10 artworks in Dallas-Fort Worth you need to see

Here is my list of the ultimate must-see pieces of art around the DFW metroplex. Admittedly, these are not my absolute top 10 favorites artworks (which are more niche) but are rather a compilation of all those very important works and places that I think make this area such a versatile art destination, ranging from wood panel to LED, made by artists from various countries and in different time periods. Let me know what you think!

10. The Eye by Tony Tasset (2010)

A controversial but also crucial symbol of Dallas is this replica of the artist's eye, 30 ft tall and made of fiberglass, resin and steel. It was bought by the Joule Hotel in Downtown Dallas and is on permanent display in its (fenced) courtyard - though often open to the public for events. 

9. La Pausa at the Dallas Museum of Art (1985)

La Pausa is a 16,500 sq ft reconstruction of Coco Chanel's villa in Southern France at the DMA. It is also a mise en abyme - an artwork with many artworks inside. Chanel's villa was later bought by art collectors Wendy and Emery Reeves and rebuilt in Dallas under Wendy's supervision, containing original artworks by Van Gogh, Renoir, Rodin and even Winston Churchill, who was a frequent guest at La Pausa. The original French villa was bought by the house of Chanel.

8. The Torment of Saint Anthony by Michelangelo (1487-88)

There are only four existing easel paintings by Michelangelo and one of them is at the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth. And he was only 12-13 years old when he painted it! It's truly a masterpiece, depicting the vision of hermit Anthony who was tempted by the devil, but of course managed to withstand him.

7. Pioneer Plaza by Robert Summers, 1994

This one is maybe not something connoisseurs would call high art, but it is without a doubt an entertaining and engaging complex of bronze sculptures, actually the biggest of its kind with 49 steers and 3 riders - because we are in Texas.

6.  Georgia O'Keeffe, Red Cannas, 1927

One of the most famous female American painters of all time at one of the most interesting museums in the DFW, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, a must see (among various other pieces by her the Amon Carter owns). The red cannas are an evocation of O'Keeffe's husband Alfred Stieglitz.

5. Kind of Blue by Jenny Holzer (2012)

This installation piece was commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth for its tenth anniversary (in the new building). It's a twelve-hour text loop of Holzer's most famous "truisms"- her signature statements, often ironic aphorisms that mock our era of advertisement. A great commentary on our times and the piece is displayed in a very beautiful way, facing a lake.

4. Martín de Soria's Altarpiece of Saint Peter (ca. 1480)

This is the most impressive altar piece in the DFW, exhibited in the magnificent Meadows Museum that is likely one of the most European places in all of Texas. I read that its nickname is "Prado of the Prairie" and I think that's lovely (and the prairie part is an understatement).

3. Mark di Suvero's Eviva Amore (2001)

Di Suvero has shaped the appearance of Dallas dramatically, his most often colorful, long and twisted steel sculptures can be found around the city and are unmistakably his. This piece is installed at the most beautiful sculpture garden in the city, that of the Nasher Sculpture Center.

2. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sam F, 1985

The DMA received this piece only one year ago. Basquiat painted the portrait of Samuel Feldmann, a man in a wheelchair who lived in the same apartment complex the painter was staying at in Dallas in 1985, which he of course painted on a door from the same apartment complex! Feldman's widow donated this special work to the DMA.

1. Willem de Kooning's Two Women (1954-55)

Pollock, Picasso, Rothko, Warhol... the Fort Worth Modern has them all. This de Kooning is probably the most expensive piece owned by the museum (and the most valuable piece in all of DFW?), it's very roughly estimated at $300 million, since de Kooning is currently the second most expensive artist in the world after Leonardo da Vinci. Of course, money is not everything. De Kooning is one of the most important figures of the American avant-garde and his return to figurative painting (namely these women portraits of which he made numerous variations) shocked the public and was seen as a betrayal by abstractionists. As so often with gifted, innovative male artists, these women are shown as enigmatic, somewhat threatening stereotypes. But de Kooning's work is also made in anticipation of the feminist movement and with it it also represents resilience, power and, dare I say so, dominance :)

Time to explore the DFW art world! What are your favorite pieces?

Talk to you soon,

J.