Still Life At The Wichita Art Museum

As per the usual, when I have a Saturday off, I took a trip to the Wichita Art Museum.  I'll be the first to admit that I'm cheap, and since they have free admission on Saturdays, it's the only day I'll go.  I had another reason to go that day, but it didn't pan out, and I'd rather not talk about it, so I'm not going to.  Either way, they had a wonderful exhibition of still lifes from their permanent collection in one of the lower galleries.  Most of these are new to me, as I'm pretty sure they don't see the light of day very often.  I love when they supplement with pieces in their vaults.  Art should be seen, not tucked away.  I took a few pictures, of my favorite pieces, and I thought I would share them with you guys. I'll be the first to admit that I suck at taking pictures of art work hanging on a wall, it's harder than you think it would be.

Red Roses by Sigmund J. Menkes

Englishtown by Janet Fish

Still Life with Cattails by Herman Meril

Still Life with Mask by Marvin D. Cone

Still Life, Copper Tray by Edmund L. Davison

Still Life of Flowers by Morris Kantor

Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase by William J. Glackens

Mortality and Immortality by William M. Harnett 

Still Life with Lemons by John Noble

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.

Terri's Favorite Fictional Character --- Girl at the Window

Whenever I have a hankering for a well written review by someone who I admire and respect, I head on over to Terri's blog, Alexia's Books and Such.  I'm pretty sure I've been following her blog from the very beginning, though I could be off by a week or two.  I don't remember what brought me to her blog, but I've been grateful for it ever since.  Terri has become a good blogging friend, someone who's opinion I will take to heart. She has shown me nothing but kindness, and I thank her for it.  And for this post, she is breaking a boundary that has not been crossed before on this blog.  She is charting new territory when it comes to Favorite Fictional Character posts, and I have a feeling it's territory I will be visiting myself someday.  So please go by her blog and say hi and great job.

This is a Salvador Dali painting, most commonly known as "Girl at the Window."

Seems an odd choice for a Favorite Fictional Character post, doesn't it? A moment in time captured in a painting. An unknown character with an unknown story. How can this be a Favorite Fictional Character? Glad you asked!

When Ryan asked me if I'd be interested in doing one of these posts for him, he said that there were no limitations on where the character could come from and that books, movies, TV shows, poems, songs, or even artwork were all on the table. Artwork? Color me intrigued! And what better artwork to feature than one of my favorites?

I found a poster of this piece many years ago, lying on the floor, at a warehouse sale. Had no idea who he artist was or the title, but I knew that I had to have it!  It "spoke" to me (plus, it was blue and I knew it would look good in my bathroom).  It quickly became my favorite poster!

As you might have guessed from my avatar, there's something about staring out a window that I love....the longing for what's out there....wanting to explore new horizons...wondering if the grass is really greener over the next hill? I have spent plenty of time staring out windows over the years, so I identify with this unknown girl.

I love this picture. Who is the girl? Is she longing for far horizons? I think that she's been at the window for awhile and didn't just stop by to check the weather, as she looks like she's settled in. See how she's leaning on the sill and one of her legs is bent? Like she's shifting her stance to find a more comfortable position. Like she's spent hours at that window....

I think that she certainly qualifies as a FFC, in that I'm able to come up with my own stories for her. Has she had a rough day and wants to escape? Is she just a daydreamer? Does she have itchy feet and longs to travel? I see all of that....and more. Am I nuts and it's just a girl standing at a window? Can you feel her longing? What do you see when you look at this picture?

Summer Vacation: Wichita Art Museum

I live about 5 minutes from the Wichita Art Museum.  It actually sits in an area that includes Old Cowtown Museum (an old west living museum) and the Wichita Bontanica Gardens, though I never visit them in the summer.  It's too hot, so I'll take the air conditioning of the art museum.  It's a gorgeous area of city that sits right by the river.  Having all this so close to me is one of the reasons I enjoy living where I do.  But back to the museum, they have free admission on Saturdays, so if I have it off, I'm there.  So during my staycation, when Saturday rolled around, I went to go visit some of my favorite paintings.

Now for some reason I didn't think to take pictures of the outside.  Probably because is was so damn hot, so for that, I apologize.  It's a shame actually because the building itself is pretty cool, especially from certain angles.  They also have some wonderful sculpture outside the museum, some of it is pretty amazing.  What's really bad is I didn't even take pictures of the lobby, which includes a ceiling of Dale Chihuly art glass.  It's a wonderful exhibit that looks like a underwater coral reef, in all it's splendid beauty.  Once upstairs you can actually walk on it, without shoes of course.  And no, I didn't take a picture of that either.  I did take a picture of his Confetti Chandelier that hangs in the upstairs main lobby.

