In 2019, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art began celebration of twenty-five years of extraordinary collecting, exhibitions, and programs. As the only collecting contemporary art museum in the state of Missouri, Kemper Museum is grateful to those who have helped grow and enhance the Permanent Collection through generous gifts of art. The exhibition, Gifts of Art:…

The exhibition Perfectly Imperfect: Cranach, Dürer and the Renaissance Nude will feature a selection of prints and paintings drawn primarily from the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Two significant loans from the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Linda Hall Library will provide a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of these…

Portrait miniatures are intimate tokens of love, loss, allegiance, and affection exchanged between friends. The earliest examples were painted in watercolor on vellum (animal skin). By the 1600s, new techniques of painting enamels facilitated an artist’s ability to paint delicate portraits resembling tiny oil paintings. They offered a robust alternative to watercolor on ivory or…