At the Museum Near Where You Live

[karlhenning]

The MFA in Boston has two especially tasty special exhibits open now, El Greco to Velazquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III;  and British prints from essentially between the great wars, Rhythms of Modern Life.

[Brian]

The Houston Museum of Natural Science has Lucy, the 3 million year old skeleton. It is the first time she has ever been displayed in public, and possibly the last time she will appear in North America. I got to see her free. 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I plan on going to The Hague (not far from Delft, where I live), to see an exhibition of the paintings of Lucian Freud at the Gemeentemuseum (Municipal Museum).

[Lethevich]

Not a museum, but museum-like: I went to Salisbury cathedral a few days ago to see their copy of the Magna Carta, as well as the clock. Unlike Wells the clock can barely claim to be as old as it does - it's both not in situ (neither on a wall, nor with a face), and "restored" enough for the bulk of it to be more or less Victorian-aged... The MC was neat, but unfortunately its presence in the chapter house meant that no photography of the room was allowed

[SonicMan46]

The Houston Museum of Natural Science has Lucy, the 3 million year old skeleton. It is the first time she has ever been displayed in public, and possibly the last time she will appear in North America. I got to see her free. 

Hi Brian - although only a 'hobby', I've been interested in paleoanthropology since my undergrad days @ the University of Michigan (took several courses in the topic then) - since then (1960s!), I've kept up an interest - Donald Johanson, who 'headed up' the discovery of Lucy in the '70s wrote a book (and one or more to follow) on this fabulous experience - Johanson D.C. and Edey M.A. (1981): Lucy: the Beginnings of Humankind - the book is currently sitting on my den shelf (need to do a re-read!) - of course a new hominid genus was created Australopithecus afarensis - would loved to have seen those bones! 

[Heather Harrison]

The Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah has a good variety of art works (but, given the provincial location, not the most famous art works).  There is also a chamber music series at the auditorium there; the last concert featured Schubert.  Those concerts often attract me to the museum, and if I arrive early enough, I take some time to look around first.

The Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls gets some interesting traveling exhibits.  They recently had a good one on ice age mammals, and currently they have an Egyptian exhibit which is on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  I'll have to drive up there before it goes away.  Also, they have a nice little permanent exhibit on atomic energy and a very good exhibit about the history of their local newspaper, including lots of neat old printing equipment.  (I hope I don't find a large piece of printing equipment in an antique store; it seems like just the sort of thing I might come home with one day, and I definitely don't have room for it.)

Near Arco, Idaho, is Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1.  It is now a museum that is open during the summer months.  Anyone interested in atomic energy who is in the area should check it out; it is well worth going out of your way to see it.  http://www.inl.gov/factsheets/ebr-1.pdf

Heather

[pjme]

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium will host some fifty paintings from the collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The exhibition will previously have been shown at The Queen's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse and then subsequently at Buckingham Palace in London. The selection, centred on the paintings produced in our region comprises major works by Memling, Metsys, Gossaert, Bruegel the Elder, Paul Bril, Rubens and Van Dyck. These works will be displayed alongside relevant masterpieces from our own collections. The Massacre of the Innocents by Bruegel the Elder from the British Royal Collection will for the first time take its place beside The Numbering at Bethlehem from the Museum of Fine Arts collection, thus providing a opportunity to see the way in which Bruegel depicted biblical scenes in the snowy Brabant landscape in these two paintings. The British royal collection is renowned for its great holding of works by Rubens and Van Dyck, both artists having spent time in England. The beautiful landscpaes by Rubens will be a further attraction of the exhibition. One will also be able to admire some portraits of Rubens and one will also be able to see the sketch for The Assumption of the Virgin, - the monumental altarpiece from the Church of the Discalced Carmelites now housed in our museums. The religious compositions, the portraits by Van Dyck, scenes of peasant fairs by David Teniers, or the fascinating Young Man at the Window by an anonymous painter, all serve to provide a further rich insight into painting in the Southern Netherlands from the heritage of Charles V to the Peace Treaty of 1648.   


Church of Sint Anna Pede (near Brussels) ...Brueghel painted it. See The parable of the blind

[karlhenning]

Church of Sint Anna Pede (near Brussels) ...Brueghel painted it. See The parable of the blind

Lovely, Peter; are there many Brueghel murals in there?  Was all his painting a matter of murals, or did he do the interior (generally) as well?

[pjme]

 

Yes Karl he painted it - but only the exterior ( Spantex nr 58) The inside was done - very tastefully  - by  Martha Stewart, of course. The -washable!-murals were ordered in Italy ( Cinecitta) .  0:)

[karlhenning]

Oh, I hadn't meant a jest, Peter (though heaven knows I do, often enough) . . . it might have been that the artist was in charge of the interior color scheme, though he would have left that brush-work to apprentices . . . .

[pjme]

Ah..."Brueghel painted it".... , I only wanted to make clear that that church survives !

