Tuesday, March 26, 2013

What I Did Over My Weekend: Wichita Art Museum


Well it's official, I suck at taking pictures of artwork hanging on a wall.  I can never seem to get them centered in the picture, and they always look crooked.  I swear when I'm taking the picture, everything looks good in the window.  It's just the final result doesn't seem to match up.  Of course if I somehow manage to get it centered and straight, the lighting is off.  And since they are very strict against flashes, there isn't a whole lot I can do about that.  Well maybe I could, if I was better with a camera.

But getting off that subject, I just wanted to share some of the pictures I took on my last trip to the Wichita Art Museum.  As I posted back last year, if I have a Saturday off, I'm at the museum, even if it's only for a hour.  Since it's free admission on those days, you do have to deal with kids running around more often than not, but it's always worth the distractions.

This time around, I did take a picture of the Mary Cassatt that so many people love, and while I like it, it's not my favorite of the American Impressionism works that they have.  That honor goes to the first picture I'm showing you, The Black Shawl by Frederick Carl Frieseke.  The rest of the pictures are of works I truly look forward to seeing every time I go to the museum, but for some reason I didn't take pictures of them the last time I was there.

The Black Shawl by Frederick Carl Frieseke (1905)

Mother and Child by Mary Cassatt (1890)

Falls in January by John H. Twatchman (1895)

Daydream by Sidney Goodman (1986-1987)

Coal Mine Disaster by Vincent La Gambina (1941)

Summer of 1941 by Louis Bouche (1941)

Sunlight on Brownstones by Edward Hopper (1956)

And just for the fun of it, when I was there, I visited the gift shop and bought a few postcards and 2 notecards.  I would like to send them to a random commentor who leaves a comment by 4/2/13.


7 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Taking photos of paintings on walls is tough - to do it well you probably need a special lens or camera. The paintings are gorgeous - I love Edward Hopper's work.

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

You did a good job. It's hard photographing artwork w/o getting glare from the glass. Professionals use dark drapes just to get that part of it... Oh and I would have gone just for the Cassatt and the Hopper! Loved some of the others you took too! Thanks for sharing!

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Pictures are hard to take pictures of! You did a great job. Saw some amazing art. :) Thank you for sharing!

Heidenkind said...

I love the Wichita Art Museum! And they do have a great Cassatt collection. Just so you know, your pictures of pictures aren't any better than mine... and it's very difficult to get a good shot of a painting! That's why museums hire professionals to do it.

If you send me a postcard from the WAM, I'll send you one from the DAM. :)

Staci said...

I think you did a great job. I think that sounds like a heavenly way to spend an afternoon!

Lisa said...

I don't know what it is about Edward Hopper that I enjoy so much but I don't know that I've ever seen anything of his that I didn't like.

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

I love looking at art. I really need to visit the Frist Center for the Arts here again soon. I did take the boys to the Tennessee State Museum on Tuesday and there was a good amount of wonderful paintings of historical figures so that was nice, but I want to see some really good "art". Like what you showcased here. You really do have a great museum there to visit. I'm glad you enjoy it so much.

I'm a big fan of Mary Cassatt. Her paintings have always spoken to me, especially since I became a mom. =O)