The good, the bad, and the ugly

My first visit to Musée d’Orsay was simply unforgettable.  This is a top-notch museum, situated in a stunning building that was once an old train station, where I had the pleasure of viewing “The Angel of the Odd: Dark Romanticism from Goya to Max Ernst.”  

The good- this exhibition was an excellent contrast from the fifth floor galleries that are full of flowery Monets.  I especially enjoyed the thematic combination of plastic arts, movie scenes, text and literature.

The bad- from a purely visual standpoint, I think that it was slightly heavy on the Ernst.  However, it is an interesting way to incorporate modern art into the show and encourage the audience to think a bit beyond the immediate form of the objects before them.

The ugly- just about every character from Goya’s ghosts to Delacroix’s demons were rather hideous, although wonderfully animated.  The figures and landscapes of these works are undeniably ugly and they also lead our imaginations towards countless other dark spaces and places.

For more on “The Angel of the Odd: Dark Romanticism from Goya to Max Ernst” -

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/events/exhibitions/in-the-musee-dorsay/exhibitions-in-the-musee-dorsay/article/lange-du-bizarre-35087.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=254&cHash=d1990e571c

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323550604578410380557842980.html

Weeping Woman

My eleven and twelve-year-old students recently completed a wonderful team project.  I cut a copy of Picasso’s Weeping Woman into small squares and asked the students to create larger collages that imitate the original composition of their piece.  They did not know what the final image would be; they simply had to work with the square they were assigned.  When I finally put together all their collages in the hallway, my sixth graders were amazed at what they had created together!  I am very proud of them.

ARCO 2013

The Catalan Peasant Coincidence

I was slightly nervous as I handed my history professor an essay titled “Miró and his Catalan Peasants” because the assignment concerned the book War, Agriculture and Food: Rural Europe from the 1930s to the 1950s.  Although I assumed that my professor would not be particularly amused, I somehow managed to find a way to talk about the book and art.  To my great surprise, when I told him about my paper his mouth dropped.  He hurried into his office and quickly returned carrying something close to his chest.  When he showed me the small painting of his six-year-old son, I could not believe my eyes.  This precious painting that hangs in my professor’s office is an imitation of Miró’s 1925 Head of a Catalan Peasant, the primary focus of my paper.  I was elated to see this adorable painting and eager to show my professor the original, which he admitted he had never seen before.  What an unexpected coincidence that made my day!