The parable of the blind can be seen in Italy ( tempera  (85 × 154 cm) — 1568
Museo di Capodimonte, Napels

Brueghel (the elder) ( or Breughel, or Breugel - it  was a large dynasty and the name was written in different ways) never made murals.
The best selection of paintings is in Vienna ,of course .

There's a great exhibition on at Bozar ( formerly palais des Beaux arts) : http://www.bozar.be/activity_gallery.php?linktable=activity&linkid=7333&lng=en : unknown treasures from Wallonia. Sculptures, strange and rare artifacts,paintings, copper- and silverware, crystal... The curator did a wonderful job in unearthing superb examples of artistry.

I went to a very small- 1 room- exhibition in Ghent  :Museum for Industrial Archeology and textile (MIAT www.miat.gent.be). The city of Ghent is still famous for its flower/plant industry ( azalea, begonia...), but in the first half of the 19th century it was mainly the Camellia ( more than 400 varieties!) that was exported ( from Great Britain to the Us, France and Russia).  La dame aux camélias....& Verdi's Traviata helped to popularise the flower.
I'm convinced that more could have been made of this theme - Dumas and Verdi were only hinted at very briefly . Exquisite (handcoloured) lithographs were shown...in pixelised copies....Even so, for a brief moment I was able to experience the camellia's huge popularity... After ca 1860/70 the demand stopped and the horticulturists had to find new flowers .

[karlhenning]

Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry at the MFA Boston

[Peregrine]

I can trump you all:

http://www.laurel-and-hardy.co.uk/

 

[SonicMan46]

I can trump you all:

http://www.laurel-and-hardy.co.uk/

Nah!  When I was given the choice to 'Skip the Intro' - could also forget about the exhibit - saw SO MUCH L&H as a kid, just not as interested - BUT, hey they are funny! 

Looking forward to an overnight in Charlotte, NC at the end of the month - travelling show on Pompeii at the Discovery Place - plannning on a nice dinner; Pompeii has always been a fascination, so plan to enjoy!  In 1971 on the 3-week trip to Italy (graduation gift from my in-laws), we were in Naples-Capri, but did to a half day trip to Pompeii - still excited years later thinking about the experience - 

[Wanderer]

The Royal Academy of Arts (London) in collaboration with the Benaki Museum (Athens) will launch an exhibition about Byzantium from 25 October 2008 to 22 March 2009.

[Szykneij]

I just spent some time in Philadelphia and had the opportunity to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the associated Rodin Museum. Both are excellent sites full of incredible works. Most memorable to me were Marc Chagall's enormous backdrop for the ballet Aleko at the PMA and Rodin's "The Gates of Hell" that dominates the entrance to the Rodin building.

[Sarastro]

I love museums. But where I live now there are no museums in dozens miles away. So I'd better say loved: The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, The State Historical Museum, The Moscow Kremlin and The Kremlin Armoury, Museum and Panorama "Borodino Battle"  - Museum of the Napoleonic-Russian War, The WWII Memorial Panorama, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Kolomenskoe, The Central Theatre Museum, The State Museum of Oriental Art, A.S.Pushkin Apartment in Arbat Street, The State Polytechnical Museum -- in Moscow; The Peterhof,  The Hermitage, The State Russian Museum, The Museum of Antropology and Ethnography - Kunstkamera, The Central Naval Museum, The Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Mikhaylovsky Castle, Petropavlovskaya Fortress, The Marble Palace, St. Isaac's Cathedral, Summer Garden and Summer Palace of Peter I (Letny Sad), Smolny Cathedral, Pavlovskiy Historical Museum, Yusupov Palace, The Palace-and-Park Ensemble Pavlovsk, The Palace-and-Park Ensemble Pushkin -- in Saint Petersburg. That is how they are named in English.
There are many small museums as well, and also I mention my native city's museums: The Saratov State Art Museum named after A.N.Radishev and The Saratov Regional Ethnografic Museum.

My favorite are the Catherine's Palace in The Palace-and-Park Ensemble Pushkin (the name of the city)



And The Peterhof







Hopefully, one day I "invade" European museums and art galleries as well. 0:) Mother says Louvre is enthralling.

[Sarastro]

the Catherine's Palace

Oh, and, of course, recently reconstructed Amber Room in there.

[Bunny]

Here's the current big exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC:

J. M. W. Turner
July 1, 2008–September 21, 2008
The Tisch Galleries, 2nd floor

The first retrospective of the work of J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) presented in the United States in more than forty years, this international exhibition highlights approximately 140 paintings and watercolors—more than half of them from Tate Britain's Turner Bequest—along with works from other collections in Europe and North America.

If you can't get to UK, this is the best way to see these fantastic paintings!  Below is a sample -- Disaster at Sea (also known as The Wreck of the Amphitrite)

[karlhenning]

Here's the current big exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC:

J. M. W. Turner
July 1, 2008–September 21, 2008
The Tisch Galleries, 2nd floor

The first retrospective of the work of J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) presented in the United States in more than forty years, this international exhibition highlights approximately 140 paintings and watercolors—more than half of them from Tate Britain's Turner Bequest—along with works from other collections in Europe and North America.

Fabulous, thank you for this!