From an ancient Chinese bronze and European landscapes to modern and  contemporary works from Latin American and Indigenous artists, this group of acquisitions fills gaps in Mia’s collection

January 8, 2025

MINNEAPOLIS—The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) announces the acquisition of six exceptional acquisitions that span continents and centuries, from classical Chinese ritual bronzes to contemporary Indigenous installations. Four of the six pieces are “firsts” for Mia, with new artists or types of objects entering the collection. The new acquisitions are: a rare 11th–10th century BCE bronze zun vessel that illuminates early Chinese ceremonial practices; a pair of Japanese folding screens by Takeuchi Ryūa with imagery that merges Buddhist philosophy with macabre humor; a majestic Norwegian winter landscape by Ludvig Skramstad that captures the beauty of his homeland; Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller’s luminous view of Lake Hallstatt; Wendy Red Star’s installation Their Land, which makes visible the persistent presence of Indigenous peoples across America; and Jud Nelson’s marble sculpture that transforms a simple dress shirt into a meditation on classical form and contemporary materiality.

“These acquisitions demonstrate Mia’s ongoing commitment to building a collection that bridges cultures, centuries, and artistic traditions,” said Katie Luber, Nivin and Duncan MacMillan Director and President of Mia. “From exquisite examples of traditional Asian art to groundbreaking contemporary installations, each work adds new dimensions to our galleries and will enrich our visitors’ experiences. Particularly exciting is how these acquisitions allow us to fill important gaps in our collection while simultaneously creating meaningful dialogues between historical and contemporary art.”

Ritual wine vessel zun (11th–10th century BCE), bronze

This masterfully crafted bronze vessel, with its distinctive trumpet shape and swelling midsection, exemplifies the sophisticated metalworking traditions of the early Western Zhou period (11th–10th century BCE). The surface decoration demonstrates exceptional technical skill, featuring two bands of paired dragons separated by vertical ridges, executed with remarkable precision in the casting process. The vessel stands out both for its artistic excellence and its historical importance: the bottom interior of the vessel is inscribed with six characters that translate to “Duke Bei X made this precious ritual zun vessel.” Used in elite wine ceremonies that helped establish Western Zhou political and religious authority, it has particular significance through its connection to Bei, a powerful regional ruler. This zun also fills a critical gap in Mia’s collection of Chinese ritual bronzes, many of which were on view in 2023 in the exhibition “Eternal Offerings: Chinese Ritual Bronzes.”

Takeuchi Ryūa (Kokunimasa), Skeletons at Play and Skeletons as a Courtesan Procession (c. 1900–20), ink, color, gold pigment, and silver leaf on paper

This extraordinary pair of six-panel folding screens represent the artistic pinnacle of Takeuchi Ryūa’s (Japanese, born 1873) career, demonstrating his masterful fusion of traditional Japanese artistic themes with macabre humor and Buddhist philosophy. Created between 1900 and 1920, the screens are executed on silver-leafed paper—an unusual and luxurious choice that perfectly evokes the otherworldly atmosphere of their subject matter. The right screen presents a skeletal procession of a courtesan and her retinue, their bodies reduced to bone yet maintaining the elegant accoutrements of their profession, including banana-leaf robes and autumn-flower decorations that poignantly underscore the transience of earthly beauty.

The left screen, inspired by Kawanabe Kyōsai’s skeleton drawings, depicts eleven figures engaged in various mundane activities—from playing games to receiving medical treatments—their skeletal forms lending both humor and profound meaning to these everyday scenes. Through this sophisticated pairing of the courtesan’s procession with scenes of skeletal revelry, Ryūa creates a powerful meditation on the Buddhist concept of impermanence while showcasing his technical virtuosity and artistic imagination. The work stands as the most significant example of his oeuvre, embodying the complex intersection of Edo-period artistic traditions with Meiji-era innovations.

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Mountains over Lake Hallstatt (1840), oil on panel

This luminous view of Lake Hallstatt (c. 1840) exemplifies Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller’s (Austrian, 1793-1865) masterful approach to landscape painting, which rejected Romantic emotionalism in favor of precise natural observation. The artist captures the first light of dawn transforming the Salzkammergut Mountains into a symphony of blues, pinks, and purples, while demonstrating his renowned attention to the effects of light and atmosphere. A father and son in festival dress, rowing their traditional boat across the pristine waters, provide both scale and human context to the majestic Alpine setting. The painting represents a pivotal moment in both artistic and cultural history, depicting Lake Hallstatt when it was accessible only by water, before industrialization transformed the region. It is Mia’s first Austrian nineteenth-century landscape painting, expanding the museum’s representation of European artistic developments beyond the French and German schools.

