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Chicago Tribune
(KRT)
The Figge Art Museum, formerly the Davenport (Iowa) Museum of Art, has opened its new quarters in that city with an exhibition dedicated to artistic deceit.
Called "Feast the Eye, Fool the Eye: Still-life and Trompe l'oeil Paintings From the Oscar and Maria Salzer Collection," the show is devoted to genres that take artistic realism to such accomplished extremes that the viewer is convinced he or she is looking not at paintings but the real thing.
Trompe l'oeil can lead one into a lot of bumping into walls. A number of these still lifes also carry a moral message: All life is mortal.
The 43 paintings span the 15th through 20th centuries. The show closes Oct. 9.
The Figge, which as the Davenport Art Museum occupied a less prominent location and structure, contains works by artist Grant Wood (including his only self portrait) as well as unique collections of Mexican and Haitian art - and much else.
Its new 100,000-square-foot, $42 million building in downtown Davenport on the Mississippi River was designed by British architect David Chipperfield and is intended to make the Figge a major Midwest cultural attraction.
The address is 1737 W. 12th St.; telephone 563-326-7804; www.figgeartmuseum.org.
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Harvard University's art museums last week opened an exhibition of more than 60 works by Edgar Degas from its own extensive and remarkable collection of his art.
Up through Nov. 27, "Degas at Harvard" contains paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints and photographs.
The university's venue for this show is its Arthur M. Sackler Museum at 485 Broadway in Cambridge. Telephone is 617-495-9400 and Web site is www.artmuseums.harvard.edu.
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mkilian@tribune.com
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(c) 2005, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