For those of you not familiar with our art museum, it actually holds one of  the largest collections of American art.  The most famous of which is a Mary Cassat, not one I've ever been in love with, but I know a lot of people who love her.  Sorry, I didn't even think of taking a picture of it, since it's not something I really like all that much.  I did manage to take a few pictures of some of my favorite paintings that were out on display.  The museum has a large collection, most of which I have never seen out.  It's one of the saddest aspects of any museum though, all that art which the public never or rarely sees.  

Now these pictures won't be the best, for some reason, I'm not great at taking level pictures of paintings hanging on a wall.

The Cardinal by Duilio Barnabe  (Unknown)

The Window Washers by Jon Koch (1975)

Industrial Structures by James Penney (1955)
  

Harbor by Moonlight  by John Noble (1911-1913)

Revelation by Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1949)

Landscape by Allan D'Arcangelo (1965)

Harlequin by Charles Sebree (1954) 

As much as I enjoy all the above work, my favorite painting is one that no matter how many times I see it, it moves me in a way I can never fully describe.  The pain and human suffering hurts me every time I see it, but I can never not visit it when I'm at the museum.  There is something so enthralling about it.  I don't have the vocabulary nor the knowledge to fully explain it, so I'm not even going to try.  I wish this was a better picture so you guys could see what I see.  Every time I look at it, I notice something I don't remember seeing the time before.

The Pit by George Grosz (1946)

There was a wonderful exhibit of Mexican art, but since it did not belong to the museum, I wasn't allowed to take pictures.  Now I'm not saying I wasn't tempted, but I refrained myself.  I'm not sure when I have another Saturday off, but when I do, I'm sure I'll go back to enjoy the museum once again.

Summer Vacation: The Keeper of the Plains

Can I just say that I'm already so tired of this heat.  Of the 6 days I had off for my staycation, all 6 of them were in the triple digits.  For those of you who may not know, I can't stand the heat.  It makes me tired and cranky.  So unless I'm out at the lake, which I don't have tons of time for, you will not normally find me outside during the summer.  So for this year, that meant no zoo and no Coronado Heights.  This heat really made me change my plans.  The one place I did manage to get to, was The Keeper of the Plains.  I only live about 3 1/2 blocks from here so you would think I would get over there more often.  My original plan was to actually walk down the river from here and come back up the other side, but it was just too hot.  I was also going to go back that night around 9:00 pm when the fire feature is turned on, once again it was too hot.

This is the view from my car (the pictures look better if you click on them)

Since I'm sure you guys have never been to Wichita, KS, and if you have passed through, I doubt you stopped to take in The Keeper of the Plains.  The Keeper sits at the junction of the Little Arkansas River and the Arkansas River. The ground in between the two rivers was considered sacred to the local tribes, and it's where the All American Indian Center sits as well.  The sculpture was designed and built by a local artist, Blackbear Bosin, and was installed in 1974.  A few years ago, they renovated the area completely.  They updated the parking lots, raised The Keeper onto a pedestal, built suspension bridges linking both sides to The Keeper and designed a wonderful exhibit area around him.

  

All four of these are taken before I crossed the bridge

  

Once you cross the bridge, from either side of the river, it opens up into, what I guess could be called an educational plaza.  I'm not sure I took pictures of everything, but I did manage to get a few of the displays.  Most of them highlight which tribes lived in the area, tribal customs, migration, and certain historical dates that affected the local tribes.  Behind the two main walls is the backyard of the Indian Center, which you have to approach from the other side.  The Keeper of the Plains area is not supposed to give an encompassing view and history of the local tribes, it's more of an accent to the Indian Center and museum.

Click on pictures to read

Once you are past the plaza, there are two different walkways, one on each side, that will take you in front of The Keeper. For some odd reason I didn't take too many pictures of this area.  I took a few of the walkways and a few of The Keeper from right underneath him, but I didn't take any of the view down the river.  One of these days, when it's not too hot outside, I'll go for a walk and take a few more pictures to show you the area.  Right down from here is Exploration Place, which is a children's science museum.  There is also a war memorial park on the other side of the river.  They have done a wonderful job of redoing the walkways and parks all down the river.  There are some lovely sculpture areas.  By that's getting off track.

At this point in time I was still planning on walking down the river, so I actually crossed the bridge and took one picture of The Keeper.  That's were I turned around though, I think just in the time I was out there, the temperature went up by five degrees.

You can't be by the river and not see tons of birds.  I took quite a few pictures but only a few of them allowed me to see what it was I was taking a picture of.

I know this is a crane, but not sure what kind

Ducks

Some sort of goose, but I couldn't tell what was on the ground until I got closer

Baby geese

I want to say this is some sort of heron, but really don't know

More ducks

Canadian Geese

So there you are, pictures from the only real time I spent outside in this disgusting heat.  I really need to move someplace that has milder summers.  I'm thinking Greenland, maybe Nova Scotia.