Museum Cruising

[Benisse]

For Mother's Day my family took me to the Getty Center, an oasis of art, architecture, performing arts and landscapes in Los Angeles.

In addition to enjoying the creatively landscaped gardens, since this museum is so huge, we focused on a few exhibits in the west building:
1. A Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/victoria/
This was an impressive collection of early photographs, royal portraits and informal snapshots of the royal family that reflect the Queen's fascination for the developing technology of photography, and how she used photos to enhance her image. My daughter's favorite part of this exhibit was the room with handheld stereoscope viewers,which made flat photos taken at slightly different angles look 3-D when held up to your eyes.

2. Hiroshi Sugimoto: Past Tense
Sugimoto is an artist that makes waxworks or taxidermy come alive by shooting huge portraits in black and white with lighting that makes the subjects look uncannily animated. My favorite was the room with these humongous black and white photographs of waxworks (Mme Tussaud's) of King Henry VIII and his six wives. They were taken with such precision that they truly looked like the real King Harry and his ladies had just walked into the room and sat for some formal portraits. (Unfortunately photos of these creations just don't capture the incredible living quality he creates so I'm not giving a link here.) He also has some minimalist works experimenting with light that are beautiful.

3. In Focus: Ansel Adams
"A good photograph is knowing where to stand." -- Ansel Adams
Adams is famous for his silver gelatin prints that are emotive, sharp and monolithic. These were from his museum print negatives, and they were powerful. I especially liked [1] his huge print of The Golden Gate before the Golden Gate Bridge was built to span that bay, as well as [2] his powerful tribute to the Japanese interned in camps during World War II, in Mount Williamson as seen from Manzanar.

4. Hatched! Creating Form with Line
This exhibit focused on cross-hatch, stippling and hatch techniques and how artists create texture and depth with them. It also featured sketches by Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Magnifying glasses for observing more closely were provided. Soooo amazing!

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

The Getty's a sweet place, I'll give it that!

I guess I can mention that while I was in England, I went to the British Museum, home to a ton of artifacts all around the world. And the place is positively huge! We were only on the first floor on the one wing and we still didn't have a chance to take a close look at /everything/. Funny story: one of my friends has a fascination with Ancient Egypt and mummies especially. I have a fascination with weapons, regardless of where they're from. So I joked that the two of us made good museum buddies: she liked dead things and I liked things that made dead things.

Let's see, there was also the National Art Gallery in London. Some pretty cool artwork in there.
And the Museum of Science History (sorry if I botched that name, Ajjie) in Oxford.

[albero1]

While in Colorado, we visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was sort of cool, but we have a local science museum that I like more. I was especially disappointed in the mummy exhibit. I'm like your friend, Ariel. Since I can remember, I've had a serious fascination with mummies. An art museum about an hour away has a great mummy exhibit, however.

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

You probably would have liked the British Museum, Berry. Mummies, sarcophagi, and all sorts of super-cool stuff. Like the Rosetta Stone, for instance.

[Ajnos]

I think it's something like "History of Science Museum", but that's close enough. I'm sorry I never got to the British Museum. I started thinking about going my last couple weeks in the UK but they were too packed with different activities. I nearly took a train to London one day during the last week when I was staying with friends, but I wasn't motivated by the thought of navigating London on my own I did get to see the Ashmolean in Oxford (which has world artefacts and art). The artefacts section satisfied my Classics interests, and it's big enough (I think it has some copies of stuff from the British Museum like the fresco of a Mesopotamian god that resembles Tash). It also has an Egypt section with mummies

Speaking of Oxford museums, I also went to the History of Science one with my dad when I first went over. And Silkdash and I went to the Natural History and Pitt Rivers museums. One of the best parts of the Natural History was the Alice in Wonderland display (which included a hedgehog, a flamingo and a white rabbit with a pocket watch). It also houses the famous Oxford Dodo (so-called only because that's where its kept) which is said to have inspired Lewis Carol to put a Dodo in his works.



The Pitt Rivers museum is strange. It's hard to explain unless you're actually there, but it mostly has "tribal" stuff: weapons, clothes, masks, totem poles etc. It's actually a little bit creepy.

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

Yeah, that name sounds correct. I guess I'd just jumbled the words around in my mind.
It's a pity you didn't get to the British Museum, even if only for a day. But then, you also went to these other places that seem to have piqued your interest.
Some of the tribal stuff sounds cool, but I'd probably agree with you on the masks and totem poles. Ooh, and Tash-like Mesopotamian god would have been cool to see!

[Benisse]

I love the British Museum -- it is so rich in scope and holdings. By the way when I was in Greece, the guide I had at the Acropolis had a lot to say about Lord Elgin's marbles that were taken from the Parthenon. Greeks want them back!