I haven't blogged in quite awhile! We are back from a wonderful vacation on the west coast. I have learned not to take my boys to museums, since they find such trips boring as mud. Actually, they would probably have more fun WITH mud, even tho they are now 23 and 17 years old.
I, however, visited several museums on the trip. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for one. In San Francisco, I visited the Contemporary Jewish Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In Portland, Oregon, the Portland Art Museum.
Highlights?
The LA County Museum of Art has a wonderful collection of German Expressionist works and an equally wonderful collection of Japanese art. What a contrast! The raw, dramatic work of the German Expressionists versus the spare and serene pieces by the Japanese. My favorite German Expressionist painting was "
The Orator" by Magnus Zeller, done in 1920. To me, it shows a people desperately wanting a "saviour" and foreshadows the rise of Hitler. See it above.
The Japanese art? Perhaps this hanging scroll. "
Portrait of Kagekiyo" by Yokoi Kinkoku. Here seen in a blurry iPhone photo (no flash, which is too harsh for these delicate works). I'm sure I wasn't supposed to take a photo. But, I'm an artist, I'm entitled.
The Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art had a wonderful exhibit: As It Is Written: Project 304,805. Aka, The Torah Project. Here is what the website has to say: "As It Is Written: Project 304,805 is centered around a soferet (a professionally trained female scribe) who while on public view will write out the entire text of the Torah over the course of a full year." For more info, take a look at the website: http://www.thecjm.org/index.php?option=com_ccevents&scope=exbt&task=detail&oid=43
What to say of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art? Alas, so much modern art means so little to me. I am attracted to beauty. I am also attracted to narrative. Abstract art rarely interests me. Of the abstract expressionists, I sometimes find Jackson Pollock interesting. And Philip Guston, who moved thru several different styles over his career.
However, there is always something. I found a sculpture of 4 figures by Magdalena Abakanowicz. If interested in her work, visit:http://www.abakanowicz.art.pl/about/-about.php
And, at the Portland Art Museum. Two wonderful exhibits. "
The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb's Book of Genesis" and "
A Pioneering Collection: Master Drawings from the Crocker Art Museum." For info about these exhibits, look at the Museum website: http://portlandartmuseum.org/calendar/
The Portland museum also featured an exhibit of works by artist Leon Golub. "
Leon Golum: Historical Witness". I said I am drawn to beauty. Beauty can be found in work that would not be considered "beautiful" by most casual observers. So, I close with thoughts on Golub's piece "
Mercenaries 1," 1976, acrylic on linen. The Museum website states that his "
Mercenaries Series," "explored his response to the conflicts in Central America and Africa". For more info, again, check out the Museum's website. I find his work deeply moving as it depicts the depravity that still lurks in the heart of humanity. Since I only have a very blurry iPhone pic of this piece (and was rebuked for taking a photo at the museum, even without flash), I share his image of the late Francisco Franco, the infamous Generalissimo of Spain.
