

Happy Halloween! We hope your Halloween isn't as spooky as these scenes from Goya's "Los Caprichos" series.

Happy #NationalCatDay! Paul Klee had a great fondness for cats. He had many cats for pets, and made them subjects in his pictures. Klee's wit is evident in both the subject and the technique. The idol is an image of totemic feline detachment. Its full face with large staring eyes is a perfect sacred icon for pampered house cats. Yet this aloofness is mitigated by the decorative black lace mantilla and the pursed, prim, heart-shaped mouth. Paul Klee (Swiss, 18791940), Idol for House Cats, 1924, watercolor, oil transfer drawing and lace collage on chalk-primed muslin, mounted on thin cardboard, Norton Simon Museum, The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection.

Our series of videos on women artists in the Norton Simon collections continues with a probing account of the life and career of Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun. Head of Education Michelle Brenner explores the artist’s early training and professional success, her friendship with the infamous queen Marie Antoinette, and how she rebuilt her career after the French Revolution.

During his lifetime Rembrandt was celebrated as a deeply sensitive painter of emotion, and the subtle expressions of his subjects still fascinate today’s audiences. In addition to depicting the textures of hair, skin and fabric with a convincing naturalism, Rembrandt captured the unique character of the people whose portraits he painted. The artist often turned his interest in human psychology on himself, creating an unusually high number of self-portraits like the one at the... Norton Simon. This engaging painting, showing the artist at about thirty years of age, embodies the seventeenth-century notion of a speaking likenessa portrait so true to life that it seems as if one could strike up a conversation with the depicted person. Thanks to member Murray S. for requesting to learn more about Rembrandt's "Self-Portrait. Let us know the work(s) from our collection you'd like to see and learn more about below.

Spotlight on Art: Videos for Schools is a new series that offers a closer look at objects from the Norton Simon collections. Featuring 2 to 3 artworks, each video is designed to encourage prolonged looking, reflection and discussion, while also including information about the artist and historical context. It is our hope that while the museum is closed, and even once it re-opens, these videos will provide an ongoing connection to the museum for teachers and their students, and create an opportunity to have a meaningful experience with art, including close-looking and discussion, even from afar.

In August 1888 Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, You are shortly to make the acquaintance of Master Patience Escalier, a sort of ‘man with a hoe,’ formerly cowherd of the Camargue, now gardener at a house in the Crau. By relating his "Portrait of a Peasant (Patience Escalier)" to a famed precedent, Jean-Francois Millet’s 1860-2 painting "Man with a Hoe," now in the collection of the Getty Museum, Van Gogh linked his animated and powerful portrait of a Provencal ...gardener to a social type of longstanding significance in French art. The high keyed palette of yellow, blue, red and turquoise may seem arbitrary or borderline abstract, but Van Gogh employed color to express the intensity of the summer sun and the gardener’s years of arduous labor. Thanks to member John W. for requesting to learn more about Van Gogh's "Portrait of a Peasant (Patience Escalier)." Let us know the work(s) from our collection you'd like to see and learn more about below. #VanGogh #Millet #NortonSimon

In "Fostering Experiences with Art for Students," Head of Education Michelle Brenner writes about the Museum’s free school tour program for grades 5 through 12, and how it has provided students with experiences that promote careful observation and critical thinking. While Michelle and her team have adjusted how they support student, they continue to develop resources that help them feel connected and inspired. As one teacher recounts, I am struck by how many of [my students] are using art to help them process this strange time. We are all facing challenges, but art provides a light at the end of the tunnel for many.

Paul Klee worked in many different styles throughout his career. In the 1930s he was particularly drawn to the divisionist technique (also known as neo-impressionism) in which he used tiny dabs of pigment side-by-side, rather than blended brushstrokes. In this painting from 1932, Klee’s methodically applied strokes suggests the tesserae of a mosaic, and their rhythmic quality reminds us of his love for music. The artist employed a light underpainting to reveal a nebulous creature that hovers under a string of dots running horizontally along the canvas. The indefinite appearance of the fowl is underscored by Klee’s title: Memory of a Bird. [Paul Klee (Swiss, 18791940), Memory of a Bird, 1932, watercolor and pencil on laid paper, Norton Simon Museum, The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection]

#DIYStoriesintheAfternoon: We’re pairing some of our favorite children’s books with works from our collection. Don’t have access to the recommended book? Just select something similar from your child’s book shelf or your local library. In "Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away," written by Meg Medina and illustrated by Sonia Sánchez, Daniela and her best friend Evelyn are neighbors who do everything together. When Evelyn and her family move, Daniela realizes that things won’t b...e the same again, but that they will always be each other's first número uno best friend. Artists Vassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee were good friends who were once neighbors. They worked and exhibited together, and even exchanged small paintings on their birthdays. In Kandinsky’s "Unequal" and Klee’s "Possibilities at Sea," both artists explored an abstract visual language of shapes, balance and movement. Each artist had an influence on the other, and, even when they lived apart, they wrote letters and remained friends for years. Inspired by the friendship between Daniela and Evelyn and Kandinsky and Klee, write a letter to a friend that you haven't seen in a while and share a favorite memory together. See more DIY Stories in the Afternoon pairings here: https://www.nortonsimon.org//teacher-resources/diy-storie/

Constantin Brancusi’s "Bird in Space" is one of the Norton Simon’s most iconic 20th-century sculptures. It commands the most prominent spot in the Modern Art gallery, its gleaming yellow-bronze surface magnificent under the skylighted rotunda. Its placement there is the culmination of a long process of art historical inquiry, scientific investigation and conservation treatment since its acquisition in 1972, requiring some challenging issues to be resolved. Learn more about "Bird in Space" in a new essay by Conservator John Griswold:

Happy first day of fall! French artist Georges Lacombe’s "Autumn: The Chestnut Gatherers" (1894) celebrates seasonal change, with a fiery palette that evokes the harvest in a decorative, wooded landscape. The women’s stylized poses and provincial costumes present the scene as timeless and dreamlike, rather than reflective of the realities of peasant life. Autumn is one of an unfinished series of four paintings that depict the seasons. Lacombe’s fiancée, Marthe Wenger, modeled for the female figures and her mother owned the mural-sized painting, which was probably displayed in the family’s parlor. [Georges Lacombe (French, 1868-1916), Autumn: The Chestnut Gatherers, 1894, oil on canvas, Norton Simon Art Foundation, Norton Simon Art Foundation]