Look At This

Kees van Dongen at the Milwaukee Art Museum

In this first installment of our new, monthly video series, Kat Murrell talks about the vivid, mysterious paintings by this Dutch painter in the museum's permanent collection. Video by Gene Cawley.

By - Oct 31st, 2013 11:32 pm
The Quai, Venice

Kees van Dongen (Dutch, 1877–1968). “The Quai, Venice,” ca. 1921, on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Eds. Note: This video is the first in a new, monthly series, “Look at This,” in which our visual arts editor Kat Murrell teams up with videographer Gene Cawley to take a detailed look at select works from the Milwaukee Art Museum. Stay tuned for more installments, and if you’ve got any suggestions, be sure to leave them in the comments!

October may have come to a close, but that doesn’t mean we have to leave spooky things behind. Take the paintings of Kees van Dongen, an early 20th century Dutch painter who was part of the Fauves, a loose art collective that emphasized strong, vibrant colors.

In the case of the van Dongen paintings in MAM’s collection – specifically, Woman with Cat, Place Vendome and The Quai, Venice – they’re haunting colors at work. Don’t believe us? Let visual arts editor Kat Murrell prove it to you.

All of the van Dongen paintings shown here can be found on the third floor of the museum, within the Bradley Collection of Modern Art. The Milwaukee Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with extended hours until 8 p.m. Thursday. Admission is $17, $14 for students/seniors/active military, and free for members and kids under 12. The museum is also free to enter on the first Thursday of every month; the next such date is Nov. 7.

0 thoughts on “Look At This: Kees van Dongen at the Milwaukee Art Museum”

  1. Anonymous says:

    Thanks. Delightful. Looking forward to subsequent installments.

  2. Anonymous says:

    What a great start to a new series! Interesting background on van Dongen, not the most well-known artist, so this helps greatly. Excellent production values.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I learned about an artist I had not been aware of. Way to go Katie.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Barbara Brown Lee talked about this painting in her lecture on the Bradley collection.

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