Inspired at Stanford

Europe and America 19^th Century Gallery, Cantor Arts Center

I always check out the smaller city, less nationally known, art museums when I am on my road trips.  This past week I finally made a long overdue, and first visit, to a museum that’s quite close by.  Stanford University and the Cantor Arts Center is less than an hour away.  I knew the museum was known for its collection of Rodin sculpture (only the Musée Rodin in Paris has a larger collection) but I knew little more about what I would find.  I was surprised at how large and thorough the museum was. Aside from the Rodins, there are not other specific focuses to the collection.  Rather, the museum offers a solid collection of gallery after gallery of different periods and genres.  It doesn’t cover it all, but what it covers, it covers quite well.  And there are some real gems that make the museum worth a visit (a Georgia O’Keefe, David Park and Elmer Bischoff are all worth seeking out).

From a more personal nature, I left the place quite inspired.  I always have liked old-fashioned, salon style displays of walls of art.  And the galleries at the Cantor Arts Center offered some good examples.  This made me think about my current series of Collagescapes.  The most recent ones have been placed in repurposed and antique picture frames (see below).  I envision more and more framed in this way.  I am inspired to fill my own wall salon style with a new series of framed pieces.