Back then, I though I would chose 3 of the best pictures and just post those to commemorate my visit. Obviously, that practice has been file-13ed so let me share some pictures from other visits as well.
The Getty is a spectacular architectural wonder. I love the brilliant white marble and highly reflective glass.
There is also a stunning garden. Sometimes I forget about it because it pales in comparison to the acres at The Huntington, but it is an lovely oasis in its own right.
My favorite exhibits:
The blue room. A room entirely recreated inside the museum.
Sunrise, Claude Monet
La Promenade, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning; Claude Monet
Irises, Vincent Van Gogh (probably my favorite painting in the collection)
I love the combination of these two works. A good curator can really complement and enhance great works through their placement within a collection. It reminds me of how impressed I was with the curating at the MNAC in Barcelona.
Laocoon, Giovanni Battista Foggini
This was the first piece of art that I learned about in a classroom and then was able to see in person. There is nothing that can described feeling of turning around and seeing something you've dreamed about after seeing it in pictures.
I search out this sculpture every time I am here to relive that moment, and continue to have those moments as I travel the world.
This is where Cortney makes fun of me for telling her to stand there and feel her breathe (her being Nike of Samothrace) when she goes to Paris this fall, but for me, at least, great art is all about the emotion you feel when experiencing it (not to ignore the technical aspects of greatness, but the punched-in-the-face-emotion...yeah, I get it, and yeah, it make me all teary and emotional).
And Cortney can make fun of me all she wants, but I will bet that thanks to me she can tell you who painted this:
Hint: It's him:
This chandelier is far and away my favorite piece in the decorative arts exhibit. There are several really close runners-up, but this is the best. It is French, early 19th century, and inspired by a hot air balloon. The blue and gold represent the the heavens with the 12 zodiac signs circle the gilt band. The part that makes it my favorite - the glass bowl was designed to hold live goldfish! Love it!
One of those close runners up - The Blue Bed
And the pink bed:
I really think we should bring back this couch/bed design. It would really take my weekends to a whole new level.
And lastly, my favorite piece in the outdoor sculpture garden is Delusions of Grandeaur, Renee Margritte:
I love Magritte overall, and this piece in particular. I was fortunate enough, as well, to see the companion painting in Houston when I visited the The Menil Collection.
By the time we circled around to the plaza cafe it had closed for the day (despite not even being 1:30), so we had to venture to the regular cafe...a place I had never been despite my repeated visits to the museum. We closed out the visit in my typical fashion... a $12 lunch
(
) followed by a couple of hours of intense people watching on the plaza. It was magnificent.
