Posts tagged ‘museum’
January Full Moon by George Ault 1941
A couple weeks ago I visited an exhibition titled “To Make a World, George Ault and 1940′s America.” Unfortunately, I brought my 9 year old sidekick and she was not too keen on letting me look at every artwork and/or take any decent notes on what I saw. What I remember enjoying most was getting to see more work by an artist whose painting above is one I’ve seen a zillion times at the same museum where I work from time to time. It seemed so stark, too cold, precise, quiet. Turns out that’s exactly what George Ault is known for and he does it beautifully. One painting I enjoyed a lot was one he did of his small studio space.
Studio Interior by George Ault 1938
In the caption it told that he made a habit of cleaning up everything in his studio so that it would be just as pristine as the artwork he was painting. Kind of makes me wonder if that’s why my artwork is what one of my professors called “over decorated.” My studio is over-decorated to say the least with quite a bit of clutter. And that’s sometimes why I don’t get around to painting. Too much junk around. So, I will thank George Ault and now begin my studio clean up. After all…I am coming up on a long winter break from school and will need the breathing room to get some artwork done.
What about you? Is your work space a mess like mine?
I just wanted to quickly post a photo of one of my newer paintings. I love the colors and the inspiration is of course from one of my faves from the collection of art at the Nelson Atkins in Kansas City. You can see a photo of it here. Speaking of the museum, I just got home from there today. My goodness if you want to go to a museum when NO ONE else is there head down to the Nelson on a winter Sunday. It was like my own private museum and that’s not really a bad thing except I know there’s a lot of people in this town that ought to see what’s there to see. Like the Romare Bearden Show – a beautiful collection of prints, music, quilts and more.
Near the corn fields of my Dad’s house is Davenport, Iowa on the Mississippi River. They have a great museum there, the Figge, (like Figgy) with an impressive collection of artworks. Artworks like Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park #17. Don’t you just want to jump in and swim inside those yellow pinkish gray blocks? Of course not because this is a small picture and to truly love a Diebenkorn (or any painting) you have to see it with your own eyeballs and breath the same air that it does. It’s the rules. Read more
Having only seen pictures in Art History class I was more excited about seeing the Guggenheim inside and out than the artwork it holds. That turned out to be a good thing. I visited during “Museum Mile” night when the major museums along 5th Avenue were open late and had a festival atmosphere outside with chalk, families, music, and food vendors. For better or worse, it eventually poured rain on the outside activities which brought a massive amount of folks inside to see the free art.
Aside from the closed ramps cutting off most of the collection and thousands of people swarming the art I enjoyed what I could see. They had a Kandinsky Bauhaus show up with major works like Composition #8 and Several Circles. Every time I see Kandinsky stuff it makes me happy.Who doesn’t smile at all those colorful shapes and lines dancing all over the canvas? I’ve never seen so many in one room. There wasn’t much room in the room though.
I made my way to a cafe area where I grabbed a seat and began to appreciate the design of the space. Frank Lloyd Wright does not disappoint. In my notebook I decided to describe the way the windows and chairs looked. “Windows like this” was scratched next to scribbled drawings of the modern decorative design and notes about the gloomy but pretty greens and grays dripping outside the window over Central Park. I was having a moment with the atmosphere.
The best surprise was the top floor exhibit of student work. The kid kind. The BEST kind. And unlike the rest of the gallery I was allowed to photograph the kid art. Created by New York public school elementary students and taught by museum teachers, I ooed and awed at paper sculptures, cardboard creatures, and something called inside out self portraits. I hope those teachers don’t mind me stealing all their ideas. You bet I did!
I didn’t realize as I followed the herd out the door that I was walking into a good hard rain. No umbrella for me so I dashed between fancy apartment awnings for cover. When the rain lightened u
p I took the opportunity to stroll down the middle of 5th Avenue because the road was blocked. I enjoyed feeling like no cars would run me over that night.
I painted that night back at my hotel. Here are two paintings both drawn up after my circular-Kandinsky spiral-building and natural light adventure at the Guggenheim.
And by underworld I mean education.
When my public school teaching gig is out for the summer I spend some weeks teaching art at a local museum. You might wonder why I would choose to spend my paid summer vacation working. Just look at my bank account. Also, when they ask you to sign up for classes it is still the school year and the idea of taking on extra work does not phase you. Then summer hits – you have a couple weeks off and spend time painting, walking, cooking, catching up on sleep…enjoying the world…. then boom – back to a classroom full of kids wondering when their next snack is going to be and asking the dreaded….what time is this over? (over and over and over….) And I wonder to myself what ever was I thinking signing up to work on my “vacation.”
It’s hard work this teaching thing. Especially if you are any good at it. There’s project planning, there’s practice, there’s material experimentation, and then there’s the kids! They are so unpredictable. Happy, sad, up, down, bathroom break, yelling, laughing, crying…. blah, blah, – bleh. Some moments I find myself looking at the clock every 8 seconds curious how long till quittin’ time and the parents retrieve their young.
Of course the flip side to this coin is that teaching can be so rewarding and fulfilling because you get to be around people who are curious and interested in what you have to say – which is more than I can say about the people in my house (just kidding family – I love you dearly). Just don’t get me wrong – I love my job very much and it helps me learn about all kinds of things including how to work with a variety of people.
So what’s with the Egypt pictures? This week I am teaching a class based on Egyptian artworks found in our museum collection. Perfect to peak kids’ interest; monsters, princesses, animals, architecture, the magical mystical afterlife…. Luckily last week I toured the Met in NYC and noticed they have endless galleries of Egyptian art. Wow. To be a teacher there would be impossibly fantastic.
Until I paint again – I will be immersed in the underworld. That place of unglamorous glory also known as the classroom.
I had the lucky chance yesterday to visit one of my favorite rooms at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Normally I get all up in the business (as close as you can get to a painting before the guard has to shoo you back) of the O’Keefe or Hopper painting in the same room but I felt sort of sucked in by the painting you see at left. These super vivid flowers against the white-out background kind of intrigued me enough to read the wall caption for more info. Read more
Kansas City Art Teacher Exhibits Student Work at Nationally Acclaimed Gallery
April 3, 2011
Lauren Ingraham Alexander
The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO
It’s always fun to walk into a big fancy museum and see your name on an official display card. Especially when you forgot that something you had a hand in creating is on display. Back in fall I taught a class called Explore Fundamentals with five and six year old students. One group of paintings we did was selected for display in the student gallery at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. Read more
