Tuesday, July 19, 2011

San Francisco Inspires!

I'm lucky enough to be experiencing San Francisco for the first time. Inspiration comes in many forms. Banksy one day,  the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog and on old fortune telling machine another.


Cable Car Cables
Golden Gate Bridge
Banksy



Bay Bridge


Here's some of my favorite art from the De Young Museum.

Cornelia Parker, Anti-Mass, burnt wood from an Alabama Baptist Church destroyed by arson.

Al Farrow, The Spine and Tooth of Santo Guerro, made from bullets and guns. 
 And of course a couple shots of Sargent hands, ALWAYS inspiring.

Sargeant Kendall, Cypripedia, 1927, I don't really love this painting over all, but I do really enjoy the temperature shifts in the flesh tones, and the warm reflected light.

Katie LaMonte, cast glass 2007, I was happy to see her work here, I saw it for the first time last year in Norfolk, VA The missing figure is fascinating to see, or not see?
The room I lingered the longest in was The Art of Illusion room, Trompe L'Oeil Still Life.
William Joseph McCloskey, 1890, oil, doesn't this have a contemporary feel?
Me being impressed by the size of this William Harnett


If there is ever an example of how painting is more akin to sculpture than drawing, this is it. The highlights of this Harnett are actually chunky and 3-D.

Richard Shaw, Ceramic, 1980, fun fool the eye sculpture.
The best painted grapes I've ever seen in my life, Abraham Mignon, 1669-72,
 (the rest of the painting didn't suck either)
Frank Duveneck, Study for Guard of the Harem, 1879.   I love the shadow side of the face being such transparent paint, the eye is not there in a way that is completely believable.

To be continued...

2 comments:

  1. It's a great collection. I also went to the Legion of Honor Museum, there is a Dutch Master's show up there now till October that is amazing if you get anywhere near San Francisco before then!

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