Saturday, March 17, 2012

go Gauguin

 
Visited Gauguin in Polynesia yesterday.
A beautiful exhibit by an amazing artist.
Do you know how sometimes you see art by a famous artist that you adore
and it does not grab you and you actually feel like the said artist was not that good.
Well not Gauguin -
his work is gorgeous.
His skin tones were layered and stunning,
his colors which start out as pastels
change to brilliant compositions 
as he is influenced by the sun.
But no photos were allowed so here are some off the internet...
But life is not perfect at the SAM; 
 you must stand behind the line drawn on the floor in 
front of some pieces
which means you get yelled at if you lean over
to try to see up close
and at my age
the eyes need to be close - dang.
 
And we even got yelled at when we got close to the pieces protected by glass
where I may state there is no line to stay behind.
Don't you think guards should take a class
on how to engage with the public in a humorous way
to make everyone's mood a little cheerier?
It would certainly help.
and then...
outside of the exhibit we encountered 
this piece by David Hammons - pretty funny really.
It was a huge vase thing (about 8' tall)
and we walked past it and then my friend noticed
what was on top - 
a taxidermic cat.
Amazing what makes it into the SAM.
There are some museums I just adore - 
The Princeton one is amazing and never disappoints
and The Getty is stellar too,
but I just don't adore the SAM unfortunately.
This painting of St. Sebastian is one of my favorites,
but then I turned around and found this.
 "Did I fall down the rabbit hole?"
Sometimes I just don't get the placement of art at this museum.
The signage is weak
and some of the collections are too.
Whoops sorry but I just wish I loved my museum and I don't.
 Now I loved this this African quilt of metal scraps
turned into this beautiful work -
just goes to show if you are an artist 
you will find a way right?
and then we walked outside into the sun
(the most beautiful work of all)
and visited one of the smallest shops I know
 but a true exquisite gem...
 and then a couple of blocks south on First
to Watson Kennedy, another gem of a shop.
Truly see Gauguin if you are nearby.
It won't disappoint unless you get yelled at by a guard.

7 comments:

  1. Fun tour - thanks!

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  2. It looks like you have had a nice day, inspite of the yelling guard. I also would like to go to a museum once again.

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  3. I need to get to the SAM before the Gauguin exhibit goes away! I love Watson Kennedy too... so much! So did they move to the market or are there 2 locations in Seattle? xoxo

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  4. There are still the two locations. and this store is about 6 times as large as the market location... oh drool.

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  5. Isn't the Blue Princess signed? It's a modern take on the figure from Las Meninas, thus the placement. I like that kind of surprising juxtaposition--makes me think about the continuity/interweaving of art subject/treatment through history. But sorry for the unfriendly guards--I know what you mean about needing to look up close.

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  6. Ohh thanks for the input. I guess she is, in which case I agree and it does give me a grin, but I did not realize that was who she was supposed to be. She still looks like Alice in Wonderland to me much more. Oh art keeps us on our toes doesn't it?

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  7. What a wonderful day!
    Thank you for the tour. :]
    Absolutely adore the quilt... the materials used by the artist , look like recyclable metals, right?
    Fantastic!

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