Stay Home, Make Art or Visit a Museum

Yes, you can visit a museum, virtually that is.  Have a “walk” around the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.  Fun fact — The Legion of Honor is built on top of the cemetery (some of the graves were moved first) and you can assume it is full of ghosts.  They might be enjoying the peace and quiet right now….

Juxtapositions at the Legion of Honor

This weekend’s museum visit was out to the Legion of Honor.  We were there as the doors opened with timed tickets to catch the last weekend of Monet: The Early Years.  Greeted by a mob of people — we immediately bypassed the first room where everyone were plugged into their audio tours and were able to enjoy the show.  Knowing Monet’s work, it was fascinating to see how he got there.  Many of his early works had these clear pockets of impressionism within the paintings – particularly the harbor scenes.  As my friend commented, for Monet, water was the gateway drug.  I tend to avoid these hyped-up crowded shows, but I was glad we persevered – this was one the best curated, big shows at the Legion in long time.

Then it was time to take in the Urs Fischer installations.  It is a challenge to drop contemporary works of art into traditional galleries filled with older European art.  That the content and style of the Fischer’s works are often disturbing and challenging in themselves, adds another layer of complexity for curators.   In some cases, Fischer’s pieces work well as temporary installations.  They are well placed and make visitors take in the museum’s galleries in a new way.  The reactions of the public (or lack there of) enhance the exhibit.  I took some snapshots of some of the more successfully installed pieces.  Unfortunately, the installation, in its entirety gives the impression that everything sticking around Fischer’s studio was shipped out to California with the instructions to find a place for it.  And with many of the pieces, the reaction could be, “What is that doing here?”  The show will be there until July 2.  It is always a pleasure to visit the Legion, but prepare yourself to be delighted and at times perplexed by Fischer’s installation.

Ghosts in the Fog

Foggy Hilltop

mixed media photo collage on board, 12”x9”

In the northwest corner of San Francisco stands a windswept, foggy hilltop.  At one time it was so out of the way the City decided to dig up most of its cemeteries and graveyards relocate the remains out there to the “new” City Cemetery.  As San Francisco expanded, it was decided the land was too important for a cemetery.  The gravestones were removed and most, though not all, of the remains were dug up and moved down the Peninsula.  San Francisco sent its dead to the suburbs.  Lincoln Park with its golf course and the Legion of Honor are now atop that hill.  The fog remains, and regardless of the landscaping, nature encroaches on the park with its packs of feisty raccoons and now coyotes.

The Time Travel Photos will be presented in a new show at San Francisco’s Glama-Rama Salon and Gallery.  The show runs from October 11 to November 27, 2016.  Mark your calendar for the opening reception on the evening of Saturday, October 15 at 7:30 pm.

The Littlest Pissarro

Having just seen the Legion of Honor’s exhibit Pissarro’s People one might assume my title of this post refers to a painting of one Camille Pissarro’s small children. Well close, the title refers to a small painting of one of his children. The show is a well curated, thorough retrospective focusing on Pissarro’s world through works depicting family, friends, colleagues and servants. But, the Little Pissarro I am referring to is the portrait of his son Rodo. His son was a young man of about 21 when this portrait was completed. The “little” refers to the rather small size of the painting, about 4” x 6”.

The show at the Legion of Honor is large, filling most of the special exhibit space with nearly 100 works of art. And the painting I lingered on the most, by far, was this little one titled Portrait of Rodo Pissarro Reading. At the end of the show I even avoided the exit through the gift shop in order to go get one more look.

I often find myself drawn to smaller works, particular of better-known artists. The Legion has quite a few little gems; there is van Gogh’s little Shelter on Montmarte and Daumier’s Un Wagon de Troisieme Classe both of which they keep on display upstairs. One of my favorite pieces in the entire building is a tiny Rembrandt etching titled Sleeping Puppy. It’s barely 1.5” x 3.5”.

As an artist there is something quite liberating about working small. Depending on one’s medium and style, particularly for painters, small pieces often can often indicate work that is completed relatively quickly. And for some artists, small works requiring less time are also a sign of a smaller commitment. That lack of artistic commitment can be quite liberating. A “quick” work on paper, board or small canvas has none of the weight that comes with a large-scale painting. Small allows an artist to be far more experimental. When an artistic experiment is small and requires a lesser investment of time, it can produce some impressive results. And when the experiments fail, as they sometimes do, the “wasted” effort is relatively small.

These rules for working small can apply to any artist. But, when you have the opportunity to see the small works of giants like Pissarro, it can be more informative than just seeing the larger works that appear in art books and on museum walls. When museums and exhibits include studies and smaller works as the Legion of Honor has done with Pissarro’s People they present an exhibit for the art lover and the artist.

What would an artist buy at the gift shop?

Today is Van Gogh’s birthday. What would one get him at museum’s gift shop? Would he like the coffee mug with his mug? Would Vincent wear a self-portrait tie? Would a little bit of lunch get stuck in his beard and spot his tie? What would he think of the calendar? There was a recent episode of Dr. Who where The Doctor takes Van Gogh to the future. Van Gogh got to see his work in a London museum. It was cute. It would have been really clever if they had taken Van Gogh down to the gift shop.

Often opinions on museum gift shops can fall into two camps. There are those folks who one suspects really visit the museum mostly for the gift shop. Then there is the other side that just abhors the gift shop. The gift shop can be a good source of revenue for any museum. I generally don’t mind them. But what I do object to is the way they are spreading into exhibitions space. For example, The Legion of Honor has a perfectly adequate gift shop. A few years back, just around the corner, an entire exhibition room was also commandeered as a gift shop for their special shows. This is the point when I want to start decrying the moneychangers in the temple. I call it “gift shop creep” as additional gift shops start popping up and expanding out of their spaces.

There is one thing that I do recommend buying at museum gift shops — post cards.

I don’t have the means to buy every art book I want. Instead, I buy museum postcards of art I like. I get home and put them in a photo album. At this point, I have invested as much as one very expensive art book. The book of postcards has become a sort of art book of my personal favorites. And while I could also fill it with notes (I don’t), it acts as a journal of art that I have found interesting over the years.

And I do confess, after the traveling show has packed up, a few months later, I will pop into the shop and then buy the fridge magnets for cheap and even an occasional coffee mug.

Arthur Szyk at the Legion of Honor

There are times when the smaller, lesser hyped up shows at museums are sometimes the best ones to see. The Arthur Szyk exhibit at the Legion of Honor is one of those small shows well worth checking out. The Japanesque show is great (there is just a week left). But be sure to walk down to the far end of the museum. Pass under the Spanish Ceiling and go further to the end. You’ll find a one room show of Szyk’s work.

The images will probably look familiar and you’ll recognize the style. Even if you haven’t seen the particular work shown, it feels familiar. There is that old, illustrated work of classic literature on your shelf with a few colorful plates, and they are probably the work of Arthur Szyk.