Art Attack: SO Much to See

Dear Imaginary Friends,

So much to do, so little time!

There is nothing quite so motivating to me to visit museum shows as knowing that today is the last day of the show. Therefore, the intrepid Carlo and I decided to outsmart the Marine Corps marathon that was clogging the streets of the beautiful Washington, DC, and visit the four main shows at the National Gallery of Art.

The impediment was the 26.2 mile Marine Corps Marathon, which snaked through Capiol Hill, closing streets and making access to the museum almost impossible. We literally had to streak across two streets of the runners, who happened to be dousing themselves with cups of water. They were none too pleased to have us slow them down. But hey, art first! Fitness, 23rd.


Today being Halloween, it was timed to be the last day of Edvard Munch's show. His work  The Scream is his most prominent, but he has many that are equally ghoulish: The Lonely Girl, Sin, The Vampire, etc. I preferred his more attractive Madonna.

Working within the Halloween theme also was the Archimboldo show, wherein a contemporary of Leonardo Da Vinci created portraits for the Hapsburg Emperor Maximillian of vegetables, fish, flowers, fruit, etc. They are very cleverly done, and would be just the thing to attract an adolescent who normally would eschew art museums.


Also on tap, the gorgeous Chester Dale collection. Chester Dale and his wife Maud had such an eye for quality; what an impressive collection of Impressionism and early modernism.


Opening today was the PreRaphaelite photo and painting exhibit, which has a ghoulish Lady of Shalott. Carlo is coocoo for cocopuffs when it comes to the Pre Raphaelites. He cannot get enough, so it was a must see. Photography had recently been invented when the movement started, and the very wealthy court members liked to amuse themselves with  the new and magical technology. And you thought the royals sat around all day polishing their crowns and kicking serfs. No sirree.


Get yourself to the art museums and  check out what the artists of the world have been up to.


Artfully yours,
Patsie