We have a special place in our hearts for Crystal Bridges. An amazing collection, a gorgeous building set in the water within a beautiful landscape. And if you can't get there in person, virtually explore with Smarthistory as your guide.
Some background
videos + essays
Link to the Crystal Bridges's website
Toshiko Takaezu, Crater Moon
Takaezu's ceramics reflect her belief that art should have "mystery, an unsaid quality; it contains a spirit and is alive."
Mickalene Thomas, Guernica (Resist #3)
Thomas's assemblage of photographs, paint, and glittering sequins lends sacredness to the struggles of the civil rights movements.
Glenn Ligon, Untitled (America)
Brilliant red neon illuminates the word "AMERICA," but why are the letters upside down?
Frank Lloyd Wright, Bachman-Wilson House
This building is a beautiful testament to Wright's vision of affordable and unique domestic architecture.
Mel Casas, Humanscape 70 (Comic Whitewash)
Through heroes like Captain America and Superman, Casas explores the relationship between media and identity.
Luis Alfonso Jiménez, Eagle
A symbol of the U.S. and Mexico, the eagle reflects Jiménez's Chicano identity.
Marie Watt’s Companion Species (Speech Bubble): Blankets, Community, and Intersectionality
Conversations between part and whole, between individual and community, are at the core of Companion Species.
Florine Stettheimer, Portrait of Alfred Stieglitz
This portrait gives us a glimpse into the creative circle of Alfred Stieglitz in 1920s New York, with references to Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Henry McBride, and others.
Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Good Shepherd
Painted after the end of World War I and amid pressure to "represent his race" as a Black man, Tanner brings biblical scenes into the modern world
Asher B. Durand, Kindred Spirits
One of the most recognized paintings in American history, this painting is an ode to friendship and nature
Edmonia Lewis, The Old Arrow Maker
Edmonia Lewis, an artist of Black and Indigenous heritage, uses a neoclassical style to depict Indigenous subjects from a popular novel around the time of the U.S. Civil War
Rosa Rolanda, Self-Portrait
Rolanda, a close friend of Frida Kahlo, explores her Mexican identity in the 1930s with surrealism and a volcano
