Monday, April 02, 2007

The Nasher

Calder
















Hepworth
















Rodin





















Moore



I couldn't take pics of any of the Matisse, for obvious reasons, but...I snapped these on the grounds of the Nasher. And it does a soul good...well, it does my soul good...to walk around and drink in the beauty that these artists have created.

Disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about art, and have never taken an art appreciation class in my life...I admit that I dunno even what, exactly, that entails...but I've been pouring over art, in books and museums, regularly since I was a kid...and again at this exhibit of Matisse, it was clear to me that Matisse loved women, and loved the female form. Picasso is highly acclaimed, and he is supposed to have said the wonderful statement "I wish that I could draw as well as a child". For what it's worth, I couldn't find that quote attributed to him on Google, but I did find the almost equally terrific "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Still, I've never been as big a fan of Picasso as I am of Matisse, and a big part of that is the way Picasso depicts people, especially women, which often seems disjointed and sometimes almost hostile to me. In 1999, the Matisse-Picasso show that eventually traveled across the country (it was at MOMA in New York in 2003) originated at The Kimbell in Forth Worth. I went 3 times in the slightly more than 3 months the exhibit was at The Kimbell, fascinated by the contrast between the two contemporaries/rivals, especially in their depictions of the female form.

Before I became a fan of his painting or his sculpture, I was attracted to Matisse's vibrant paper cutouts that he called "cutting into color".

In this exhibit, for the first time, I was able to see the origin of those dynamic forms that are such a large part of his work in the later part of his life.

All of which is to say, if you get a chance to see this exhibit as it makes it's way around the country, GO......

5 comments:

Erin Berger Guendelsberger said...

I'll keep my eyes peeled for this. I know very little about art, but I do enjoy seeing it, too!

ab said...

I don't believe we need an MA to appreciate art. Scholars can debate what is and isn't (Mapplethorpe, anyone?), and pad their own journals in the process while we find what we like. It's a personal interaction, open to our interpretation, and that is never right or wrong.

Tammy Brierly said...

I loved the "Moore" piece but I don't know much about art. I wish I could learn more and why not :)
Hugs

TJ said...

I am fasinated. I feel almost as if I am being pulled closer to look and I always want to touch.
I think I am most attracted to the freedom of expression. It is a constant reminder for me...how reined in I am most the time.
Great entry..I enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing.
I am stopped blogging for awhile.
But I will stay in touch ...
Love TJ

Dave said...

Art needs to move you, whether it's sculpture, a painting, a novel, a play or a film.

Shakespeare, or someone talking about him, used the phrase "a willing suspension of disbelief."

Art needs to transport you to your perception of the artist's world.

That said, I like Picasso's early stuff and am left cold by the later stuff. Abstract once it loses some semblence of representational just doesn't move me.

Matisse on the other hand never went over my line. Beautiful.