Des Moines Art Center

It was an art theme during our time in Iowa. The Des Moines Art Center proved to be a hidden gem. First of all, it's free. Second, it has a lovely collection of modern art. It felt to me as though the museum thought they should have one (possibly two) pieces from all my favorite artists. We saw a Picasso, Monet, O'Keefe, Rothko, Hopper, Matisse, Jasper Johns, two Calders, two Henri Moore sculptures, and many that I don't recall at the moment.

The website says that you are allowed to photograph the permanent collection, but the sign by the front door said otherwise, so I was limited to other kinds of photos.

I am assuming that all the museum guards were volunteers since there was no admission fee. These guards were extra vigilant in making sure that we did not touch the art. I didn't even make a move to get my camera out in the galleries. It makes me a little nervous to look at art when someone does not trust me not to touch it. I don't touch art!

This led me think that the International Art Museum Association (I made that up) should have a program like the TSA where they can prescreen museum guests and then give us a button to wear so that guards can relax when we enter a gallery.

One of the best things is an entire first edition of Matisse's Jazz collection. 

A photo of the Matisse Jazz brochure.

Des Moines Art Festival

Last summer we gathered our children, met up with a sister and brother-in-law to descend upon parents and another sister in Des Moines. This year we were missing five of those people, but H and I  went for one more visit before we head off for sabbatical.

This time we braved the scattered thunderstorms and headed downtown to the Des Moines Art Festival. We were impressed with the variety and quality of art available. Artisans from many places showed their wares, and it reminded me of Art Fair on the Square in Madison during our grad school days. 

This reminded me of Art on Tap, the differences being the smaller canvases and no instruction. Paint what you like!

Woven aluminum

New addition to the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. It has photographic possibilities that remind me of The Bean in Chicago.

I really liked this booth and the pieces that reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Public Sculpture

A few weeks ago my friend asked me if I was going to blog about the sculpture at Harrison and Indian Hill. I told her she should go ahead and write about it since I hadn't made it to take photos of it yet and I didn't know anything about it. Here is her blog post about it. I'm not sure how she got the information about this sculpture since I couldn't find anything about it online. One thing she told me was that the red section is in the shape of a C and the two silver parts look like Ls. For CLaremont? 

This sign does not tell the artist nor name of work.

The white arrow points to the angel sculpture that was moved across the street. I had to cross the street to get a closer view of it.

Birthday Trip to LACMA

Last year I joined LACMA for my birthday, especially to see the James Turrell retrospective. It was a deal to join since membership included free tickets to the special exhibit. Little did I know that I would return four more times to get my money's worth for the $110 "Dual Membership". If you are interested, here is a link to my year at LACMA. 

Yesterday we saw Van Gogh to Kandinsky which opens to the public tomorrow, but members got a special preview.  In this exhibit we were allowed to photograph a number of the works with a little sign next to the ones we were not allowed to shoot.

Paul Klee was a Swiss painter. Looking forward to seeing the Klee museum in Berne where he grew up.

I got in trouble for taking this photo. See the gentleman in black on the right side? He came over to me to explain the photographing rules. I just wanted to show the scope of the exhibit and how many people were there. It's a terrible photo, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

So, while I was pleased that our $110 membership had gone so far this year, we had to add an additional $58 to the total spent while going to LACMA this year. We parked on the street to save the $10 parking fee in the lot, and after 2 hours and 10 minutes in a 2 hour zone, we were awarded this lovely ticket from the City of LA. I guess that $168 is still a good deal for 5 trips to the museum for 2 people....

ARTstART

Another brief, but worthwhile exhibit in the Ginger Elliot Hall next to the Garner House in Memorial Park. This exhibit showcased art from students at Vista, Oakmont and Sycamore. These upper grade students were part of ARTstART sponsored by the Claremont Museum of Art. This program works at many levels starting with college students who mentor high school students to lead the elementary children through three art lessons. 

The Courier's lead story on Friday led me to the exhibition. It gives a more fully detailed explanation of the work that is being done with this exciting program of arts integration across the curriculum, and leadership training for high school students. The exhibit will be open once more - this Wednesday from noon - 4, and if you are free then (and the exhibit is also free), I highly recommend a visit! 

Art On Tap - Klimt

Another Art On Tap at Claremont Craft Ales, another favorite painter of mine - Gustav Klimt. Last night was the first time that Art on Tap got to use the newly expanded space at CCA. 

I'm not totally happy with the outcome of this reproduction, but I had a great time spreading paint over canvas, spending 3 hours doing something completely different than I usually do. I wonder if I might find a painting class in Zurich this fall. ...

Return to RSABG

On our way to the art reception on Saturday, we had to stop and re-admire the wildflowers that we saw a few weeks ago on the garden tour, especially since many more are in bloom. 

This picture was taken on  April 6.

So many more colors have exploded in the same spot since then.

Last time we missed the Chevy fly, so we had a chance to look at it this time.

Arboretum

When the Claremont Art Museum closed its physical doors, it did not cease to exist. Last night we attended a Claremont Art Museum event - the opening reception of a show at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden - Steve Comba: Arboretum. I believe this is the first art show in a new gallery space in the main administrative building. The space is one room, and this 8-foot painting titled Arboretum fills one of the walls. It took 8 months to complete this work, but years to gather the inspiration. He has envisioned "a line of trees" for many years, and this is the final work, completed in 2011. 

On the opposite wall pieces of years of inspiration for this work give the viewer a glimpse into the artist's mind, although I told Steve that I thought his mind looked too organized....

I asked Steve if the red spot on this cactus was an owl, and he said that he did not make it an owl, but it could be an owl in my perspective.

California Fibers Art Exhibition

I organized a girls' day out with a friend to visit an art exhibit of the California Fibers group at Soka University in Aliso Viejo. How I even knew about this exhibit, let alone the University, is that another friend of mine has a piece in the exhibit. We had no idea what this exhibit might entail. Would we spend five minutes there after an hour's drive? Actually, we spent a good deal of time enjoying the 66 pieces from 22 artists before we took a leisurely stroll through the campus.

These first two photos are of my friend's work - a comprehensive photo and a close-up of Altarpiece. You can read about her work at her website here.

I was taken with many of the pieces which look one way from a distance and have amazing detail up close (like a pointillist painting).

A number of works seemed to draw heavily on biological themes.

Many works were large, and with all their detail, it must have taken hours and hours and months of work.

On Art Installation

Some of our book club members have moved from Claremont to LA and live near LACMA. That means that when we go to their place for book club, we stop by the art museum before we meet for book discussion. It's fun to go to LACMA with another of our book club members. He is an artist as well as the Associate Director at the Pomona College Museum of Art. He was particularly interested in seeing the exhibit called Four Abstract Classicists (which includes Claremont artist Karl Benjamin). He was greatly disappointed in the exhibit, however, and this is why. It consists of only 8 works. Only one Benjamin. 

Karl Benjamin work on the left

He also did not like the fact that these two Hammersley works were placed so close to one another. They are not naturally a pair, and the eye needs more space between non-related works.

In another room, he pointed out to us that the new rage is to place art in the salon-style, like it was done back in the day. (Think Isabel Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston.) Here are book club friends examining why it is difficult to enjoy individual works of art when hung in this manner.

Waterlogue

I have been having some fun with a new app that I bought for my iPad. It's called Waterlogue, and it turns photos into watercolors. It has a variety of filters, so you can get different effects. Here are just a few examples.

This is the original photo I took at LACMA in November