Spotlights :  Spotlights

Hear the stories and perspectives behind the artworks from the artists themselves, museum staff, and other special guests. 
 
Featured Voices:
• Miriam Bäckström, artist
• Firelei Báez, artist
• Sebastian Behmann, architect, Studio Other Spaces
• Olafur Eliasson, artist, Studio Other Spaces
• Anselm Kiefer, artist
• Janne Sirén, Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director 
• Cathleen Chafee, Charles Balbach Chief Curator
• Holly E. Hughes, Godin-Spaulding Senior Curator for the Collection
• The Buffalo AKG Safety & Preservation Team (Jacob Thompson, Matt Connors, Marcelles Parker)  
• Andrea Alvarez, Assistant Curator
• Chrissy Hart, Director of Policy & Advocacy, Together for Girls

An oil painting portait of a man with light hair and a handlebar mustache and beard inside of a room with pillars behind him

Anselm Kiefer

German, born 1945

Die Milchstrasse (The Milky Way), 1985-1987

Diptych: emulsion paint, oil, acrylic, and shellac on canvas, with applied copper wires and lead
150 x 222 inches (381 x 563.9 cm)
In Celebration of the 125th Anniversary of The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, General and Restricted Purchase Funds, 1988
1988:6a-b

© Anselm Kiefer

Textured artwork created with emulsion paint resembles the scorched terrain of an ancient battleground in shades of black, grey, brown, and off-white highlights.

Clyfford Still

American, 1904-1980

1957-D-No. 1, 1957

Oil on canvas
113 x 159 inches (287 x 403.9 cm)
Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1959
K1959:26

© City and County of Denver / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

predominantly black and yellow abstract painting with touches of red and white

Alfred Stieglitz

American, 1864-1946

The Street, Fifth Avenue, 1900-1901 (printed 1903-1904)

Photogravure
12 x 9 1/8 inches (30.5 x 23.2 cm)
Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1959
General Fund, 1911

Photogravure of a snowy city street with various horse and buggies throughout

Lucas Samaras

American, born Greece, 1936

Room No. 2 (popularly known as the Mirrored Room), 1966

Mirror on wood
96 x 96 x 120 inches (243.8 x 243.84 x 305 cm)
Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1966
K1966:15

Large box/room covered in mirrors with a door ajar showing that the inside is also covered in mirrors

Miriam Bäckström

(Swedish, born 1967)

Others Will Know, 2023
Jacquard tapestry, Trevira CS on Trevira CS warp

Rendering of multicolored tapestry lining a curved wall in a gallery space

Studio Other Spaces, Olafur Eliasson, Sebastian Behmann

Studio Other Spaces: German, established 2014 Olafur Eliasson: Icelandic, born Denmark, 1967 Sebastian Behmann: German, born 1969

Common Sky, 2022

Painted structural steel, stainless steel, glass, and mirror foil
275 5/8 x 1094 1/2 x 1126 inches (700.1 x 2780 x 2860 cm)
Acquired with support from the New Carlsberg Foundation and General Purchase Funds, 2021.
2021:25

Glass tiled ceiling window installation with a glass funnel connected

Paul Gauguin

French, 1848-1903

Manaò tupapaú (Spirit of the Dead Watching), 1892

Oil on jute mounted on canvas
28 3/4 x 36 3/8 inches (73 x 92.4 cm)
A. Conger Goodyear Collection, 1965
1965:1

Painting of a young nude Tahitian girl with dark hair named Teha’amana who lies on her stomach, glancing sideways at the viewer while an old woman in a black cloak stares at her from the other side and corner of the bed

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida

Spanish, 1863-1923

Portrait of Charles M. Kurtz, Founding Director, Albright Art Gallery (1905-1909), 1909

Oil on canvas
40 x 30 inches (102 x 76 cm)
Bequest of Isabel S. Kurtz, 1991
1991:3

Oil painting portrait of a white man with grey hair and a grey mustache and beard and glasses, wearing white shirt and a grey/brown overcoat

Albert Bierstadt

American, born Germany, 1830-1902

The Marina Piccola, Capri, 1859

Oil on canvas
42 x 72 inches (106.7 x 182.9 cm)
Gift of Albert Bierstadt, 1863
1863:1

Painting of a bay with a large rocky hill and sunlight reflecting on the water and through white clouds, boats and people are scattered throughout the sand and one boat sailing in the water

Firelei Baez

(Dominican, born 1981)

Debuting Chorus of the Deep (something ephemeral and beautifully whole, when seen from the edge of one’s vision, too full when taken head on), 2023

Mosaic, tesserae, glass

Vibrant tiled mosaic artwork being worked on by a woman with dark hair