Museum  April 12, 2024  Megan D Robinson

10 Must-See Works at the Dallas Museum of Art

Created:
Author: rozalia
Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art

Gustave Courbet, Fox in the Snow, 1860, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum
of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O'Hara Fund,
1979.7.FA.

Located in the nation’s largest arts district, the Dallas Museum of Art was founded in 1903. One of the country’s ten largest art museums, the DMA moved to its current 370,000-square-foot location in 1984. The Edward Larrabee Barnes–designed building was the first arts organization in the Dallas Arts District. Distinguished by innovative exhibitions, groundbreaking educational programs, and a global collection spanning 5,000 years, with over 24,000 works of art, the DMA offers a wide range of artistic experiences. Working with curators at the DMA, we have selected 10 works from their permanent collection that everyone who visits the museum should see.

1 of 10
Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art.
Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Norma and Lamar Hunt, 1979.28.
Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861

Frederic Edwin Church's (American, 1826 - 1900) masterpiece, The Icebergs (1861), depicts icebergs lit up seductively by rays of evening sunlight, the ocean gleaming in blue-green splendor, a broken mast in the foreground suggesting danger. First exhibited at a Civil War fundraising exhibition, it was dubbed "the most splendid work of art that has yet been produced in this country." Lost after its initial purchase by an English railroad baron, the painting was rediscovered in the 1970s, breaking all American art auction records when it was purchased anonymously as a donation to the DMA.

Image: Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Norma and Lamar Hunt, 1979.28.

About the Author

Megan D Robinson

Megan D Robinson writes for Art & Object and the Iowa Source.