a day at the museum

We caught Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris at the de Young Museum on its last day. 'Twas a foggy, drizzly sort of day, softly warm. It put us in the right mood for viewing art.

I'd heard many good things about the exhibit and was curious to see it. Picasso isn't my favorite artist and I hadn't seen a large collection of his work before, so I wondered what I would think and feel when I stood in front of his work. The exhibit was quite extensive, displayed mostly chronologically, and included paintings, studies for paintings and sculpture. Perhaps the quote that resonated with me the most was:

"Painting is 

just another way 

of keeping a diary."

- Picasso

I hadn't thought about painting in that exact way before, but I liked it very much. For me, blogging is another way of keeping a diary - of artistic pursuits in particular - and I could see how Picasso recorded his experiences in his art. The exhibit felt both like walking through an experiment of multiple phases and also of browsing a journal of events and opinions. Sometimes the styles led from one to another - expressionism, cubism, neoclassicism, surrealism - and sometimes the leaps in style were huge with the art seeming to connect only by repeating themes (such as of bathers in striped blue suits on the beach). Why so many bathers? Why the stripes? I felt more curious about him by viewing the collection of work.

I enjoyed the studies on paper that led to canvas works or sculptures. I was impressed by the large scale of his work and his enormous capacity to create. I also found that I appreciated the design of his works more than many of the works themselves, or their message. There were not too many that I would feel like hanging in my home or living with on a daily basis. Sometimes it seemed that the message of the art was lost in the study of its process - although that wasn't the case with his Bull's Head, which just might be my favorite piece of the entire show. 

Overall, the exhibit was quite fascinating and interesting. I was glad not to miss it.

Looking across the plaza to the California Academy of Sciences.

The next de Young exhibit I'm especially looking forward to is The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier, arriving in the spring. But I'm sure I'll be back to Golden Gate Park before then...

virtual museums ~ {art project by google}

I spent some time this morning wandering the halls of Versailles, Uffizi Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate and Museo Thyssen using Google's Art Project. Half the time I admired some of the amazing architecture and decor (especially in Versailles, where even the ceilings are stunning) and the other half of the time I looked up some of my favorite artists and paintings or discovered new ones. One can wander around the museum's floor plan or find all the works by a certain artist across all the museums.

Here is a view of the Mars Room at Versailles where I found Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun's portrait of Marie Antoinette with her three children. I've always been fond of her works and it's such a treat to see a painting's actual location, then be able to zoom in on its details and read up on its history and the artist. In this case, I was led to another portrait of Marie Antoinette, also by Vigee-Lebrun ~ that had been quickly painted to replace another one that caused scandal because her dress was too casual for her station.

The views of the museums are not 100% complete. There are some rooms not included in the virtual tour and not all the paintings are able to be examined up close. However, there is still plenty to explore.

This one by Seurat was fascinating to see his brushstrokes and scientific approach to color. In this picture I was zooming in on Grandcamp, Evening.

Even more fun was examining Van Gogh's works up close. His works are highly featured in the Art Project between the Van Gogh Museum and all the other Van Gogh paintings held in the other galleries. I loved seeing his color choices and areas where it seemed like he gave up on a brush and just squeezed the paint on directly.

Nothing can actually match seeing a painting in person, of course. I had seen so many images and prints of Da Vinci's Il Cenacolo ~ The Last Supper ~ but those replicas did not prepare me to have my breath taken away so forcefully when I entered the church to stand before it and share its space.