On its 50th anniversary, the Kimbell Art Museum has acquired three artworks that demonstrate the institution’s dedication to collecting and exhibiting objects that speak to the transcendent power of art: a bronze vessel from China’s Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1050 BC); a larger-than- life-sized sculpture, The Mountain (La Montagne), designed by Aristide Maillol in 1937 and cast posthumously; and a 16th-century alabaster statue, Virgin and Child, from the Atelier of Saint-Léger in Troyes, France. The new acquisitions have been unveiled this week during the Kimbell’s anniversary celebrations.
“Each object in the Kimbell’s collection of just over 350 works is a masterwork of its respective period or movement, illuminating individual high points of aesthetic beauty and historical importance. The three pieces we have added to the collection are no different: one of the finest examples of an ancient gu ritual wine vessel, a monumental sculpture by Aristide Maillol, and a masterpiece from the Atelier of Saint-Léger,” said Eric M. Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum. “Each addition to the Kimbell’s collection must meet the highest standard, and the acquisition of these three exemplary objects from diverse cultures, timed to the museum’s 50th anniversary, is a special moment.”