Inside The Getty

Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.

I wrote about the architecture of The Getty Center in my last post and the stunning Rembrandts a couple of posts before that. Today I will feature a few more of my personal favorites from The Getty Museum.

Stepping backwards in time, I begin with the John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Thérése, countess Clary Aldringen. Sargent's life-sized portrait stands tall and proud in the gallery.

Source: The Getty

His quick brushstrokes express the compelling presence of his statuesque subject.

Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.

According to a Getty article the countess is portrayed here after she's had three children. I'm consoling myself by believing that she paid Sargent handsomely to shrink her waistline into an impossibly small hourglass.

Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.

Since my love affair with Paul Cézanne started last fall, I continue to be inspired to see his work. In stark contrast to the regal presence of the Sargent portrait, Cézanne's melancholy pose for this young Italian woman does not convey an ounce of vanity. 

Young Italian Woman at a Table

Paul Cézanne, French, about 1895 - 1900

Oil on canvas,  36 1/8 x 28 7/8 in.

Description here.

I am in awe of Cézanne's commitment to understand the use of space on the canvas using the same familiar props over and over again. Above all, I was thrilled to see the budding spark of cubism in the background.

Still Life with Apples, Paul Cézanne  (1893 - 1894), French
Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/8 in.
Description here.

While Cézanne used his props as a constant to explore the use of space, Claude Monet studied the effects of light on the same landscape. He painted these haystacks at least thirty times as the seasons changed . The light  in this example is wondrous.

Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning, Claude Monet

French, Giverny, 1891

Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 39 1/4 in.

Description here.

A mere 75 kilometers away from Cézanne's Aix-en-Provence, Vincent Van Gogh painted Irises in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Each iris is captured as a portrait. One by one, each is expressed with its individual attitude, height, and angle. The strength of the explosive blues are given by the orange flowers in the background and the rust earth in the foreground. Can you imagine this painting without these essential reds? Of all the works of art I saw this day, the movement in this dynamic painting was the crescendo of the day.

 

Irises, Vincent van Gogh
Dutch, Saint-Rémy, France, 1889
Oil on canvas, 28 x 36 5/8 in.
Description here.

Stepping back more than one hundred years, I found Augustin Pajou's bust of an ideal female head. She is beautiful and demure with every hair in place.  She was designed as a model to ornament a balcony in Versaille. To see the companion sculpture, click here.

Ideal Female Head, Augustin Pajou (1769 - 1770 ) French
Terracotta on white marble socle
Description here.

Albert Cuyp paintings always get my attention because he is a household name in Amsterdam with a street, outdoor market, and even a supermarket chain named after him. His paintings always convey the essence of the Dutch low countries.

A View of the Maas at Dordrecht, Aelbert Cuyp

Dutch, Dordrecht, about 1645 - 1646

Oil on panel, 19 3/4 x 42 1/4 in.

Description here.

I can understand why Frans Hals is my mother's favorite Dutch portrait artist. The Getty Center and the Rijksmuseum jointly conserved these 400-year-old paintings with beautiful results.

Lucas de Clercq and Feyna van Steenkiste

Frans Hals, the Elder (c. 1580 – 26 August 1666), after conservation

Description here.

The oldest piece I include here is the soft pink glass and gold-leaf Pilgrim Flask from Murano.

Unknown
Italian, Murano, late 1400s or early 1500s
Free-blown colorless (slightly pink) glass with gold leaf, enamel, and applied decoration
14 13/16 x 7 7/8 in.
Description here.

I'm hoping, by posting this, that I will return to that extraordinary island before long. 

Blog Camp 1.1 with Bird Tweets and Relyn

Julochka, the Queen of Blog Camps, baptized our San Francisco adventure as “Blog Camp 1.1”

Here’s a quick executive overview of yesterday. Please forgive the hurried quality of the photos. No doubt, Robin and Relyn will do more thorough, literate and artful posts later, but I’m in a big hurry this morning.

I met Relyn “Thelma” of Come Sit by my Fire and Robin “Louise” of Bird Tweets in front of the magnificent San Franciso Conservatory of Flowers.

Then we popped over to the M. H. De Young Museum to visit some our favorite artists…

…and Oma’s favorite painting:

We tagged Baker Beach to say “hello” to my favorite bridge in the whole wide world:

We had dinner at Biscuits & Blues…

… to listen to torch singer Lavay Smith…

…and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers:

We ended the evening with a stroll around the Union Square area (opening photo), where we checked out the lobby of the St. Francis Hotel…

…and did some window shopping. Sadly, in this economy, most merchants are offering deep discounts. Marc Jacobs offered a 70% off sale with only a mild suggestion of consequences if you don’t partake:

All in all, it was a very good California day:

Bouquets to Art 2009 – 20th Century Contemporary Art

This is the fifth and final installment of the miniseries on the Bouquets to Art 2009, the 25th anniversary of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s largest fundraiser. The best floral designers all over the Bay Area are invited to design a floral creation to be paired with one of the works of art. Today we will visit the galleries on the concourse level, where the 20th Century Contemporary Art resides.

I had to be very, very patient to take the top photograph. This arresting arrangement by Manako Flower Academy was continuously swarmed with admirers who stopped in their tracks to take a closer look from all angles. 

