INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced today that it acquired 201 objects in 2012. The new works enhance the Museum’s encyclopedic collection and span curatorial departments including Asian, Contemporary, Design Arts, and Textile and Fashion Arts. Additionally, 81 items were added to the IMA’s Miller House and Garden collection in Columbus, Ind.

“Thanks to the generous support of many donors, the Indianapolis Museum of Art continues to strengthen its encyclopedic collection,” said Dr. Charles L. Venable, The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the IMA. “These acquisitions allow the Museum to further its research in various curatorial areas while offering the community new and exciting artworks to discover.”

Highlights among the year’s acquisitions include:

Asian
• Birds and Pine Tree by Kano Eitoku. With the acquisition of this painting, the IMA becomes one of a few if not the only U.S. institution that can boast of masterworks by three of the Kano school’s most important masters: Motonobu, Eitoku, and Eitoku’s student, Sanraku. For more than 400 years, the Kano school of painting was Japan’s most important and influential painting school. Kano Masanobu (1434-1530) founded the Kano school of painting. Kano Motonobu (1476-1559) established and furthered the Kano school’s dominating position in world of Japanese painting. Kano Eitoku (1543-1590), Motonobu’s grandson and pupil, was the greatest star of the Kano school. (Ink and gold on paper, W: 20 in. (fan) 13 3/8 x 21 7/8 in. (image mount) 48 15/16 x 26 1/2 in. (overall) W: 28 1/2 in. (w/knobs) H: 1 1/4 in. (hanging cord), Anonymous IV Art Fund, Martha Delzell Memorial Fund, John and Cynde Barnes, Len and Kathryn Betley, Perry and Michelle Griffith, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Crane Fund, Mary V. Black Art Endowment Fund, Jane Weldon Myers Acquisition Fund, Dr. Steven Conant, Elizabeth S. Lawton Fine Art Fund, Marianne Tobias, Emma Harter Sweetser Fund, Tom and Nora Hiatt, Kay Koch, James and Anna White; 2012.25)

• Suzu jar, about 1400-1450, Japanese; stoneware; Jane Weldon Myers Art Fund and Acquisition Fund; 2012.70

Contemporary
• Untitled by Gabriel Pionkowski. Gabriel Pionkowski explores the formal and material limitations of painting by systematically deconstructing and reassembling a readymade canvas. Each strand of the disassembled canvas is hand painted and often rewoven on a traditional textile loom. Untitled (2012) consists of a gridded painting stretcher and elements of unraveled canvas, which are affixed on both ends to the rigid frame to form sweeping, horizontal bands. The newly transformed canvas delicately grazes the gallery floor, while the work as a whole crosses the conceptual boundaries between painting, installation and sculpture. Untitled engages in a deep conversation with many minimal and post-minimal works in the IMA’s permanent collection, including Fred Sandback’s Untitled (1989), Edda Renouf’s Wing Piece II (1980), and Catherine Lee’s Large Painting #2 (1977).

Design Arts
• Sansone I table, Gaetano Pesce, Cassina. Gaetano Pesce (b. 1939) is one of the most important Italian designers in the second half of the twentieth century. This table is one of his most radical and powerful designs in terms of form, material and construction. More than five feet in diameter, the Sansone I table is monumental in scale with an irregularly-shaped top and askew legs. It is handmade where various colors of resin are poured into molds to create a vibrant composition. A major paradigm of expressionist design, this piece is an important new addition to the IMA’s contemporary design collection. (1980, epoxy resin, manufactured by Cassina, 28 1/2 X 55 X 71 in., The Ballard Fund, 2012.1).

• Sally Table, Shiro Kuramata (designer), Japanese (1934-1991); steel and glass; Memphis S.r.l. (manufacturer); Mary V. Black Art Endowment Fund, 2012.2

Fashion and Textile Arts
• Dress from Burnout ‘88 collection designed by Stephen Sprouse. Stephen Sprous (1953-2004), one of the first American fashion designers to introduce street style to the high fashion world in the 1980s, was raised in Columbus, Ind. The designer, who previously worked for both Bill Blass and Halston, is best known for his clothing inspired by the music and counter culture of the 1980s and early 1990s. The unusual print for this dress was designed by Sprouse after witnessing how kids in the East Village used punk rock stickers to decorate their skateboards. This dress is a great addition to IMA’s Indiana fashion design collection which includes more than 500 garments by Norman Norell, Bill Blass and Halston.

• White Dogwood quilt designed and created by Marie D. Webster. Marie Webster (1859-1956) was one of the leading designers in 20th-century quilt making. In the 1910s, her quilts appeared in Ladies Home Journal, bringing her international fame. Webster, considered one the foremost authorities on quilts and quilt making, was an artist, author and entrepreneur. This beautiful quilt exhibits her mastery of technique. A donation from the family of Marie Webster, White Dogwood quilt is a major addition to the IMA’s collection of pieces by this Indiana native.

Miller House and Garden
• Architectural Cityscape by Fernando Lopes for display in Miller House and Garden. Currently displayed in the children’s play room at Miller House, Architectural Cityscape was purchased by the Millers while visiting South America. The IMA purchased this painting from the Miller estate at auction as a significant acquisition to aid in interpreting the property and the family’s life there. This acquisition allows the IMA to better approximate the appearance of the home while occupied. (Oil on canvas, 21 ¾ x 42 x ½ in., Deaccessioned Decorative Art Fund, MH2012.20)

• Ezust, 1966, Victor de Vasarely, French (1908–1997); framed serigraph. Deaccessioned Decorative Art Fund, MH2012.3