Staff Picks: Andrew Palamara's CAM Favorites
Get to know our museum staff through the art they love. In this series, the Cincinnati Museum staff select their favorite artworks and explain what draws them toward these works.
River Landscape with a Castle on a High Cliff (1670s) by Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, b.1628-1629, d.1682)Cincinnati Art Museum
Every visitor has a favorite Cincinnati Art Museum artwork. The same is true of museum staff. From in-depth analyses to playful interpretations, this series highlights the diverse personalities that make up the museum’s staff.
This month, Andrew Palamara, Associate Director of Docent Learning, has picked his five favorite pieces.
Christmas Morning, Breakfast (1945) by Horace Pippin (American, b.1888, d.1946)Cincinnati Art Museum
Familial warmth
Horace Pippin shows the grandeur in the ordinary lives of common folk. In this autobiographical work, a mother serves pancakes while her son sits patiently with his hands folded in prayer, waiting to eat breakfast. The home's poverty is evident in the exposed wallboards where large chunks of plaster have fallen away. Yet the painting glows with familial warmth between the two figures, and the neatness of the room suggests domestic order.
Mihrab (prayer niche) (Late 15th century - 16th century) by UnknownCincinnati Art Museum
Sacred mihrab
Daily prayer is a principal obligation of the Islamic faith. Five times a day, the devout Muslim prays while kneeling toward Mecca, Islam’s holy city and the site of Allah’s revelation to the prophet Muhammad. Thus the focal wall of every mosque, with its central prayer niche or mihrab, faces in this direction. The niche itself commemorates the spot where the prophet stood while leading his congregation in prayer.
Sacred mihrab
This Muslim prayer niche automatically prompts me to be reverent toward its purpose (even though it's not in a mosque anymore.) I'm taken by the design, floral motifs, and the calligraphy around the outside. From the museum's records, I learned that the creation of this was overseen by a master designer with assistants creating and laying the tile to the designer's concept. This is very similar to the way a lot of contemporary art is made, which makes me feel as though there are still strong connections among different cultures across time and place.
Currently on view in G146.
Half and Half (2004) by Mel DouglasCincinnati Art Museum
Like going to the dentist
At first glance, this doesn't look like much. If you look closely, you'll see dozens of thin lines along the surface. Mel Douglas uses a dentil drill to etch these lines into her glass vessels. I know going to the dentist and being under the drill is most people's worst nightmare, but I find myself tracing the lines in my mind as I look at this, and I find it so calming and therapeutic. I draw a lot of similar line patterns in my own notebooks, so seeing this object made me feel like I had a kindred spirit down in Australia.
(This piece is not currently on view.)
Flower Still Life (1669) by Maria van Oosterwijck (Dutch, b.1630, d.1693), painterCincinnati Art Museum
The fragility of life
For starters, this is an outstanding painting. If you look closely, you can see that the vase holding these flowers is really small. That speaks volumes about the fragility of life and the overabundance some of us live with. I learned later that this bouquet of flowers is a bit misleading, that many of them bloom at different times of the year and wouldn't likely be arranged together like this.
(This piece is not currently on view.)
River Landscape with a Castle on a High Cliff (1670s) by Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, b.1628-1629, d.1682)Cincinnati Art Museum
Imaginary castles
This painting uses natural beauty to inspire awe. Jacob van Ruisdael had a knack for painting landscapes that weren't actual places, so this is a cheeky piece of art, too. In this painting, the building on the hill resembles Bentheim Castle, a landmark that appears frequently in Ruisdael’s work. But the artist has placed the castle in an imaginary river landscape has arranged the foliage, paths, and clouds to achieve a unified decorative effect. It captures that exact feeling I have when I'm on a hike or driving through the countryside.
This painting is currently on view in G205.
Andrew Palamara, Associate Director of Docent Learning, has been managing the docent program at the CAM since November 2014. He oversees the training, evaluation, and recruitment of the museum's docents. He was an athlete as a kid, then eventually started making his own music and studying graphic design in college. Later on, he received a graduate degree in art education and started working at art museums. Apart from the museum, he's still making music, and he's also a high school soccer coach and a long-distance runner.
Special thanks to...
The Google Arts & Culture Team:
-Summer Cook, Exhibitions Assistant
-Rachel Ellison, Administrative Assistant, Learning & Interpretation
-Keith Gollar, Digital Content Coordinator
Head of Photographic Services:
-Rob Deslongchamps
