(The following story by Alice Thorson appeared on The Kansas City Star website on September 10.)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s a great fall for train buffs, with two shows about the railroad opening Saturday in Kansas City.
At the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, “Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960” looks at the railroad’s impact on artists and society through more than 100 train-inspired artworks from the early 19th century to the 1960s.
The exhibit provides a rare opportunity to see famous works from leading museums in the U.S. and Europe. A section devoted to Impressionism and Post-Impressionism features paintings by Manet, Monet and Pissarro. The Art Institute of Chicago lent its famous Rene Magritte painting, “Time Transfixed,” showing a miniature locomotive coming out of a fireplace.
Although all of the works in the exhibit focus on the railroad, the artists express their ideas in a wide range of styles. An energetic abstraction by Wassily Kandinsky conveys the locomotive’s power. Charming and moralistic late 19th-century works portray the human comedy and drama that went on in train compartments. Other works show the railroad’s key role in the Industrial Revolution and the nation’s westward expansion.
The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial brings a tighter focus to the railway theme in “Railroads and World War I: A Special Exhibit.” The exhibit, presented in the Research Center Gallery on the lower level of the museum complex, features photographs, railway tickets, maps and documents that show the role played by the railroad in World War I.
In conjunction with the show, Landon Rowland, former chairman, president and CEO of Kansas City Southern and member of the museum’s Board of Governors, will speak on “World War I Railroads” at 11 a.m. Oct. 18 in the museum’s J.C. Nichols Auditorium.
“Art in the Age of Steam” continues through Jan. 18 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays; noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Tickets cost $8 for adults; $7 for seniors; $5 for students 13-19 with ID. Admission is free to children 12 and younger and museum members. For more information and tickets call 816-751-1278 or visit nelson-atkins .org
“Railroads and World War I” continues through Jan. 17 at the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial, 100 W. 26th St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Mondays. Admission to the exhibit is free, but regular admission charges will apply to those wanting to visit the museum.
For more information: Call 816-784-1918 or visit www .nwwone.org.