Exhibitions

Art of the American West

The Blanton’s holdings of 19th-century American art are especially strong in landscape imagery, specifically paintings depicting the American West.

“Iberoamerican Woodwork” highlights different wood techniques used in furniture, frames, and domestic devotional objects from 18th-century Brazil and Venezuela. Most of the objects on display are part of a generous donation the Fundación Patricia Phelps de Cisneros made to the Blanton in 2016.

The Legacy of the Classical Past

This gallery presents artworks from ancient Greece (800 BCE–300 BCE) and early modern Europe (1400–1800) that demonstrate the enduring influence of ancient Greek ideals of beauty and the persistence of stories about interactions between gods, heroes, and mortals.

South American Cubist, Constructive, and Concrete Art

Two medical students look over an installation at the Blanton Museum of Art.

Avant-garde practices of experimental abstraction were particularly strong in Argentina and Uruguay beginning in the 1920s, anchored in utopian notions of modernization and progress.

America Goes Modern

Highlighting the range of avant-garde styles represented in American art of the 1940s and 1950s, these works showcase how social and technological changes, along with the introduction of European art movements such as Cubism and Surrealism, led artists to explore new ways of representation, from the abstraction of forms to tapping into the subconscious.

Plaster Casts

Although replicas of famous ancient works of art rather than originals, plaster casts have played an important role in art history and were widely collected and displayed by museums and art academies in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The Blanton’s collection is one of the few to remain intact and in relatively good condition, as many other collections deteriorated over time through use and neglect.

European Still Lifes

This gallery displays decorated tableware from both ancient Greece and eighteenth-century England, along with still life paintings that depict such household commodities. By also incorporating flowers and food, which inevitably rot and decay, still lifes celebrate artistic accomplishment and abundance, while also reminding viewers of the transitory nature of life.

Latino Art

The latest rotation “Let’s Play” highlights the frequent use of humor, satire, and joy within Chicano and Latino art. Featuring work from the Gilbert Cárdenas and Dolores Garcia collection, artists upend familiar logos and cultural icons to provide social critique, embracing a strategy of change that relies on subtle, ludic, and playful visual engagement.

European Art/Art of the Spanish Americas

People look around the gallery of Art of the Spanish Americas at the Blanton Museum of Art.

This gallery presents devotional objects produced in Europe and the Spanish Americas between 1390 and 1780, showcasing how artists on both sides of the Atlantic continuously reinvented artistic models, adapting them to different cultural contexts.

Contemporary Art

The Blanton’s contemporary collection features art made from around the world since the 1960s. Reflecting the collection’s historic strengths, artists from Latin America and the United States have a prominent presence. Works by emerging and established artists are represented across a range of media and perspectives including paintings, sculpture, photography, textiles, and time-based media, as well as works made using new or unexpected materials.

MAKEwild

Design, craft, and art intersect at this interactive installation.

A Family Affair: Artistic Dynasties in Europe (Part II, 1670–1900)

Contemporary Project 14: Betsabeé Romero

Cao Fei: Whose Utopia

Gallery Highlights