The Thinker: A CMA Blog

The Cleveland Museum of Art's latest acquisitions include a Virgin and Child, a rare 13th-century wooden sculpture from the Mosan region of Europe; a Standing Female Figure, a clay figure representative of the Classic Veracruz period on Mexico’s Gulf Coast; and Just the two of us, one of contemporary artist Julia Wachtel’s first paintings to employ cartoons. The museum also announced the addition of eight photographs by Ansel Adams, a gift from Frances P. Taft, a longtime museum supporter and trustee.

"[Dora Maar] was one of Picasso’s best-known mistresses…but she was much more," said art collector and filmmaker David Raymond, whose once-beloved photograph are now owned and on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art as part of the exhibition, Forbidden Games: Surrealist and Modernist Photography. Since acquiring the collection, the CMA now boasts the largest grouping of photographs by Maar in the United States - and one of the largest in the world. Learn more in this video interview with Raymond and photo historian Ian Walker today, November 22 - Dora Maar's birthday.

As one of the great American modern artists, Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000) brought to life important historical events and contemporary scenes through a striking style of elemental forms and expressive colors. Among his notable achievements are works in extended series tackling heroic stories and themes. The first of these monumental efforts, The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture, is showcased this fall in our prints and drawings gallery through January 4, 2015.

On October 25, 1881, artist Pablo Picasso was born in Spain. In honor of his birthday, we take a closer look at one of the Cleveland Museum of Art's most significant works by the artist, La Vie, on view now.