Norton Simon Museum

This beautiful poster faithfully reproduces Zurbaran's only signed and dated still-life painting. "Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose", one of the Museum's most beloved artworks, was carefully restored in 2008 by conservators at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Poster Size: 36 x 24 inches

In the first of what we hope will be a series of Museum staff interviews, Chief Curator Carol Togneri speaks with Senior Curator Sara Campbell about the Norton Simon’s collection of works by Edgar Degas, which is featured in the Museum’s most recent publication, "Degas ...in the Norton Simon Museum: Nineteenth-Century Art, Volume II." Carol Togneri: Can you start by telling us about Norton Simon’s fascination with Degas? Sara Campbell: Mr. Simon had several “favorite” artists, and he collected their works in large numbers, especially those of Picasso, Rembrandt and Goya. But whereas those artworks are chiefly etchings and lithographs, the Degas collection features 6 oil paintings, 18 pastels, 6 drawings and graphics, and 72 bronzes. CT: I have always found the process of bronze casting so complicated. Can you explain about this set of modèles Mr. Simon purchased, and why they are so special? SC: Degas created his sculptures in a material mainly composed of wax. After his death, it was decided to reproduce these figures in bronze. In order to preserve the valuable wax originals, the bronze foundry created “modèles,” or foundry models from molds carefully made from the waxes. The modèles were then used as the matrices to cast the many editions of Degas’s bronzes that we find in museums. Since the modèles are the closest to the originals in the casting process, they retain details from the waxes that are not visible on the later serial bronzes. CT: How did you assemble the cast of scholars who have worked with you on this volume? SC: Richard Kendall is the foremost Degas scholar working today. As chief objects conservators at the National Gallery of Art, Shelley Sturman and Daphne Barbour have spent years studying Degas’s wax originals and have developed a deep understanding of his sculptural technique. When planning the Simon Degas catalogue, it was very important that the level of scholarship match the excellence of the collection. CT: Which of the works by Degas that Mr. Simon sold during his lifetime do you regret losing the most? SC: It is an 1876 pastel called "Rehearsal of the Ballet." Degas sold it directly to the New York collector Louisine Havemeyer, and it is thought to be the first Degas work to have entered an American collection. Mr. Simon bought it in 1965 and sold it in 1973. It is now in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Every time I think of that beautiful pastel and its important history, it breaks my heart! CT: Do you have a particular favorite amongst the 102 works by Degas that are in the museum today? SC: It is the "Laundress," a wonderful tiny oil painting of a woman ironing. It is a spare composition in white, black, and gray, with just a tinge of red on the woman’s face and hands to reflect her toil over the ironing board. Degas painted a series of washerwomen and ironers, but this is the smallest and one of the most sensitively painted.

Our Agnes Martin painting, "Leaf in the Wind", 1963, has returned to the galleries after being included in the wonderful exhibition "Illumination: The Paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin, and Florence Miller Pierce" at the Orange County Museum of A...rt. It was the first exhibition to bring together the work of these four important American women modernists, all of whom drew on nature as their primary focus. You can see "Leaf in the Wind" in the 20th-century wing on your next visit.

Those of us who work in LA museums have been hearing a lot about CODART this past week. CODART is an association of museum professionals from around the world with an interest in the study of Dutch and Flemish art. Over 400 curators from more than 200 museums in 40 coun...tries belong to CODART. Their work is to advance knowledge in this discipline and raise awareness of the rich artistic heritage of the Low Countries. Every year, they come together to study works of art and exhibitions, and to exchange their expertise in this field. This year, CODART came to Los Angeles for its study trip. The pictures here show their visit to the Norton Simon. In addition to becoming acquainted with the Northern European paintings in the galleries, the curators examined works currently not on view, including a selection of rarest etchings by Rembrandt and several pictures of tulips done in watercolor from the 17th century.