In shades of blue and gold: highlights from the American and European collections of the Grand Rapids Art Museum

Charles Harold Davis (American), A Summer Night, c. 1910, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Ferdinand Bol (Dutch), Portrait of a Man, c. 1650, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Museum of Art.

Joseph Stella (American), Still Life, c. 1925, oil on canvas. Collection of the the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Andrea Kowch (American), Sojourn, 2011, acrylic on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Al Wildey (American), Midland, 2010, digital composite on aluminum. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Alexander Archipenko (American, born Ukraine), White Torso, c. 1916, silvered bronze. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

More images here.

Stuart Davis (American), Configuration, 1946, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Charles Warren Eaton (American), The Afterglow, c. 1900, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Museum of Art.

George Bellows (American), Portrait of Leon Kroll, 1915, oil on panel. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

William Ritschel (American, born Germany), Moonlight at Monterey, c. 1920, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Robert Henri (American), Portrait of Gertrude Kaska, 1904, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Museum of Art.

Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (American), Five Ducks on a Bank, 1870, oil on artist board. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Johann Nicolaus Treu (German)/unkown German, Portrait of Johann Joseph Baptist Wucherer, 1761, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Hans Arp (French), La Sainte de la Lisière, 1964, white marble. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Lawton Silas Parker (American, 1868–1954), First Born, n.d., oil on linen. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Armand Merizon (American), Rocks and Gull, 1955, oil on board. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Jan Brueghel the Elder (Belgian), Madonna and Child Surrounded by Flowers, c. 1600, oil on panel. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Lewis Luman Cross (American), Passenger Pigeons, c. 1900, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Frederick W. Freer (American), Choosing a Title, 1882, oil on panel. Collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

George Inness (American), The Last Glow, 1885, oil on panel. Collection of the Grand Rapids Museum of Art.

Ferdinand Bol (Dutch), Portrait of a Woman, c. 1650, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Museum of Art.

Stephen Hannock (American), Golden Launch at Dawn, 2001, oil on canvas. Collection of the Grand Rapids Museum of Art.

Chinese dragons

Detail of a dragon on a panel in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China. In Imperial China, only the emperor’s family could possess depictions of dragons. Five-fingered dragons, like the one seen here, were specifically for the emperor. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Four-fingered dragon on the Nine Dragon Screen of Datong, China. While five-fingered dragons were only for the emperor, four-fingered dragons were for other members of the imperial family. In this case, the dragon screen was built in the late 14th century at the palace of Zhu Gui, thirteenth son of the Ming dynasty’s first emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

The emperor’s five-fingered dragons on a wooden panel at Da Ci’en Temple, Xi’an, China. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Four-fingered dragon on the Nine Dragon Screen of Datong, China. Screen-walls were constructed within palace gates to protect homes from negative energy and unwelcome spirits. Dragons—as symbols of luck and power—were particularly potent protectors, always appearing in odd numbers, from one to nine. Built in the 14th century, Datong’s Nine Dragon Screen is the largest and oldest extant glazed screen, outlasting even the palace it was built to protect. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

The emperor’s five-fingered dragons bracketed by phoenixes, symbols of the empress, at the Summer Palace, Beijing, China. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Detail of one of the four-fingered dragons on the Nine Dragon Screen, Datong, China. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Dragons in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Four-fingered dragon on the Nine Dragon Screen in Datong, China. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Dragons on a decorative panel in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Detail of the Nine Dragon Screen in Datong, China. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Da Ci’en Temple, Xi’an, China. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.