Permanent Collection

4420 Warwick Boulevard
Kansas City, MO 64111

Contact

Kemper Museum Policies

The Kemper Museum website uses cookies. By continuing to use the site, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use.

Hours

Employment

Docent Portal

Policies

News

Accessibility Statement

Accessibility

Atrium Project

Oil on Linen

Visit

Free Admission

Programs

Location & Directions

Plan Your Visit

Kemper Museum is a free art museum in Kansas City, Missouri that presents global contemporary art.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

The Arterie

Exhibitions

Exhibitions & Collection

Calendar

Groups & Tours

Volunteer

Public Programs

Mission

History

Architecture

Leadership

Community Partners

About

Give

Memberships

Legacy Society

Gala

Annual Report

Support

Cafe

Museum Shop

Special Event Rentals

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art acknowledges it resides on the ancestral territory of the Osage, Kaw, and Otoe-Missouria, among other tribal nations forcibly moved to the region such as the Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Potawatomi, Sac and Fox and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) nations. We recognize and support the continued vibrancy of Native communities and cultures today who continue to thrive, as well as the inherent sovereignty of tribal nations. We are compelled to serve and advocate for these communities in accordance with our public mission.

Kemper Museum acknowledges and respects the diversity of Native people connected to this land today. Many recognize the land and all beings who live within it as relatives. We acknowledge the earth we inhabit, the waters of the Blue River, the Kansas River, the Missouri River, and the plants, animals, and people supported by them. 

We acknowledge our responsibility to be good caretakers of the land we occupy. 

Click here to learn more about our land acknowledgment process.

Land Acknowledgement

Join

Celebrate

Shop

Inspired by the plein air paintings of Lois Dodd, whose retrospective at the Kemper Museum is on view February 8–August 4, 2012, this exhibition brings together works that convey varied approaches to the long-standing tradition of painting flowers.  In the heyday of New York’s male-dominated, mid-century art scene, Dodd was wary of flower painting as a stereotypically feminine practice. By the 1990s, however, she embraced the vibrant blooms of a neighbor’s garden in Maine as subject.

Fresh Cut demonstrates the depth of this vernacular subject. Robert Mapplethorpe’s Irises (1988) exhibits the exquisite formal, even sculptural qualities of the iris flower, while Ana Maria Hernando’s Cloud Flower I (2010) abstracts the petals and patterns of a fresh bloom. Linda Lighton highlights the sensual aspects of flowers through her seductive ceramic sculptures, and Lezley Saar turns the floral still life tradition on its head, literally, in Geneva Saar Agustsson—Labeled Autistic (1998). Seen together, these works convey the versatility of the floral subject, one not easily relegated to just one category.

Ana Maria Hernando (Argentinian, b. 1959)
 Cloud Flower 1, 2010
 vellum, ink, collaged paper on paper
 60 x 40 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Gift of the artist, 2011.17
 © Ana Maria Hernando

Elizabeth Layton (American, 1909–1993)
 Give and Take, 1990
 colored pencil on paper
 22 1/8 x 30 3/8 inches
 Gift of Mr. and Mrs. R. Crosby Kemper, Jr., 2014.22
 © Estate of Elizabeth Layton

Linda Lighton (American, b. 1948)
 Mapped Flower, 1995
 white earthenware, glaze, china paint,
 11 1/4 x 31 x 22 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation, 2007.16
 © Linda Lighton, 1995. Photo: E. G. Schempf

Judy Pfaff (American, b. 1946)
 The Bagh, 1999
 encaustic, oil, fern fronds on paper
 14 x 90 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Gift of the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 1999.16
 © Judy Pfaff/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photo: Dan Wayne

Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925–2008)
 Untitled, 1979
 collodion transfer and fabric collage on paper
 31 x 22 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Gift of the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 1995.64
 © Robert Rauschenberg/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Phot: Ken Cohen Photography

Joseph Stella (American, 1877–1946)
 Dance of Spring (Song of the Birds), 1924
 oil on canvas
 43 3/8 x 32 3/8 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Gift of the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation, 2003.3
 No known copyright restrictions

Paul Wonner (American, 1920–2008)
 Flowers, Watches, Dark Day, 1991
 acrylic on canvas
 48 x 48 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Gift of the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 1995.80
 © Estate of Paul Wonner

Lezley Saar (American, b. 1953)
 Geneva Saar Agustsson—Labeled Autistic, 1998
 mixed media on canvas
 80 x 48 x 4 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2000.1
 © Lezley Saar. Photo: Dan Wayne

Exhibition Preview

Fresh Cut: Flowers from the Permanent Collection

Janet Fish (American, b. 1938)
 Roses and Roofs, 1987
 watercolor on paper
 30 x 23 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Gift of the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation, 1995.30
 © Janet Fish/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photo: courtesy of Robert Miller Gallery, New York