The Fabulous Met

Just came out from the Met museum and it is simply enormous. There is also a diverse range of exhibits; everything from Asian art to Eygpt (whole temples and tombs) and of course Western Art. Our friend in NY Iris told us to offer a price for entry, it is not $25 as advertised. I find this quite strange. Suppose that it traps tourists and those who do not read the fine print.



The exhibition of Impressionism and fashion was on its last day, with crowds to match. This painting was by the American woman artist Mary Cassatt, who was based in Paris. It struck me as wonderfully evocative of the opera scene - a young woman savouring her first opera with gusto.


I've often seen and admired the works of Bonnard especially his use of vibrant complementary colours. But this painting is actually huge with great impact. The figures are close to life size. The viewer is swallowed into a world of orange.



There were rooms full of Degas - his pastel technique is unique. Some earlier paintings were rather drab but the later pieces became more vibrant.


The Met had lots of Monets but this one was most realistic in capturing the ripples in the water and the reflection of the sky plus greenery. Wonderful ...

MOMA

MOMA is the museum of modern art in NY and it has a fabulous selection of art showing the roots of modern art; ie before it became incomprehensible to the likes of me. This progression took several decades and probably began with Impressionism. The Impressionists attempted to capture the light and atmosphere. My favourite impressionists Monet and Cezanne were well represented.

This Cezanne showed how he captured "vibrations of light" and movement through his brushstrokes and colour. Have you noticed how Cezanne uses these short but directional strokes always? Seurat is another artist attempting the same but through tiny dots of colours (pointillism).
Monet late in his life made these room sized paintings of the famous pond at Giverny. The most extreme examples are held at elliptical rooms at the Musee L'Orangerie in Paris. MOMA has several examples that are smaller. These later Monets are much more abstract and due to the size and composition, I felt that I was actually immersed in the water. What a great idea for a painting!

This Picasso is my favourite - a great example of early Cubism - the bodies are more geometric but still recognisable. I have seen it years ago in Sydney on loan and attempted my own version but that was before I was confident in life drawing so the results failed to live up to my expectations.

This is an abstract of swifts flying by Giocomo Balla. The notion is to capture the movement of flight.
Gino Severini also did some fabulous work of capturing motion with his 'Dynamic Hieroglyphic of the Bal Tabarin' - a study of dance motions. In my time I've attempted some studies of Flamenco dancers but nothing quite as accomplished as these masters. Another great direction to pursue when I get home!

Brooklyn museum NY

A post from New York!
Readers, I've finally made one dream come through and am in New York City. This was an opportunistic trip taken in between R's jobs. As he had been with the previous organisation for 12 years, I had to grab my chance when it presented. The short notice nearly drove me balmy in making travel plans.



Today was cold and wet in NY so it was definitely a museum sort of day. I took child to Brooklyn Museum as R had the man flu and lolled in bed all day. This sculpture of voluptuous Standing Woman by Gaston Lachaise was much to my liking. There was a marvellous collection of Egyptian artefacts and S was freaked out when she learnt that the mummy was a real body. Never mind that its 4000 years old.


This painting and drawing caught my eye. A whimsical illustration of Huck and Tom by Santi Moix, beautifully rendered.



The blockbuster was a watercolour exhibition of John Singer Sargent. The subjects ranged from women lounging in pastoral settings, Italian gardens, Venice, Bedouins and some landscapes. Doubtless he was a master - just look at how he painted white on white.



My favourites were his landscapes. This one is the Crags. The following are two renditions of the same subject, one in watercolour and the other in oils.





See how the water ripples and sparkles? Sargent's watercolours are lively and vivid. He does this in that infuriating, unforgiving medium what I fail to capture using acrylics. There are definitely lessons to be learnt here.....