We got there a little early. The museum wasn’t open, so we toured the garden. There was a cool water feature. Up top, a stream ran into a hole in the ground that was a trickling fountain underneath.
We walked down a switchback trail to a rose maze in the middle of a pond. It was so pretty. Fun idea although I don’t know how you would trim the roses?
Today was a day where we had to stay together as a group. But my group was amazing. They get along and listen and I never have to worry about them. Jenna and Addie are two peas and Missy and Melissa stick together. Jazmin and Robyn are put together by default, but they get along as well, and I loved having Jazmin with us.
We headed over to the Impressionist building first. I was really cool to see Van Gogh’s, Monet’s, Manet’s and Cezanne’s. All the art history in French class paid off. Meaning I recognize the name, but really don’t remember details about them. But that makes me feel a little closer to them. This one is by Cezanne. His childhood friend, wrote "Every time he paints one of his friends it seem as though he were revenging himself on him for some hidden injury." (Love a friendly critic.)
There were other amazing pieces like this Van Gogh and Monet.
I love this by Monet. Look at the bright colors only in the center of the piece.
I tend to really like pictures with clouds, light, and water. I'm always fascinated by how it is depicted. Such a hard thing to capture.
So much detail. In this picture by Guardi, those people are the size of my thumbnail and yet look how perfect they look doing their daily tasks.
Here is my group. Seriously, they were the best.
You have to say one thing for European Art...lots of nudity. I filled my quota for this trip...pretty much the first day. It doesn’t bother me since it doesn't seem pornographic or debased, but still plenty. One was so funny with a shepherd and shepherdess sleeping. He has good color but she is as pale as a vampire. Also, topless so not a piece for the kiddos, but it made me laugh. It must be her first day at work since her skin hasn’t seen the sun before. She is already sleeping on the job and she is going to have a wicked sunburn on her chest. (I apologize art people. I know this picture is edited, but I have children who read the blog books.)
Next we viewed a photo gallery. I used to think photography was the most boring section at the fair. Everyone else makes their stuff and photography was just taking pictures of stuff others had made. I understand more now, but sometimes I’m unimpressed by a picture. However, there was plenty of interesting stuff to see here.
There was a whole wall with pictures of hands. I found my favorite one. Slightly creepy, but it reminds me of a 'Hold My Hand' picture from long ago.
I think people are all so unique. I love portrait pieces.
Don't forgot 5,000 pieces of rubbish. Who knew it would be art?
The Getty is rather large with multiple buildings. We went from one side to another to find the stuff we wanted to see most.
Our next stop was an exhibition by Käthe Kollwitz. It was very dark. She likes to make art that shows the oppression of people and the grief and emotions that go with it. Not my favorite, but I could still see her raw talent. It was also neat to see the process from concept to finished piece.
We had just enough time for one more gallery. I believe it was more European art. This picture made me smile because it is on the board game Masterpiece. Have you ever played that game?
Here's another couple we liked.
That was about it. We got a couple group photos because these gals are my favorite work of art. ;)
When we were leaving, we ran into Bart who was really excited about a piece by John Baldessari. We went to look and it was a large painting of a bug with a pin in it. The piece of art was the pin, not the picture of the bug. Strange, but artsy.
Then we went to lunch which was straight up crazy town. We parked near the Disney Concert Hall and walked down to a market. We even saw some art along the way.
It was so crowded and busy, it was overwhelming. We didn’t even know where to start. This is probably one of the best experiences for the kids. Real life, real chaos. Just go and figure it out as you go.
We got in line for Tacos. (We usually means Jazmin, Robyn, and me, but Maddie tagged along this time.) You could choose your meat. I went for cow tongue. Can’t get that everyday. I liked it. The girls weren’t as impressed with their tacos. (Should have gone for tongue.)
There was a cute trolley that goes up and down the hill for free, but we didn't have time to wait, so we took the stairs instead. Ever since Disneyland, my legs have been feeling it. When I stop moving and start again, I am like a grandma. It takes a minute to get all the joints working. Ouch.
Next stop was the Broad. (pronounced Brode.) It is a unique building, designed in such a way to let natural light in but not directly to preserve the art.
Owned by another rich couple who collects art, they built this place to display it. Sure...why not? They have galleries on the first and third floor and they store art on the second, so they can change it out. We spent a lot of time perusing the collections. I really liked a few, but others were strange. I don't have the same taste as Mr. and Mrs. Broad. Here are some interesting artists.
Jeff Koons does some fun pieces. His balloon art makes me smile.
When we saw this next piece, I said to Jenna, "Is that Michael Jackson?"
She said, "I think so." And I responded, "But who is holding him?" There was a long pause. Then I said, "It's a joke." (I'm sure it was the delivery.)
This one by Jasper Johns is nice. But I can't decide why it is on 4 panels. Is there some significance? Or did he run out of space and had to add the smaller panels?
I think it is fascinating when up close it looks like a mass of splotches and chaos, but farther away, you can see the big picture.
Do you recognize Lichtenstein? His pop art is very famous. I didn't realize at first that his was a modern depiction of Eve.
Yayoi Kusama had a couple of her mirrored Infinity rooms there. One was small and with the main galleries. There were three holes that you could peek into, getting to experience the feeling of an image that goes on and on. The lights would change color and it was a neat effect. You only had 45 seconds to look inside. The other was downstairs.
I really liked Mark Tansey's art. The dichotomy of the images and their meaning was so effective. I would love to see more by him.
We found Barbara Kruger, Bradford, Wool, and more. Here are a few more we liked.
There was only one area that I found distasteful. I just left quickly.
When we finished the upstairs, we went downstairs and found out there was an mirrored infinity room that you could walk into. There was a separate line to sign up and since we had time to kill, Missy and I went over to check it out, even though Natalie (photography teacher) told us not to. I thought it was because we didn’t have time because when we signed up, they told us it would be an hour and nine minutes before we were called for our turn. Oops. We didn’t have that much time. But it couldn’t hurt signing up. Turns out, we weren't supposed to sign up because as a large group, we didn’t wait in the outside line so we weren't supposed to go. Another oops.
Bart didn’t seem to mind. He told us we could wait for our appointment or leave and come back. That was very nice of him. When everyone went to take pictures at the Disney Concert Hall, we were called back to the Infinity room. So we went there quickly. It was epic. The lights and mirrors were awesome. Totally worth the 45 seconds.
Then we raced over for pictures. We got there just in time for the group photo. Then they took individuals. I’m guessing mine is dumb. It was not a good hair day, but who cares? If I ever get copies of those pictures, I'll put them on here. The Walt Disney Concert Hall is such an odd shaped building, but once again, iconic.
I feel like that is plenty of pictures for one post. Just know that we spent the evening at Downtown Universal Studios, where I did lots of shopping and had crepes for dinner. (Yep, healthy.)
We played more games when we got back to the hotel. Then we crashed again. These are fun days, but very long.
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