The Des Moines Art Center........

The Des Moines Art Center was built on the north end of the Greenwood Park. The architect was Eliel Saarinen and they completed building his design in 1948.  From my research, he is best know for the two buildings that he design that didn't get built.  He was a Finnish architect that moved to the United States in 1925.  My wife's first cousin Lavern Kohls was one of the first directors when the place was first built.

I. M. Pei was the architect to the sculpture wing of the center. It was completed in 1966. It is a modern concrete building with a lot of windows making it a very pleasant place to be. The windows here overlook an outdoor sculpture garden and a very large rose garden.  Pei is well known for many buildings in the U.S. including the wedged shape National Art Gallery in Washington D.C.  He is also famous for the triangular pyramid that was places in the courtyard of the Louve, Paris, France.  It is loved my some and hated by many others.

The last addition to the Art center was this contemporary art wing designed by Richard Meir.  He is famous for his buildings that are made up of  geometric shape usually clad in large porcelain coated metal square sheets. It is exactly like the refrigerator material covering your ice box.  He is famous for creating buildings like this all over the world. His large spaces that he creates inside are like a free standing sculpture in itself.   Some call this our salt and pepper shaker building. The work that is housed in this building is ultra contemporary and to me doesn't do justice to the great design of this building.  Large squares of color do seem to be the going theme and the museum itself is very proud that they are a modernist museum.

The Art Center has three famous paintings.  One of them is this one by Edward Hopper called "At the Automat."  They use to have places where there were a wall of little glass doors and when you put in you nickle or dime, you would pull out a sandwich, a cup of coffee, a doughnut, and the such.  This painting shows a lady in her stylish hat enjoying a cup of coffee.
They do have some famous artist's works but they are very minor works. Some are sketches by well known artist or small easel work studies.

Click on this to see the marvelous handling of paint.

Portrait of Edouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron, 1881

by John Singer Sargent

This is my favorite painting at the center.  John Singer Sargent painted these two rich, bratty kids. It is a very large painting and his impressionistic work on this painting is phenomenal.  It was told by the great grandchild of the girl in the picture, that the two of them were difficult to work with and when the painting was finally done, the two of them threw the furniture and rugs out of the window.
One other work is by our Iowan artist Grant Wood.  We actually share ownership of the painting, "The birthplace of Herbert Hoover."  No we do not own the famous farm couple "America Gothic" as it is hanging in the Chicago Art Institute. 
That is it for the review of the art gallery.  They do have a very nice, pricey restaurant that is fun to eat at when you visit.  Thanks for stopping by......