5 Fast Facts

View of the museum from outside showing the Neoclassical building from one corner. The building is a tan-colored stone with an arched doorway, long vertical windows, and detailed molding around the roof.

5 Fast Facts: Magdalena Abakanowicz

Posted: March 6, 2019
Category: 5 Fast Facts
As part of NMWA’s #5WomenArtists campaign, impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, whose work is part of NMWA’s collection.
Ten larger-than-life bronze sculptures of human bodies are installed in the middle of a city street. The bodies have no heads or arms, and are striding forward in five rows of two. While they are not naked, their wrinkled body-tight clothing makes no distinction between shirt and pants.

5 Fast Facts: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

Posted: February 25, 2019
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, whose work is on view in NMWA’s newly reinstalled collection galleries.
A horizontal canvas combines collaged paper, such as a scrap of a U.S. map, comic strip, and pictographs; cloth swatches; scrawled and dripped paint; and phrases like “It takes hard work to keep racism alive” and “Oh! Zone.” The work’s title appears in red paint right of center.

5 Fast Facts: Laure Tixier

Posted: February 18, 2019
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Laure Tixier). Tixier’s Plaid Houses (Maquettes) (2005–11), currently on view in NMWA’s collection galleries, explore a range of architectural styles in...
Close-up detail of a larger artwork features a view of two felt houses. On the viewer's right is an orange house that is out-of-focus while on the left is a blue house that is in-focus and has visible stitches, coarse texture, and rectangular windows.

5 Fast Facts: Camille Claudel

Posted: February 11, 2019
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Camille Claudel, whose work is part of NMWA’s collection.
Bronze tabletop sculpture depicting a nude young woman seated on rough-hewn base, leaning against a sheaf of wheat. The figure's knees are drawn together, her left arm hanging at her side and her right arm bent upwards, clasping her shoulder.

5 Fast Facts: Louise Bourgeois

Posted: January 28, 2019
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Louise Bourgeois, whose work is on view in NMWA’s collection galleries.
Bronze sculpture of a spider on a white platform against a magenta background.

5 Fast Facts: Hung Liu

Posted: January 14, 2019
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Hung Liu, whose work Winter Blossom (2011) is on view in NMWA’s newly reinstalled collection galleries.
Two smiling Chinese girls with light skin and black hair painted on a collage of Chinese writing, small red envelopes, a red bird and bug, and blue paint drippings. The older girl, seen waist up, wears her hair in two braids and carries the younger girl in crimson clothes on her back.

5 Fast Facts: Yael Bartana’s “What if Women Ruled the World”

Posted: November 5, 2018
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about What if Women Ruled the World (2016) by Yael Bartana, on display in the third-floor galleries.
The phrase “What if Women Ruled the World” is sculpted with neon tubes of bright yellow, in all capital letters. The letters of “WOMEN” are larger than the rest and are configured vertically.

5 Fast Facts: Robin Kahn

Posted: June 15, 2018
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Robin Kahn, whose work Victoria’s Secret (1995) is on display in the third-floor galleries.
Black-and-white print of a light-skinned adult standing sideways in a hooded, black outer layer and large bustle. Their head faces the viewer, the top half of their face in a black mask. Behind is a looming, translucent figure wearing a crown and holding a mirror, and an old town.

5 Fast Facts: Julie Roberts

Posted: June 6, 2018
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Julie Roberts, whose work is in NMWA’s collection.
A floating nightgown on a background of subtle vertical red stripes alludes to the shape and movement of a body. The white nightgown is dwarfed by the red that surrounds it, and floats with its arms raised and hem disturbed.

5 Fast Facts: Tanja Rector

Posted: April 24, 2018
Category: 5 Fast Facts
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Tanja Rector, whose work is on view in NMWA’s collection galleries.
Two clear glass mason jars side by side. In the left jar is a color photograph of a light skinned woman standing with head bent and hands clasped in front of her. In the right jar is the same woman seen from rear with hands clasped behind her.