The palm fronds of this arrangements perfectly complement the movement of this beautiful sculpture:

San Francisco may have a large transgender population, but here we have an example of a species transformation. Feline pussy willows have crossed over to become canine:

 

These red and white anthuriums are an apt choice to convey the circus image of dancing men:

 

One of the great benefits of attending the opening night gala was that I had a chance to meet several of the floral artist. I had a lovely chat with Heather Dunne about her wonderful, teetering skateboard contribution:

She used barbed wire, gutter screening, and a metal cage with yellow Anthuriums. The skateboard belongs to Tyler, her grandson. She “wanted to capture the intense movement of the skateboarders in their gritty inner city venue. There is a sense of freedom and wild abandon to the scene.”

It wasn’t immediately obvious why there was a grey box in the middle of the room,

but when you look inside, you are rewarded with reflections of red and silver interpreting the mirrored blown glass sculptures next to it:

Here is a triple interpretation. The reindeer moss rests beautifully in the field of geometric leaves while reflecting its mirrors on the display of mirrored blown glass sculptures

I love how one can barely discern where the painting ends and the floral arrangement begins:

 

Tucked away in the passageway between two galleries, was this delightful interpretation of Michael Glancy’s glass plate and bowl

 

Somehow it’s fitting that Trilium Design chose triangles for its theme:

 

This one is called “It’s All About the ‘V’”:

 

Here are a some more interesting geometrics:

Naturally, with my roots in Amsterdam, I adore this bicycle with yellow tulips created by verde-flowers.com. Their information card reads:

“Our First Lady’s Inauguration Day Attire determined the colors, a bright contrast to the B & W photos. This only Murray is one of my sister’s bikes. She completed in Athens and Beijing in mountain biking (on a different bike!). Dare you to ride from your local farmer’s market with a dozen eggs.”

 

We all smiled when we saw how the flowers in the ladies' room gave a nod to the Andy Warhol exhibit:

 

I hope you enjoyed touring the Bouquets to Art. Maybe next March you can plan to come to San Francisco and see the show in person. 

Many more photos at my Flickr account here.

Bouquets to Art 2007

Next week, from March 17-21, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their largest fundraiser, Bouquets to Art. The best floral designers all over the Bay Area are invited to design a floral creation to be paired with one of the museum's works of art. There will be nearly 150 floral exhibitions along with elegant teas and luncheons and even a formal gala night. Two of my favorite florists, Ron Morgan and Paula Pryke, will be giving demonstrations. If you are interested in floral design and you can only go to one event per year, this is the one to choose.

The remainder of this post is mostly recycled from a homework assignment I wrote in my floral design class in 2007. Our wonderful instructor, Wendy Pine, asked us to write about at least two of our favorite creations and one that we did not like. Thank you, Wendy, for making this post a breeze to publish!

I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been to Bouquets to Art. I remember going the very first year that it was offered back when it was at the old De Young Museum. I clicked my heels with delight and was awed at the brilliance of marrying fine art with floral art – two of my favorite passions. My excitement for this show never waned from year to year. Each year offered new ideas, new combinations, and new interpretations; and yes, each year offered misguided creations allowing me and my friends to feel smug about our impeccable taste. This year did not disappoint us. I had to miss last year’s debut of Bouquets to Art because I was traveling, so this was my first time seeing the exhibit in the new De Young Museum building.

I have to admit that I miss the fabulous winding drive up to Legion of Honor location with the spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I miss seeing the tent set up in the courtyard signaling a very special event before you even walk into the building. Arriving from the garage elevator at the De Young comes up short. The De Young is much more spread out; in some cases, you almost have to look for the bouquets. The Legion of Honor imparted a more intimate feeling and every room was filled with flowers. Nevertheless, the show at the De Young was fantastic again.

Some of the interpretations were very literal:

I know those braids were made of plant material, but they look so close to human hair that it gave me a bit of the willies.




Some arrangements were extensions of a painting. This “tree” could have been on the other end of the courtyard and echoed the feeling of the sunlight and shadow in Albert Bierstadt’s painting.

Other arrangements conveyed the spirit of the art:

Ron Morgan's design is wonderful as always. Only he would be bold enough to use a discolored leaf as a major design element.

Posing barbed wire like a lasso in this interpretation of Frederic Remington’s bronze sculpture "The Bronco Buster" created movement and is also representative of the cowboy’s political cry “Don’t Fence Me In”. The clever use of cut branches helped create a strong line but also appeared to defy the laws of physics.

It's easy to overdo the props, but the black satin was a great a prop here because it exudes the drama of this painting byRobert Henri, "Lady in Black with Spanish Scarf", 1910.

Some of the popular works are nearly impossible to photograph without admirers filling your frame. This one was so popular that I was unable to get a photo of the accompanying painting.

I believe it was one of Wayne Thiebaud’s paintings of the San Francisco hills like this one:

Wayne Thiebaud, Down Eighteenth Street, 1980 Oil and charcoal on canvas

This arrangements has some many wonderful textures, it looks like Joseph’s dream coat. The floral artist writes:

“My intention is to create a panorama as we see it in the painting and then ---
a reminder to really see and appreciate the infinite textures, shapes, and
subtle colors in a forest.”

Some arrangements looked good enough to eat:

This interpretations of Wayne Thiebaud’s wonderful work of pop art "Three Machines" (1963)  is called "Gumballs Gone Wild":

I hope you enjoyed coming along; I wish you could have smelled the fresh fragrance of these flowers. Which were your favorites?

Flickr set here.