Ludwig Skramstad, A Norwegian river in winter (c. 1880), oil on canvas

A Norwegian river in winter (1880s) is Ludvig Skramstad (Norwegian, 1855–1912) at the height of his artistic powers, showcasing his masterful ability to capture the distinctive landscapes of eastern Norway. Created during the artist’s celebrated early period, this monumental canvas—notably larger than his acclaimed works in Oslo’s National Museum—demonstrates his characteristic attention to minute natural details, from crystalline ice formations to frost-covered branches. Skramstad’s distinctive technique, which art historians have linked to the emergence of photography, is evident in his sophisticated use of blurred strokes and thinly painted surfaces. This piece enhances Mia’s expanding collection of Scandinavian landscape painting—which includes recent acquisitions of paintings by Väinö Blomstedt and David Johannes Niemelä, in 2024 and 2023, respectively—and provides vital context for understanding the development of Nordic naturalism in the late nineteenth century.

Gego, Columna Reticularea (1969), iron, paint

Columna Reticulárea is a pivotal work by Gego (1912–1994), the German-Venezuelan artist who revolutionized spatial concepts in Latin American art. Created as part of her groundbreaking “Reticulárea” series in 1969, this hanging wire sculpture demonstrates her innovative approach to three-dimensional space, where linear elements create dynamic, net-like structures that respond to viewer movement. The work embodies Gego’s transition from her early architectural training to her mature artistic practice, where she challenged traditional sculptural conventions by emphasizing openness, chance, and viewer interaction.

As the only such work by Gego’s to appear on the market in four decades, this piece also carries exceptional historical significance as part of a series originally shown at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas and the Center for Inter-American Relations (now the Americas Society) in New York. This is the first work by Gego in Mia’s collection, part of the museum’s ongoing initiative to expand its Latin American art collection. The work also creates a dialogue with Mia’s recently acquired work Physichromie Nr. 480 by Carlos Cruz-Diez, as well as with other works such as Alexander Calder’s Ahab, from 1953.

Jud Nelson, HOLOS / Series X: No. VII (Shirt), (1990), hand-carved Carrara statuario marble

In his meticulously carved marble sculpture of a folded dress shirt (1990), Jud Nelson demonstrates his masterful ability to transform everyday objects into contemplations on art history and contemporary culture. Working directly in marble—a rarity among modern sculptors—Nelson creates a virtuosic trompe-l’oeil that both honors and subverts classical sculptural traditions. The work is part of his ongoing HOLOS series, begun in 1971, which explores the relationship between ideal forms and illusionistic representation. As a significant example from Nelson’s mature period, this sculpture exemplifies his unique position as an heir both to Renaissance sculptural traditions and the provocative nature of Pop Art. The seemingly simple subject of a dress shirt becomes, in Nelson’s hands, a sophisticated meditation on materiality and meaning—elevating an everyday object to the realm of classical sculpture through his exacting technique.

Wendy Red Star, Their Land (2022), vinyl print, white hand flags

Their Land (2024) is a cartography-oriented installation by Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke/Crow, b. 1981), who was recently named a MacArthur Fellow. Through the installation of 750 white flags—each representing a federally recognized, state-recognized, or self-identified Native tribe—Red Star makes visible the persistent presence of Indigenous peoples across the United States. Created in collaboration with Stanford University students, this research-based installation—the sixth work by the artist in Mia’s collection—challenges conventional cartographic representations that have historically erased Native presence from the American landscape.

This work exemplifies Red Star’s sophisticated approach to addressing Indigenous erasure through conceptual art strategies, in which the artist transforms meticulous research into visually striking installation works that prompt vital discussions about Native sovereignty and presence. By literally flagging tribal locations on the map, Their Land creates a compelling counterpoint to colonial mapping traditions—while also inviting viewers to confront their assumptions about the active Indigenous presence in contemporary America.

For more information on these acquisitions and upcoming exhibitions, visit ArtsMia.org.

###

About the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Home to more than 100,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) inspires wonder, spurs creativity, and nourishes the imagination. With extraordinary exhibitions and one of the finest art collections in the country—from all corners of the globe, from ancient to contemporary—Mia links the past to the present, enables global conversations, and offers an exceptional setting for inspiration.

General admission to Mia is always free, but some special exhibitions charge a nominal fee.

For more information, call + 1 612 870 3000 or visit new.artsmia.org.